How much does a good theater effect a show?

How much does a good theater effect a show? Like, I noticed when I saw Wicked that it looked like the set fit the Gershwin like a glove. Or how the Nederlander is sort of run down which fits RENT perfectly. Do you think the success of some shows would be different if they were to open at different theaters?

Like, I wonder if Wicked would be hugely popular if it opened at the Hilton? Or if Jersey Boys opened at the Eugene O'Neil, etc. I know there's no way to know, but do you think the size/location/marquee - effect a show that much?

For what?

WELL would likely be playing much better in a much more intimate space. It's avant garde nature would lend itself more to a smaller non-proscenium theatre like Circle in the Square (where SPELLING BEE is playing -- and incidentally Circle in the Square is ideal for that theatre; it would be less effective in an 1100 seat proscenium house).

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Lack of room?

Affect?

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A show such as Avenue Q wouldn't do as well in a big theatre (like the Gershwin)

There are only a few people on stage and a stage like the ershwin would be way to large for Avenue Q.

Also, I think the songs in Avenue Q would not be good in a huge theatre; just like Wicked's "Defying Gravity" would not work in a smaller theatre such as the Golden.

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Yeah, it seems like there's a lack of "big" theaters and a lack of "small" theaters on Broadway. There are plenty of theaters in between, but not many that go to the other extremes. Which makes sense, but at the same time, a lot of shows just get swallowed up in a Broadway house. Which sucks because there are plenty of shows that deserve to be on Broadway for the sheer recognition that comes along with it, but they can't because of the theater size.

The Nederlander was purposely re-done to look "run-down" to fit the atmosphere for RENT. The green paint outside the theatre, the lobby paint splotches were all done in design.

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Truth be told, although Rent did distress the interior of the Nederlander Theatre, it wasn't exactly a glamour pit pre-Rent.

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As a caveat to this discussion (Especially for the out of towners) how much does a show change on the road, especially as most road houses are much larger than broadway houses (Not just number of seats, but how far the balcony is from the stage for instance).

Think about this, two of the bigger tours going out next season will be the Doubt and Spelling Bee tours which will be playing houses which are at times 4 TIMES larger (Especially with Spelling Bee) than their Broadway counterparts. I personally haven't seen a touring production since I started exclusively seeing shows on broadway or in the out of town try-out phase 6 years ago, but I'll might bite the bullet and report back for research alone!

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this is a question to anyone really, but it's kinda in response to Margo's last comment...

"WICKED is one of the only shows to have ever played successfully in that barn of a theatre. Few shows are big or epic enough to fill it and not be dwarfed by it, and also popular enough with the public to fill that many seats on a regular basis."

What shows have played there that should have or have otherwise gone well but may have been undercut/lost by the size of the Gershwin?

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