Broadway Revivals that used the original Production/Staging

What are the Broadway plays and musicals that have returned in essentially their original versions that people can think of? I mean basically the same direction, design, choreography... I don't mean the cases where a show closed, went on tour, and then briefly returned...

I actually can't think of any plays (though I would be thrilled if someone tried to recreated the Kazan staging of Williams' Streetcar, Cat or Sweet Bird, to give one example--even if many believe that ruins the point of theatre).

Musical wise a few spring immediately to mind.

West Side Story

Fiddler on the Roof (twice at least, it seems)

Cabaret (although the book was revised to add more blatant gay/bisexual elements to Cliff and the Kit Kat Club, Why Should I Wake Up replaced with Don't Go and I Don't Care Much added)

Sweet Charity (again with some changes--a new version of Bravest Individual, the movie version of the title tune, and cutting Charity's half sung Soliloquy, something I wish they'd put back in)

That's all that immediate comes to mind, although Gypsy may have been one too...

It's interesting that most of these revivals were, if not flops, disappointing runs--although I have to say I like the idea of later generations being able to see a close version of the original production (and would fly to NYC right now if someone did something similar to shows like Company, Follies...).

I've seen both the 80s revival of Sweet Charity (with Donna McKechnie in the lead), and Cabaret, and while I kinda get why they weren't hits (interesting both happened around the same time, 20 years after their originals), I also have to admit it's exciting to be able to get some idea of the brilliant 1960s stagings of these pieces, since they weren't filmed back then except a few numbers on TV shows. To see the "camera shutter" style set for Charity and how seamlessly a scene folds into another scene (which just makes the recent revival seem more lacking), or with Chorus Line to see Boris Aronson's original groundbreaking designs, Ron Fields' brilliant choreography (now kinda forgotten thanks to Fosse), and of course how much Cabaret changed over the years (though this 87 revivion seems to be where many of the small book changes for the Mendes revival came from)...

*edit* Damnit, I forgot about an obvious one--A Chorus Line.

I think there were a couple of Hello Dolly revivals with Channing, using the original staging and designs.

What about the 1970-something My Fair Lady revival with Rex Harrison?

The revivals of HELLO, DOLLY! featured the same Oliver Smith sets as the original and most of the original Gower Champion staging. The costumes were new but based on Freddy Wittop's original designs (the "Sunday Clothes" costumes took on more of a neon glow). The Pearl Bailey revival had slightly different sets and the Harmonia Gardens seemed to be more wood paneled than the original. Bailey often created her own staging as the whim struck her.

The buzz around the incoming Patti LuPone revival has difficulties developing between Jerry Herman and director Jack O'Brien because O'Brien has ideas that veer far away from what Champion originally created. Herman feels that of all his shows, DOLLY should stay pretty close to the original.

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Updated On: 4/14/11 at 06:36 PM

I believe the late 1970s revival of Man of La Mancha with an older Richard Kiley used the same design and staging as the original Broadway run I believe.

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A Chorus Line.

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Although the costumes and sets were different (and, IMHO nowhere near as good as the original) the 1983 revival of Rodgers and Hart's "On Your Toes" featured the original staging by 98 year old George Abbott, the original choreography by 93 year old George Balanchine and the original orchestrations by 97 year old Hans Spialek. It was the closest I will ever come to seeing a true 1930s musical from the Golden Days.

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I also get a certain rush from seeing select original productions recreated right before me. It depends on the musical though, and how well their original productions served them.

For example, even before I saw any version of Dreamgirls on stage, I already knew there was something about what I had seen of the original production designs, choreography, and direction that just seemed "right." This wouldn't be confirmed until many years later upon discovering some grainy footage of the OBC in action at the Imperial. I was stunned at how thrillingly it had been originally staged.

Another original production that intrigued me long before I saw it was Evita. I can't describe the rush I felt once I got to see the original, full-scale production in the 20th anniversary national tour. I was disappointed that some scenes were drastically "spiced-up" for that tour ("Buenos Aires" with its different orchestration and club-style lighting in place of the more evocative original lighting), but it really was the original for the most part, and it was thrilling to see something I had admired from afar come to life in front of me.

While very magical and creatively staged/designed, original production designs of musicals such as Miss Saigon, Ragtime, Showboat (Hal prince revival), and Titanic didn't catch on or strike a chord in me that made them iconic. It's not like I decide which productions are iconic and shouldn't be tampered with or anything. It's something I feel, and I'm guessing I feel it because it is there--that quality inherent in its original staging that can often times be difficult to explain, but you usually find you don't have to because the majority of people who've seen them agree, and can relate.

The only musical that I believe should NEVER be altered in any way is A Chorus Line. Everything else, even Evita, Dreamgirls, and Les Miserables (my fave original production) certainly work and can even benefit in certain scenes from revisions in direction and design, but still, 9 out of 10 times, I will come away feeling the original was more satisfying and complete.

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Updated On: 4/14/11 at 08:50 AM

In terms of plays, the 2002 revival of I'm Not Rappaport had the same star, director, set designer and lighting designer as the original 1985 Broadway production, and both were in the same theater (the Booth).

Not on Broadway, but the 2008 production of Talley's Folly at the McCarter had the same director, set designer, and costume designer as the original Broadway production from 1980.

In both cases, I don't have any idea whether the actual staging was changed in significant ways or not. My impression in both cases is that it was not, but I could be wrong.

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If I were to entrust anyone with re-staging DOLLY!, it would be Susan Stroman. Her style is very much like Champions to begin with.

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Paula Abdul and Mia Michaels are both in consideration.

I wasn't around to see it, but I recall reading (maybe in Lorrie Davis's book?) that the 10 year anniversary revival of Hair back in '77 was a recreation of the original production.

Ain't Misbehavin

Also, if you want to see the original ballets, the 1939 Warner Bros. has both ballets. The first, Princess Zenobia is totally the way Balanchine staged it on Broadway. Vera Zorina (who eventually married him - who didn't?) did the show in London, so her work in both ballets is totally authentic and much the same in Slaughter as Makarova danced it in 1983. Sadly, they chose Eddie Albert to play Junior and HE CAN'T DANCE A STEP, so his performance in "Slaughter" is wince-inducing (they cut to a double at one point for tap steps). Otherwise, however, the ballets are exactly as seen onstage.

ps I LOVE the amazing entangled arms Zorina executes in Zenobia. Years ahead of its time.

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