Biggest differences between OOT tryouts and Broadway- Page 2

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 10:44am

Dylan Smith4 said: "binau said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Regarding the recent revival of COMPANY: It’s such a shame no cast recording or filmed version was made.

A good pal was a principal in the revival and he confirmed a non-TOFT full show video was indeed filmed (including one which the documentary used footage from). Will it ever surface? We hope so as it does indeed exist."

WOW!!!! So glad to hear this."

Well that’s good to hear! Also, wasn’t the London production professionally filmed as well? I really wish Rosalie came over to New York to play Bobbie as she was the very first woman to do it.

"

It's always nice when OLC members join Broadway productions and vice versa. But it's never required, and it gives other actors a chance. I think it's awesome

[SeanD2]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 12:33pm

kingfan011 said: "What shows have you seen that had the biggest changes from out of town to Broadway"

Spamalot had two songs in Chicago that were cut for Broadway. The first was "Burn Her" where the Lady of the Lake was the witch in the scales scene and then she came back as the cow for a song before it was launched by the French taunters before the end of Act 1.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 12:38pm

mememe said: "I believe one reviewer actually wrote something along the lines of ‘This might work with a star like Chita Rivera’

Frank Rich is the person who suggested Chita Rivera. And yes...reviewers went up to review this developmental production. As told in his book HOT SEAT, the argument was that they were charging the going rate for fully developed and open Broadway shows, so they should be subject to the same kind of scrutiny. I don't disagree. 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 12:41pm

darquegk said: "Yeah. If you listen to the original demos you hear the Africans singing about killing and eating the missionaries like it’s Communion."

I’m not sure that version of Mormon even made it to a workshop stage. It seems to have been (correctly) jettisoned early on. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 12:55pm

Agreed. It was purely a shock twist ending, and would have pushed the show from “teetering on the edge of being totally racist” over the line.

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/17/23 at 11:07pm

Addams Family had a totally different story and was organized way differently, with like five different songs

James and the Giant Peach was similar in how much it was changed between productions, but it never actually made it to Broadway, which is a shame because I think it's way better than a lot of shows that did make it to Broadway (Be More Chill, Six, the aforementioned Addams Family)

[Mwkorona]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 2:09am

Dear Evan Hansen had different first and last songs for Act 1 when it was in DC. Don’t remember if they both changed by the time it went to 2nd Stage or wasn’t until the Broadway move. 
 

In DC it opened with “This’ll be the year” instead of “Anybody have a map”. And then act 1 closed with “Part of me” in place you “You will be found”. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 3:34am

^ Anybody Have A Map and You Will Be Found came into the picture off Broadway at Second Stage before the move to Broadway. 

Part Of Me was recorded and put on the deluxe edition of the cast recording featuring the current cast at that time. There’s some other cut songs on there including Bedroom Down The Hall. 

[Rainah]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 10:21am

Hadestown at the NYTW has a decidedly eco communist message to contrast Hades capitalist hellscape

By the London tryout it had turned into "unionize your workplace"

Both are good, but I do miss some of the audacity of the original.

Orpheus also went through a ****ton of changes in a way that I think really doesn't suit the character. He was originally confident and comfortable with himself and his broke artist life, and his flaw was not being willing to see how much Eurydice was suffering until she was gone. "Promises" is then a confrontation where she accuses him of indifference and he accuses her of faithlessness, and they actually compromise. It's a perfectly fine arc, and a really interesting character. I was so intrigued to hear Orpheus so comfortable with his poverty and it not being portrayed as naivety, because he's clearly been doing it for years. Yeah, I'll sleep on the ground, I'm okay with that if it means I get to make music. I'll figure it out, always have before, mostly. It's a different worldview, but treated as no better or worse. It's bad because he takes it to the extreme and drives Eurydice away, but Hades goes too far in the other direction and drives Persephone away and it's Orpheus' clear declaration of values that bends him.

Orpheus on broadway has the flaw of naivety. He's painfully inexperienced, kind, and gentle. But it leaves him with a lot less space to grow, and thus he doesn't. 

The second unfortunate part is that a lot of his songs were written with the first Orpheus in mind, like The Wedding Song, and work... less well with the new Orpheus. Others were altered, like half of Promises being cut into a bland reassurance and the entire intention of "come home with me" being changed.

I don't mind most of the changes for Broadway. Some of them were indisputable improvements - adding the climactic "I'm coming wait for me! I hear the walls repeating!" In wait for me takes it from good to great. 

Some, like the shift from communism to unions, are both good and you lose some good stuff but gain some other good stuff.

But the changes to Orpheus just kinda suck. He was so much more interesting originally.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 12:20pm

Fordham2015 said: "I saw Mean Girls in DC with the original Act Two opener Bossed Up, which works better IMO

https://twitter.com/MeanGirlsBway/status/1248042401563893760"

The show in DC had more...teeth. Fey had some actually very mean jokes that all seemed to disappear on Broadway because I guess they're afraid to insult anything about anybody. I understand that to a point, but the show is about terrible people, Regina George isn't a role model.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 2:58pm

nasty_khakis said: "Fordham2015 said: "I saw Mean Girls in DC with the original Act Two opener Bossed Up, which works better IMO

https://twitter.com/MeanGirlsBway/status/1248042401563893760"

The show in DC had more...teeth. Fey had some actually very mean jokes that all seemed to disappear on Broadway because I guess they're afraid to insult anything about anybody. I understand that to a point, but the show is about terrible people, Regina George isn't a role model."

I have never heard "Bossed Up" before and I love it! I wish they could include it in the non-Eq tour or if it goes to the West End (yeah right that won't happen but hey why not)

[morosco]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 3:07pm

Both MY ONE AND ONLY and GRAND HOTEL went through incredibly extensive changes between their out of town tryouts and Broadway.

[DJD4]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 3:46pm

"The Addams Family" had many changes made before moving to broadway.

Lots of song an story changes were made, but I don't remember exactly how different the two were.

I mostly just remember that there was originally a scene in the beginning where they ritually chopped off Wednesdays braids. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/28/23 at 4:32pm

Didn't Wicked also undergo major changes from where was it-LA? to Broadway? Or from Broadway previews to opening? Titles of songs were different, I think the opening number was differen?