Canceled Productions That Eventually Happened?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:04pm

The discussion over whether My Son’s a Queer would/could eventually happen on Broadway got me wondering if there was any precedent for a production that was canceled ever actually being successfully mounted on Broadway? I’m referring specifically to productions like MSAQ, Room, or Nerds, in which the marquee was up, rehearsals were happening, and tickets were being sold when the plug was pulled, not “Broadway bound” shows out of town or in development that never came to pass. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:05pm

I NEED REBECCA GIVE US REBECCA

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:06pm

...  things produced by Michael Cohl ...  "The Producers" producing.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:14pm

This isn't a 1:1 comparison and may be more akin to Covid delays, but Roundabout's ASSASSINS was 6 weeks away from starting previews on 9/11. Due to the subject matter, they postponed until 2004.

[Tenor8674]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:36pm

Still waiting for Encores LOVE LIFE. Opera North is doing it next year, and it will FINALLY be recorded with the cooperation of the KWF. Will an Encores production soon follow?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:44pm

also slightly different because of Covid, but Sing Street seemed to be kicked around for a while?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 2:02pm

Plaza Suite.

After two years, SJP and Matthew Broderick could have just moved onto other things, but they brought it back out of love for the project.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 2:09pm

Well, the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon was cancelled after selling $25 million worth of tickets. No one really believed it wouldn't open, and indeed the power play got Actors Equity to fall in line.

Updated On: 4/25/24 at 02:09 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 2:21pm

The 2005 Broadway revival of SWEET CHARITY with Christina Applegate cancelled its planned Broadway run during the revival’s last out-of-town tour stop: Boston. Applegate had fractured her foot during the previous tour stop so Charlotte d’Amboise was brought in to play the entire Boston stop (she was currently playing Roxie in Broadway’s CHICAGO). At the last hour Applegate pleaded with the producers to retract the cancellation and she invested in the show to allow it to open on Broadway as intended. This move endeared her to the Broadway community for saving countless jobs. She went on to earn a Tony Award nomination. NOTE: d’Amboise did double-duty during SWEET CHARITY’s run - she played Roxie in CHICAGO and was the Charity standby as well. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 2:25pm

Carolinaguy, you are so right.  I bought my tickets for MS via mail order - remember that?  Then it was cancelled, with instructions for people to mail their tickets back in for a full refund.  I never did that.  I held onto to both sets of tickets as I was seeing the show twice the first week of May 1991.  

It was spectacular and lived up to all my expectations of the show.  Loved every minute of it.  

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 3:06pm

^^I got mine via phone (so old school as well). I saw the matinee the day before the Tonys. Lea Salonga was still doing the Saturday matinees then with the alternate in the evenings. (At some point, they switched.) So I saw her final performance before winning the Tony. It was definitely a memorable experience!

[nealb1]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 3:25pm

Mail order tickets for MS started in Feb/March 1990.  By the time I got the tickets and saw the show, I had the tickets for over a year.  And, that was when you didn't know what seats you were getting until you opened up your envelope when it came in the mail.  You couldn't exchange them for better seats, or anything like that.  I saw it twice that first week of May.  First night I was center Orchestra.  Fantastic seat.  2nd time a few days later, I was in the 2nd row side Orchestra.  Very close, and just as thrilling.  

Carolinaguy,  wow!  You were so lucky to have such great timing 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 4:49pm

chrishuyen said: "also slightly different because of Covid, but Sing Street seemed to be kicked around for a while?"

But this didn't make it to Broadway, which I believe is what Kad was asking.

It was remounted in Boston (Huntington Theater) and, at the time, the plan WAS to still bring it to Bway, but (obv) that didn't happen.

[Timon3]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 5:07pm

Whistle Down the Wind.

I know WDTW was definitely heading to Broadway, but got aborted after a unsuccessful Washington try out.

Someone did say to me that it had its marquee up at the Martin Beck theater  (Al Hirshfeld) I never have been able to verify this though? In  Gerald Schonefeld’s book it did say it was heading to the Shubert but the Shubert organization couldn’t get Big to close.

