Have Broadway Productions Ever Utilized Focus Groups?

I was part of another focus group for an upcoming film recently and it got me thinking about this. As a film geek, getting to do these is one of my favorite things about living in NYC, where a test audience watches a film (a lot of times unfinished) and people involved with the film all the way up to studio execs can be in the audience, learning in real time what works and what doesn't.

I was thinking about these on my flight back from Chicago the other day and seeing "Devil Wears Prada" and was wondering if groups like these have ever been utilized for live stage shows. Now, I've done them for readings before (I was in a test read-through for "Allegiance" a number of years ago) but never for a production already up on it's feet and close to being ready to start. Obviously a "test run-through" would most likely involve stopping and starting and directors explaining what would be happening in certain scenes once sets etc. are complete but that's exactly what the films are like - title cards will appear explaining what will happen once effects are completed.

Anyways, just a rambling thought wondering if these have ever happened before for theater.

I forgot about those surveys on the seats!

While I agree that out of town tryouts “could” serve that purpose they only get feedback in real-time from audience reactions DURING the show then online forums without the ability to interact and find out the “why” to why people did or didn’t like something, not to mention people writing online reviews aren’t always exactly honest in how they feel. That’s what these groups are for - for real time discussion and dissection of elements that are and aren’t working, in a setting where your thoughts aren’t being written for a response as they are online. But just to provide anonymous feedback.

I've never heard of a focus group per se, but I'm pretty sure I got a survey to complete after DEH at Arena Stage, and I got one that was clearly about Jagged Little Pill that was basically a marketing survey around title options and how they framed the show. The JLP one was before it ran in Boston- no idea how I ended up on that list. I don't live there and didn't see it until it was on Broadway.

I do think focus groups during out of town tryouts would be great, but it's only helpful if the producers provide the time and money for the creatives to work on the show before Broadway. We've all seen shows that have made a lot of adjustments between out of town and broadway, and others that made hardly any.

I've done test screenings/film focus groups, but there was never any during-the-film component –– just a survey on our phones after, and then a smaller group of us being led in a discussion of specific strengths/weaknesses/ways we would describe it/etc.

I don't think it really matters what someone feels DURING the show, it's their feeling immediately after it ends and in the days/weeks to come.....right? This type of thing could also be horribly unnerving to the actors, especially if there was any element of stopping and starting. You'll get nearly the same results by just doing post-show surveys + anecdotal responses from people with "trustworthy" opinions. A lot of the issues will also be abundantly clear to the producer/director/author!

A film can be made or broken in the editing process, which is something that doesn't really happen on the same level in theatre, and that's why test screenings can be so crucial. The biggest issues of DEVIL WEARS were probably evident in the final studio run-through; adding tech/design/orchestra surely makes a difference and can change the calibration of things, but it is far less significant the film editing process (especially in a vfx-heavy film).

This is reminding me of a Manny Azenberg story from Theatre Talk or someplace.

Neil Simon had a hemorrhoids joke that bombed for the first few previews. Finally Manny walked up to Neil and said "...hemorrhoids?" To which Neil replied, "what, you think I don't know?! I'm still trying to think up something better!"

Jordan Catalano said: "I can’t imagine why a focus group would ever stop a show and ask questions during it. They’ve never done that to films before. That serves no purpose."

Then I guess I misunderstood your comment!!! I agree it would be a nightmare for all.

Yes, that's what I was saying. If you go to a movie and gauge if it's working or not based strictly on how the audience's reactions as a whole are to that one screening, you have nothing to go on. I could have walked out of "Prada" and said "wow the audience applauded after the songs, they love it!" but that doesn't tell you anything at all about the good portion of the audience who didn't applaud and you want to know why those people didn't and even the ones who did if they did so just out of politeness or feelings that they should because they're in a theater etc etc. These types of groups really break everything down for the creative teams in a way they'd NEVER get from reading posts here or asking folks to fill out a survey. When used correctly, they can be invaluable to the process but creative teams would have to be open to listening and making changes when and where needed, which they hardly EVER do anymore.

We recently had a thread about out of town shows that used the preview period for substantial changes and there were so few of them and really not many at all in the past decade or so.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what the creative team of School of Rock did? In lieu of an out of town tryout, didn't they hold a series of workshops that were open to the public where people gave them feedback? I remember ALW saying the workshops were immensely helpful.

I'm surprised that more shows don't do this - especially when it's becoming more and more expensive to do tryouts outside of New York.

JasonC3 said: "Might be interesting to have a dial group like they do with political debates where viewers of the show can dial up or down based on their affinity with the show as it plays."

Ken, and a few others, have done that: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/theater/dialing-up-a-hit-influence-over-musical-is-in-the-crowds-hands.html

I suppose if a show clearly isn't working, a focus group could provide some valuable information, but musicals are hard enough to write as it is. Writers often already have input from producers and various members of the creative team. It's difficult to imagine compiling information from a focus group as well and trying to rewrite a show based on the results of a focus group. With musicals it seems the more cooks there are in the kitchen the potential for disaster increases.