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

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 11:43am

Didn't really know how else to phrase that thread title lol...

Anyway, I noticed that James Lapine's original production of Into the Woods is so different to Richard Jones's original London production of the show. The London version opened in 1990, only three years after the original. I was just wondering has there been many other productions that were quite different to their original counterparts?

Nowadays, they don't seem to want to mess with a show's concept or design especially if it's a hit, and the same production staff will cross the Atlantic to open the show in London or Broadway depending where the show first opened. The Into the Woods West End interpretation in '90 was a bold step to take - it seems a darker production to the original Broadway production. It used English accents too, and Julia McKenzie's Witch is remarkably different to Bernadette Peters' performance - something I feel is refreshing in that McKenzie totally made that role her own - her Witch seems to be snobby and grandmother-like whereas Peters' is very streetwise and punk-ish... The designs are radically different too.

(On a side note, I love McKenzie's Witch and it's so beautifully sung as well - her soaring soprano is used to the full for the role, I'm wondering was this a conscious decision made - Sondheim had apparently called her up to ask her to do the show, so already they were looking at a different interpretation of the role...)

I'm totally rambling now, but I was just wondering was there any other shows that had obvious different productions opening in London/New York around the same time as each other a la ITW?

[ajh]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 11:55am

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!

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:10pm

This is interesting to me.

More often than not, when West End musicals transfer to Broadway, they aren't so overhauled or "rethought."

They may have some slight changes to book, music, lyrics, or staging, but essentially they are remountings of the West End shows.

I think new interpretations are fine, but when they haven't seen the original one yet, it seems a little premature to rethink it. Plus, I thought the whole point of bringing it overseas was to take the same show abroad.

Maybe it's just certain shows ... or Sondheim shows.

Did they overhaul Wicked? Kiss Me, Kate? Chicago? A Chorus Line? Rent?

[ajh]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:34pm

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

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:45pm

I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong on this, but to continue the Sondheim theme, I think that Assasins changed when it went to England. Didn't they ad the carnival/shooting booth aspect to the show?

Also, were they the first to combine the Balladeer and the John Wilkes Booth characters? No according to Wikipedia it was the Broadway revival that did this.

Updated On: 6/18/13 at 01:45 PM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 1:48pm

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!

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 2:23pm

Devonian can you share more memories of Julia's performance?

[ajh]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 2:39pm

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???

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 8:41pm

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.

I think that may have been because the New York press was composed largely of Anglophiles from the 1960s through the 1980s. Smash hits in London (the shows you mention, also CATS) were reviewed widely in New York papers, magazines and TV shows.

Re-imagining a production crossing from London to NYC would have risked raising the ire of New York critics and/or disappointing the expectations of American audiences.

Given the myriad media outlets in England, I doubt the reverse was true.

Updated On: 6/18/13 at 08:41 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 10:17pm

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.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 10:44pm

The Boyfriend, which was the first British musical to transfer post WW2, was heavily revised for Broadway against the will of it's original creative team.

It's mentioned on this BBC documentary about the history of British musicals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBjntZmrxg0

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 10:54pm

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.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 11:01pm

It probably shouldn't be--good point. Otherwise you have other "minor hits" like On The Town from around the same time.

But I believe it didn't transfer to London. I wish there was a good West End Theatre database like ibdb or the Lortel off-Broadway archives. I know Oklahoma, SP, I *believe* King and I and Sound of Music were all pretty massive hits in the UK and helped to start the trend of productions being transferred more regularly

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 11:07pm

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

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 8:43am

Wasnt the original Broadway JCS different to the London production?

[bdn223]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 12:19pm

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.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 12:26pm

But what about the song Ireland?

[bdn223]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 2:56pm

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.