Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
#1Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 7:20pmWith Scottsboro Boys and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson transferring to Broadway and Hank expected to, joining In The Heights, Rock of Ages and Next to Normal which have all originated at Off Broadway, but what great musicals have played off Broadway but never made the final hurdle to Broadway? Updated On: 8/19/10 at 07:20 PM
#2Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 8:21pmThe Fantasticks
#2Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 8:28pmHank?
#3Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 8:36pmThe Glorious Ones
BDrischBDemented
Broadway Star Joined: 11/13/05
#4Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:09pmHedwig and the Angry Inch
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#5Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:24pmADDING MACHINE
#6Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:30pmBat Boy, Bare, and I've always been intrigued by the Saved! musical.
#7Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:32pm
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
That's still up in the air.
#8Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:34pmZanna Don't
#9Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great White Way?
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:37pmLITTLE MARY SUNSHINE
sbflyfan
Broadway Star Joined: 4/12/07
#10Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:45pm
Hank?
Surely you've heard of "Hank" the Hank Williams jukebox musical... you didn't see it at Second Stage? Lenora Nemetz did a fantastic job playing Hank...
alterego
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
#11Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:49pmZANNA DON'T is a "great" musical?
broadwayworldreader
Stand-by Joined: 7/6/09
#12Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 1:54ambroadwayboy was right. Bat Boy. Now there's a supremely awesome show.
rougeduck
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/07
#13Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 11:53amBat Boy and Reefer Madness
#14Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 11:58amOlympus On my Mind
#15Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 2:07pmDames at Sea
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#16Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 2:56pm
One thing that often makes an Off Broadway musical great is the intimacy of the house wed with the nature of the work.
I've never yet seen a successful piece Off Broadway that was equally good or better after a move to a bigger house. Never. I've always enjoyed it more in a smaller venue. This includes Avenue Q, Little Shop of Horrors, [title of show], both halves of Falsettos, and I suspect will include Yank! and future transfers.
One exception - the original Sunday in the Park With George was equally good in the tiny Booth as it was at Playwrights.
#17Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/20/10 at 10:18pm
Romance In Hard Times
A New Brain
Sensations
Love's Fowl
#18Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/21/10 at 12:38pm
How could I forget Romance In Hard Times?!?!
It's one of my favorite scores ever.
I agree with newintown 100% about small scale shows not fitting properly in bigger houses. But Romance is a big show and would definitely prove the exception.
#19Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/21/10 at 12:51pmBare and In Trousers. Both had absolutely fantastic scores.
SFFrontRow
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/05
#20Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/21/10 at 1:11pm
Not all really good off-b'way shows are suited for a life on Broadway. Just because there is an audience for it off-b'way and reviewers LOVE the show does not translate to a good b'way run (or even transfer of the production).
Case in point, I have serious doubts that Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is going to go over very well on b'way. I saw it and thought the show was funny, a little absurd and very juvenile in its approach. The performers were outstanding and the music was okay, a great off-b'way show in a great venue.
This particular show, in a bigger house, with Broadway prices? Not sure the general b'way musical audience will embrace it as much. Let's face it, b'way musicals are high stakes and high cost. A fringe audience works for off-b'way but not for the b'way scene.
Not sure what drives decisions to transfer to b'way. I can only guess it is the recognition and the possibility of a life extended to other cities on tour or resident productions.
I wonder IF the Tony's recognized off-b'way shows in a secondary set of categories for best musical and best play and expanded the acting and technical categories to include off-b'way productions (maybe 6 nominees in each category) the need to transfer to b'way would be diminished. This change in the annual awards would allow the off-b'way shows to flourish even more. Of course, then you have the possibility of a killing a transfer of a truly great show to b'way or denying the transfered show (and a new performer) a "Broadway" Tony once recognized off-b'way (aka - like the "other" theater awards that combine off and B'way).
I think the small off-b'way productions are fun, interesting and innovative. Some do well to transfer to B'way but a lot do not or should not (one of my favorite off-b'way shows [title of show] being a prime example).
I as a theater-goer (from out of town no less) I seek out interesting productions whether on or off b'way. I tend to shy away from transfers (especially if I have seen it off b'way on its initial run). When I do see the b'way version, I am often disappointed. Case in point - American Idiot - it was OUTSTANDING in a small venue in Berkeley and just suffocated in the BIG BIG St James theater (sorry to the current production but what were they thinking???).
If you are going to transfer to b'way, do it smart and think about the production and the venue. If you need to clear your off-b'way space, do yourself and the theater public a favor and keep it small, find another off-b'way venue to make it a more permanent production suited to the audience that made it popular in the first place (and in the process, build in a demand due to a smaller venue making it a hard-to-get ticket which always increases demand).
Updated On: 8/21/10 at 01:11 PM
#21Great Musicals That Played Off Broadway, But Never Made It To The Great Wh
Posted: 8/21/10 at 10:39pmLast 5 Years?
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