Yes, indeed …

… Let's give our regards to Broadway. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Much more than escapism or diverting entertainment, the great Broadway musicals, though almost never radical in their perspective, went much further than Hollywood in wrestling with race (in Porgy and Bess), racial prejudice (Showboat, South Pacific), family tensions (Gypsy), ethnic conflict (West Side Story), ethnic identity (Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof), social class (My Fair Lady), fascism (Cabaret) and AIDS (Rent)—as well as the sleazy, seedy, salacious underbelly of American life displayed in Pal Joey.