Broadway Productions VS. their Tour Equivalents..

big

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

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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!

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

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.

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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.

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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!

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KEV~ check your pm !

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