A question of previews

Following on from Matt and Mama said in the Priscilla Previews thread, which I dont disagree with on the whole. However what if a show, while in previews, is charging the same (or there abouts) as after opening night? Then the public have every right to expect the show to be in pretty great shape and pass comment. Its not Joe Publics fault the show isnt ready, they just know they have spent their £50-£60 and are expecting a quality production.

On the making of Chitty dvd Nicola McAuliffe makes a comment saying 'shes not there for the audience, they are there for her. To gage what works'. Now I dont know if Chitty had significantly reduced previews (I know it didnt have an out of town try out like planned).

The days of half priced, or significantly reduced previews seem to have passed on the whole. So surely the expectations of preview audiences are now (quite rightly) higher

very true ! the only show i know that has done out of town try out since i have been into theatre wich is now a good 6 years is mary poppins ! and i dont know if that had reduced price but i think doing out of town try outs works for a show but this is only my opinion but it seems to work for broadway productions !

---

I don't know why they don't do half price (or similar) previews. surely the loss made in the 2 or 3 weeks will be far outweighed. I suppose though if people will pay full price during previews why bother. Were Oliver's previews cheaper?

Wicked had £10 of each seat making rear circle seats £5, I went 3 times in previews and even took a few friends just because it was soo cheap.

i think we should have out of town tryouts !

---

'However what if a show, while in previews, is charging the same (or there abouts) as after opening night? Then the public have every right to expect the show to be in pretty great shape and pass comment'.

So if a show goes wrong, such as a technical problem, or the preview is a shambles with the cast forgetting there lines and it stands out like a sore toe, are the punters entitled to get there money back?

like mama said no ! i mean because if something goes wrong it goes wrong ! that is the greneral intentions of previews to get it wrong before the officail opening night ! shambles or not its live theatre and if you dont enjoy the preview then you either go again after the shows official opening hoping its better or dont bo back and lifes a bitch you went on a day then things went wrong and that is the draw of going to a preview ! lol thats how i see it anyway i may now get shouted out !

---

I did that with the Sydney production of Billy Elliot - went on the first preview, again during previews and again two weeks after the show opened. Was amazing to see how the show changed throughout that month.

The first time I saw it, it was pretty much an exact replica of the original London book and score that I saw at the Vic Palace in 2005. The second and third time around I kept noticing a sentence here and there added, dropped or changed.

The biggest change I noticed was the removal of the Maggie Thatcher puppet during the Act Two opener. I loved it (didn't quite get it, but was still amused by the nightmarish puppet appearing behind the stage) but I think the audience had had enough of the Iron Maiden references so it was cut.

Was a very interesting lesson in the development of a musical for a foreign market, although as bob pointed out, it was rather expensive.

thank you bob i wasnt sure if was completly right ! but i had a stab ! but i think being part of that process is good because you see songs that are cut or scenes that dont work ! its fantastic to see how different show can be the second or third time round you go !

---