Why can't the US compete with Britain's National Theatre?

"Earlier this month, the New York Times ran a news story that didn't contain much news. Britain's National Theatre, Pat Healy wrote, has succeeded in business without really trying. Well, not trying to appeal to the marketplace, that is. Through a strategy of artistic boldness backed by populist shrewdness, the piece argued, the National, under Nicholas Hytner, had found an unlikely cash cow in War Horse (to mix farmyard metaphors), which was still running in the West End and banking $1m a week in its Broadway incarnation. How, Healy breathlessly asked, did Nick do it?"

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2011/sep/21/us-compete-national-theatre