Different productions of original productions (and Julia McKenzie's Witch)

The original London Sunday In The Park With George at the National Theatre (Philip Quast and Maria Friedman starred; the late Steven Pimlott directed) in 1989 was a completely different production from the Broadway one. Obviously, the original Seurat painting dictates that certain design elements will be similar wherever the show is done, but this was still a very different take on the piece.
For instance, where the original NYC had the Act 2 opener "It's Hot Up Here" with all the characters in the painting in the exact same positions as they were before intermission, the original London staging hilariously had the painting mounted on a wall in the gallery which meant that all the human figures were bunched up together instead of enjoying the full space of the stage. It gave the staccato anger of the number added piquancy. The recent Paris production did something similar.
Also, where the NYC George in Act 2 worked with lasers (very 1980s!) for the Chromolume, the London one was a performance artist.
Slightly later on, the West End production of Passion was completely different from the Broadway one, among the changes including the addition of an interval, and an 11 o'clock number for Michael Ball as Giorgio. It was definitely the inferior production!

I think it is only the Sondheims actually; the last West End production of a Sondheim show that was pretty much a carbon copy of the original would have been the Hal Prince production of Sweeney Todd at Drury Lane, back in 1980.

The original London production of Chicago (as opposed to the long-running revival) in 1979 was also a completely different production from the Fosse original, with direction by Peter James, choreography by Gillian ("Me & My Girl") Gregory, and a pre-Chariots Of Fire Ben Cross as Billy Flynn.

Although it was all set to go into production in the West End when Livent went belly-up, the Ragtime that London finally got years later wasn't the stunning original staging but a stripped-down edition based on a concert version. By contrast, the West End production of the same teams' Once on This Island wasn't Graciela Danieles' beautifully simple B'way production but an elaborate environmental mounting that transformed what is now the Peacock Theatre into a Caribbean island, alas robbing the piece of much of its' charm.

The first London mounting of They're Playing Our Song in 1982 had the same design team as the Broadway version but a different director, although I am sure to many people it looked like the same show.

Although not a Broadway show, or at least not in the 1980s(!), Little Shop Of Horrors had a completely new set when it came to the West End in '83, although many other things (including Ellen Greene initially) were the same as off-B'way.

Also, the recent Shrek at Drury Lane, wasn't the overblown Broadway extravaganza but nearer to the re-directed, re-designed and substantially rewritten US tour. Similarly, when the Lincoln Center South Pacific came to London it was the scaled down touring version, albeit with Paolo Szot and Loretta Ables Sayre.

Wicked in London is identical to its' B'way counterpart, except that no American accents are adopted (although Idina Menzel spoke with her regular accent when she opened the show, all the subsequent West End Elphabas have used RP). The Australasian Wicked is all-American however.

Apart from the above I would say that Once, Mormon, Jersey Boys, Rock Of Ages, Lion King, Avenue Q, Spamalot, Full Monty, Rent, Fela, Drowsy Chaperone, Spring Awakening, Hairspray, Caroline Or Change, Movin'Out, Legally Blonde, Hair etc are/were all pretty much the same as the B'way versions. Going further back, that was true also for Beauty And The Beast, Fosse, Tommy, the Donna Murphy (in London: Elaine Paige) King & I revival, the Michael Blakemore Kiss Me Kate revival, She Loves Me & Damn Yankees revivals, Grand Hotel, Drood, Dancin' and Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.

Updated On: 6/18/13 at 01:34 PM

The big difference is that those shows you mentioned were not transfers.

'Wicked' arrived, for example, via the same set of producers.

With 'Sunday' it was produced by the National Theatre, whilst 'Into the Woods' was produced by Duncan Weldon for Triumph Proscenium Productions. They did not by any of the creative property from Broadway.

I recall times were slightly different back then, and there was a little more freedom for "re-imaginings". Oddly, though, it didn't happen that way when shows travelled in the other direction: Phantom, Les Mis and Miss Saigon, for example, were carbon copies. But of course, their producers also produced the Broadway shows.

My avatar is the divine Julia M as the Witch. Still one of the most magical nights spent in the theatre- with Act 1 being especially deliriously funny!

Saw the London Into The Woods a few times.....loved it. Is my memory correct that Julia McKenzie as the Witch had elongated prosthetic fingers AFTER her transformation. Does anybody else remember her fingers???

I've always been curious about this, too. It seems more common that the really big blockbuster hits are the most likely to transfer in a similar production (even when they fail, like the flop West End Fosse production of Pippin--maybe one reason he didn't do Chicago there.)

For Sondheim the only "clone" (with small changes) productions I can think of are WSS, ALNM and Sweeney (am pretty sure their Forum was not done by Abbott, but it may have been the same designs.) Company made a big deal about bringing much of the American cast over for a limited run, so that could count too.

This also seems a more modern things--I know some have critizised CamMac for all his international clone productions though now more seem annoyed by his cheaper new productions. Was Oklahoma the first Broadway production to transfer in its original production? I know, for example, while done soon after, London's Show Boat was different. Most of the really big R&H shows transferred direct (though not the flops or minor hits like Carousel or the flops--I think Drum Song did, though.)

Also, while revered productions, non-musicals seemed to normally attract British directors who wanted to do their versions--ie Kazan's Streetcar vs Laurence Olivier's in London.

Was Carousel really seen as just a minor hit at the time? I thought a 2 year run was rare then. Until that point, only one Rodgers show had run longer.

I forgot about the Sondheim guide which has very good stats for the various London Sondheim productions. Forum was indeed a transfer of the original staging:
"Opened October 3, 1963 at the Strand Theatre
Closed July 31, 1965; Ran for 762 performances
Produced by Harold Prince, Tony Walton and Richard Pilbrow
Directed by George Abbott
Musical Numbers originally staged by Jack Cole re-staged by George Martin
Settings and Costumes by Tony Walton
Lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Orchestrations by Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin
Musical Direction by Alyn Ainsworth
Dance Arrangements by Hal Schaefer"

(I forgot that WSS had a longer UK run originally than the US.) So all the London (and other) info for Sondheim's shows at least can be found http://www.sondheimguide.com/shows.html

When Legally Blonde transfered to the West End the production was heavily minimised, but did not change a word of the score or book and more closely resembled the touring production. Many have said by minimising the production values of Legally Blonde, the production allowed the show to truly shine since the Broadway production values overshadowed the show itself.

Large Broadway adaptations of well known properties that flop on Broadway, but have a decent run, transfer to the London in smaller and/or revised productions. Examples include Legally Blonde, Shrek, 9 to 5, and The Color Purple.

Yes, i stand corrected Ireland's lyrics were changed. The song was initially changed to fit a more comical British view of the Irish, but it still serves the same purpose, has the same music and is about the same thing, the song's lyrics are just funnier.