Have you ever seen a show before it goes to Broadway and feel…

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 1/20/26 at 9:08pm

…like you missed out if you didn’t catch it again once it transferred to Broadway? I know it’s a silly question but I’m curious if anyone feels the same way. For example, I see so many shows at City Center each year and sometimes the productions have another life elsewhere. I saw Sunday in the Park with George there and didn’t catch it on Broadway. I had just seen it at City Center, Broadway prices were too expensive and I didn’t care for some of the casting. Now I wonder if I made a mistake. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

Updated On: 1/20/26 at 09:08 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/20/26 at 9:46pm

Money is really hard for me right now due to health, and I don't see well so I usually wind up needing a seat that's too pricey (because they ridiculously discount seats for mobile disabilities but not vision). But I am REALLY itching to see Cats... 

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/20/26 at 10:09pm

I would have to say "Spring Awakening".

I saw it at The Atlantic on the evening they found out they were transferring to Broadway. (Steven Sater told me at intermission when I struck up a conversation with him). I didn't see it on Broadway because I wasn't sure that I would like the staging or how it would play in a larger house. It just felt like a more intimate show and I couldn't see it "spread out" on a larger stage. However, I really wanted to see it again.

The tour came through Denver and I saw it. I was impressed with the staging at the massive Buell Theater. I walked out upset that I didn't see it on Broadway when I was back in NYC. But I at least got to see the tour.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/20/26 at 11:38pm

If I like a show that then transfers to Broadway (or even just another venue/run), I always make it a point to see it again and bring someone who hadn’t seen it. I’ve had too many “I wish you could have seen that” moments to miss out on sharing the experience when I have the chance. Shows like Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Oratorio for Living Things, Dana H., or Hair (there’s more, those are just off the top of my mind) getting more life has felt like such a blessing as a theatre lover when you’ll often never see something again after it closes.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 12:39am

TotallyEffed said: "I saw Sunday in the Park with George there and didn’t catch it on Broadway. I had just seen it at City Center,Broadway prices were too expensive and I didn’t care for some of the casting. Now I wonder if I made a mistake. Does anyone else ever feel this way?"

Other than the casting of the leads, which I thought to be sublime, the main thing I remember about the show at the Hudson was the Chromolume. For the first time in four times I've seen the show, it really seemed like a new and vibrant kind of art, and it also seemed like a kind of sculpture, in accord with the script. If it was substantially the same at City Center, I don't think you missed anything essential.

To address your question, I saw the precursor to the recent revival of Spamalot at the Kennedy Center, and I found it a very creaky and feeble brand of musical comedy, the kind of thing where I found myself questioning reality as everyone around me laughed at what I suppose must have registered to them as jokes. I don't feel like I missed anything by skipping it on Broadway.

Updated On: 1/21/26 at 12:39 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 5:39am

On the contrary, I saw Hell's Kitchen at The Public and detested it so much that I refused to revisit it on Broadway. I don't think I missed anything...

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 8:55am

I was speaking to a friend about this over the holidays, and the want to revisit shows especially in the subscription world. 

For example, Toronto had the North American/Try-out of &Juliet in Summer 2022. Now, we have a Canadian production, which is apart of the subscription. While, I had fun nothing changed between the 2 productions, other than cast. Doesn't mean much. Although, the pre-Broadway Aladdin in Toronto was such a different beast that while I didn't get overly excited when the tour came Winter 2024, it was interesting to see the overall whether good or bad. 

I think in today's theatre world, when things are workshopped to death, its not always as "black and white" between a tryout and Broadway production. Now, if this was the Golden Age where scores were rewritten, leading actors fired, new directors came in on the road, then yes. I would seek them out over and over. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 9:01am

It really depends on the production and the theater for me.

I loved watching the Merrily revival at NYTW in east village. It was so intimate. We sat front row and the stage was so low that it really felt like we were in the same room with them.

Part of that intimacy is lost in a bigger theater like the Hudson when it went to Broadway. 

[SkidRow82]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 9:14am

I saw Six and Death Becomes Her prior to their Broadway runs. Loved them both, but when I'm in NYC the vibe is always that time is limited - so I'm always going to see something new. 

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 9:45am

SkidRow82 said: "I saw Six and Death Becomes Her prior to their Broadway runs. Loved them both, but when I'm in NYC the vibe is always that time is limited - so I'm always going to see something new."

By the same token the rare few times that I get to the city, I always try to see the "flops" or the things that I know will never tour.

[inception]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 10:20am

I think I've only also had the opposite reaction.

First thing that comes to mind was seeing Mrs Doubtfire in Seattle. I had fun, but I also never need to see that again.

Living on the West Coast I don't have the opportunity to see Broadway frequently. I know that I won't get to see most things.  I'm thankful for what I do get to see. Sometimes once is enough.

Going back some time, in 2013 I had such a visceral reaction to Fun Home that I didn't feel like I missed out not seeing the changes for Broadway.  The cast I saw at the ages that they were off-Broadway was just perfect to me.   I haven't ever felt the need to even see any regional productions.

Updated On: 1/21/26 at 10:20 AM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/21/26 at 10:37am

As someone who has seen many an off Broadway transfer in both mountings, it’s very much a case-by-case situation in terms of whether or not the production is “better” or “worse” on Broadway. 

Two prime examples of both situations that come to mind - BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and FUN HOME. BBAJ lost so much of its charm and intimacy in a larger venue. The Broadway production was almost identical in every way to the Off Broadway one, which made it come off as distant and static in a larger venue. FUN HOME managed to become tighter and stronger at CITS, mostly from a directorial standpoint. Sam Gold really spun (excuse the pun) gold translating the show to the in-the-round setting. I wish more directors were open to taking a risk and a fresh approach for Broadway, if the venue calls for it, like Gold was for FUN HOME. 

More often than not, the overarching key to surviving (or even enhancing) a transfer is turning up the “volume” of the direction and performances juuuuust right. It’s a very fine line and a difficult needle to thread, but two more recent successful productions that come to mind are LIBERATION and HELL’S KITCHEN (as a musical, it more literally amped up the production elements for Broadway in a way that simply couldn’t be accommodated at The Public, including killer sound design - sorry, Patti). 

Updated On: 1/21/26 at 10:37 AM