Broadway Productions VS. their Tour Equivalents..

[BialyBloomInc02]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 12:48am

Just was very curious as to whether any of the forum vets have experienced or known of successful Broadway shows (be them on Broadway now, or in the past) that have had a national tour planned and produced for them, but the tour version of the show turned out to be drastically different (set, costume, acting wise..etc) from the Broadway counterpart (and source of inspiration)..??

I know the recent tour of the Music Man was dumbed down considerably (in all aspects unfortunately), but was curious of any other major incidents of this..

Please discuss!:)
BBi02

[Craig]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 12:52am

big

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:03am

The second Sunset Blvd tour and the Titanic tour--more so Sunset. (both were dreadful).

Mackintosh sorta set the standard for recreating the Broadway show with Cats, Phantom, and Les Miz. Seems many shows are going back to the more bus and truck versions?

Not to start another hot debate, but part of this is the non-Equity tour aspect--which was the case for the Music Man you saw.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 2:15am

Pretty much every national tour is cut down due to space and traveling.

[SuttonBebeFaith]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 3:34am

Anyone see the current Sussical?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 10:04am

Big had the most drastic changes. Seussical was changed quite a bit. Neither for the better. Both were quite inferior to the Broadway productions. Sunset Boulevard and Titanic had scaled-down sets, but no drastic changes in book and score. Jekyll and Hyde continued to morph somewhere between the original and Broadway versions, but was a general improvement.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 10:17am

How the hell do you dumb down 'The Music Man?' Give the audience a coloring book?

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 10:26am

JP: Rich. LOL

Here's one that was different -- WOMAN OF THE YEAR. Of course, I saw the B&T with Barbara Eden, so take it for what you will.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 10:28am

JP, I will be giggling about that ALL day now. LOL

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 11:00am

I'm presuming you are comparing Broadway prod. to it's Broadway touring prod....not the non-equity tours.

Some of the tours pale in comparsion to the Bd'w shows. Others are not that drastically different. But here's some that I recall.

Same Bd'w quailty tours, for the most part (staging, directing, actors,sets):
Les Miz, POTO, Beauty & the Beast, Aida(esp. Paulett Ivory & Kelli Fournier) , Contact, Mamma Mia, 42nd Street, Urinetown, J&H tour was actually better staged than Bd'w (imo). Scarlet Pimpernel,(esp.William Michals Chaulvin)



Bd'w tours of lesser quality, for the most part (staging, directing,actors, sets): South Pacific, Big, Titantic, JCS.

I'm sure I've forgotten some and hopefully will see more Bd'w tours as they come to Philly area. Again this is just my view.

pati b.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:25pm

ahh dont even remind me of the gawd awful seussical tour! the broadway sets and costumes were sooooooo much bettah then the tour! the 42nd street tour was ook..the sets were scaled bak a lot like in the part where the whole ensamble comes down that staircase nd theres theatre marquees above them, well in the tour it was just a backdrop! *sigh* y cant i livin nyc! =-D

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:26pm

Yes, Aida was Bway quality when I saw it with Paulette Ivory, Ryan Link (u/s), Lisa Brescia (sp?), and Mickey Dolenz. The sets were cut specifically for the theatre because it was not the size they were used to.

[tpdc]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:29pm

ASPECTS OF LOVE, TAP DANCE KID,INTO THE WOODS and to an extent DREAMGIRLS.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:37pm

Speaking of DREAMGIRLS, I will say that I enjoyed the tour production MORE than the Broadway incarnation. This was the national with Lillias White, Alisa Gyss, and Arnetia Walker. Sure, the sets were scaled back considerably, but I felt it worked better than the Broadway -- you were able to concentrate on the story, rather than the moving light towers. Also, the sound was so much better -- I could actually understand what was being sung/said!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 1:40pm

I loved the minimalisic tour of Aspects of Love. I felt it shifted the focus more on the story where it should be. The plot was complicated enough without muddying it with flashy set designs. It was one of my all-time favorite productions.

[tpdc]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 2:23pm

The tour of ASPECTS was cleverly directed and designed. I seem to recall it got much better reviews than the Broadway/London production.

[Bway_Mill_Fan]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 3:29pm

i must agree with Aida and Kelli and Pauletter, however i was a bit disapointed with the Millie tour .but yeah, we need Kelli back on broadway!

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 3:43pm

I have seen Phantom on tour a few times and sometimes it has looked so incredibly small compared to what I originally remembered. Saturday Night Fever also scrapped most of their sets for backdrops and rolling platforms. Titanic was basically stripped of their set on tour. Jekyl & Hyde was a completely different show on tour than it was in Houston (where I originallu saw it) or on Broadway.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 4:14pm

Funny, I've seen POTO tours and in NY. THe theaters and sets seemed indentical to me. I beleive the Bd'w tour version is the one that is done by most regional/hs/community productions, but don't quote me.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 4:21pm

I worked the first two tours of POTO and the only major difference were the tall candelabras that rose out of the floor. They came in from the wings on the touring set because not all theatres have trap space under the stage floor. Besides that, nearly everything else was the same or scaled slightly smaller.

[Chrisdude83]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 4:50pm

Hello folks! I have posted a few times on this board but with other names...I think I have finaly figured out how to remember my password etc...this will be my name nice to meet u all! lol. WELL is everyone forgeting about the Phantom of the Opera tour? That tour is totally identical to Broadway and London. There are small issues like the secret passage that the Phantom and Christine crawl into at the the begining of the title song and the same trap that looks like stairs as Raoul and Christine emerge during the roof scene...the tour just has them running off and on stage. All and all the Phantom tour is exactly the same as Broadway...and might I add the tour of POTO in many ways is much better. The Miss Saigon tour was the same way..same sets, same effects etc.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 5:16pm

Um.. Hi!Chris. Both Matt & I just said the POTO tours were indentical to the Bd'w production, more or less but that's ok. Welcome back!

My favorite "overall" POTO cast remains intact- 1992, Philly starring Kevin Gray (Phantom) Terry Bibb (Christine) Keith Buterbaugh (Raul) Patricia Hurd (Carlotta) and Donn Cook as Piangi. Everyone excelled in their roles, especially Kevin & Keith , who both still perform today. sorry,,,information overload!

[Kev]

Posted: 12/23/03 at 8:45pm

Ha, PB, that was my *first* POTO cast

And I know you know your stuff on this show, so I will say that I was most affected by the different nature in the Jekyll and Hyde tour. While the Broadway production was indeed flawed, I found the tour to be an over-the-top, bombastic representation of the show. I'm sure many would say that about the NY production, but I just honestly thought the version in NYC was tighter, and more haunting then the campy tour.

I wasn't bothered by the drastic changes in the Titanic and Sunset tours.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/24/03 at 4:44pm

KEV~ check your pm !

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/24/03 at 4:48pm

I saw the opening night of the first stop of the first tour of POTO. Such. Utter. Garbage.