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 5:13pm

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Plaza Suite.

After two years, SJP and Matthew Broderick could have just moved onto other things, but they brought it back out of love for the project."

Plaza Suite was never "cancelled" though. They always intended to come back after the shutdown, and were consistently speculated to be one of the bigger money-makers whenever Broadway returned.

I would, however, personally include Hangmen in this discussion. Marquee was up at the Golden, tickets were sold, and even previews had happened when the plug was pulled. Ended up coming back to the same theatre, after another production at that theatre. As some others have alluded to, covid was an extenuating circumstance, but still. I count it.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 5:32pm

^similarly, you could say The Minutes. Not only did they reopen after another show reopened the theatre, they even had to move to a new venue from where they were performing previously.

 

I certainly hope the Laurie Metcalf Virginia Woolf can pull this off at some point down the line. Even if it’s a completely new production/creative team. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 5:38pm

I honestly had forgotten COVID-affected productions like The Minutes, Hangman, Sing Street, etc. I kind of file those under “Unprecedented Times” in my mind. 

[JoeW4]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 6:24pm

Not counting COVID-related ones (I agree with Kad's remark above) -- a recent one that comes to mind is Annie Baker's "Infinite Life" which was canceled at Signature before Atlantic picked it up a couple years lated. Granted, the press release did mention the "ongoing health and safety concerns" with COVID as a reason for the cancellation, but I've always assumed there was more to the story, given the fact that virtually every other theatre was back open. And in retrospect, the fact that Signature didn't reschedule it.

As I was typing this, I was reminded of the situation with the Sam Gold/Oscar Isaac Hamlet, which was supposed to play at TFANA, but Sam Gold pulled the production due to "insurmountable artistic differences." It technically doesn't fit the prompt of the thread since the Public (who eventually put it on) swooped in pretty much right away. But re-reading the NYT article was quite interesting -- I forgot just how bitter the contention was. I feel like we rarely see this sort of tension exposed publicly in the non-profit world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/theater/director-pulls-hamlet-from-theater-for-a-new-audience.html

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 7:46pm

JoeW4 said: "Not counting COVID-related ones (I agree with Kad's remark above) -- a recent one that comes to mind is Annie Baker's "Infinite Life" which was canceled at Signature before Atlantic picked it up a couple years lated. Granted, the press release did mention the "ongoing health and safety concerns" with COVID as a reason for the cancellation, but I've always assumed there was more to the story, given the fact that virtually every other theatre was back open. And in retrospect, the fact that Signature didn't reschedule it.”

Kind of similar. The Outsiders had initially announced a tryout at the Goodman in Chicago for the summer of 2020(obviously that didn’t happen). The show was still in the Goodmans “return” season for 2021/2022. By the time January 2022 rolled around it was announced they were “postponing” The Outsiders and scheduled Life After in its place. Obviously, The Outsiders never actually made it back to The Goodman and I guess La Jolla picked it up.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 10:55pm

I have a vague recollection (i.e., I could easily be wrong or have the facts mangled) that the marquee for the infamous production of Mata Hari was already up on Broadway when it closed out of town. I know it was done at the York much later (probably late 90s). Not sure if this qualifies but it gets close (if I am right).

[nealb1]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 1:32pm

"Forbidden Broadway" just cancelled their run at The Helen Hayes Theatre.  Will it reopen?  Who knows.

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:01pm

Do we still think My Son’s a Queer is going to happen? Initially, I thought it was never gonna happen in the first place but the mess around that production is making me think someone unexpected might back it up as a gesture of support. Financially or with their visibility.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:12pm

If there is a path for it, it would be through off-Bway or a smaller market. If. 

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:23pm

Kad said: "If there is a path for it, it would be threw off-Bway or a smaller market. If."

That’s what I’m thinking but I’ve seen crazier things happen.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:43pm

Well… Add the Broadway transfer Forbidden Broadway to the list.