I totally forgot about that BBC radio broadcast. I will have to look for it online as my only copy is a tape. Good memory about the updates which is interesting because for the Bus and Truck tour in the mid 80s they updated the costumes and references to crushes but after a year or so they decided to just go back to it being a period piece (in The Longest Line one person is quoted as saying the costumes caused a scandal with some conservative audiences in the tour as the new modern 1980s dance fabric met that you were staring at my more, umm, defined crotches, etc, through much of it.
I'm just catching up with this thread now, but I'm glad others have mentioned the non-clone major productions that have been sprouting up--on the East Coast, in Chichester/London... Mostly they seem to want to update it and open it up so you get either flashback settings or fantasy settings for number and from what I've seen I don't think they work at all. But I freely admit I'm a guy who is happy with faithful productions of shows based on the original staging and wish we would get more :P Still, as others have said, I think this is especially true of ACL. But the so-called Bennett estate has absolutely agreed to non clone productions--would they on Broadway? I dunno...(It's too bad the Bennett estate has never been as protective of Dreamgirls but of course you can count on your fingers the number of shows--at least pre Cam Mac or before he got Laurence Connor to direct everything--that were required to try to keep the orginal staging. The Robbins' estate used to be the most stringent, at least for the choreography of WSS, Gypsy and Fiddler but we know that's changed for all those shows.
When the last revival happened I remember how many people on here complained about it being flat, even tired, etc, etc. I didn't care. It meant that I finally got to see that original staging live. Admittedly I saw the tour, and rather late in its run (Michael Gruber, Alex Ringler, David Hull are some of the cast I remember, and others were in the cast and Cassie was Robyn Hurder who has said she felt too young for the role at the time, but it was thrilling discovering her) Honestly, at the time Mario Lopez had already joined the Broadway revival and I think I was happier to see the touring cast. His crappy behaviour has already come up here, but let's not forget that he had his costume changed to show off his chest and arms more, AND THEN reportedly had Nick Adams, who had taken over Larry,have a hoodie or something added to his costume to cover UP his guns. And while maybe this wasn't a requirement made by Mario, they DID agree to change the staging to give Zack more in stage time, including in the scene with Paul, leading the One routine, etc. Awful.