The only recent show I can recall making major adjustments out of town was Beetlejuice, which was atrocious in Washington.
binau said: "I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the strategy is/was that they thought this could essentially become a staple of New York musicals that tourists would feed for years. They'd line up to see "New York, New York" as part of a trip the same way they'd go to a museum. They'd recognise the iconic 'New York, New York' song in particular and love it and tell their friends back home. They also probably thought LMM's name is a gold mine and overestimated his draw in this context. They probably thought it'd be critic and award proof because the title is so striking. It just didn't work out this way at all for some reason.
I must admit, I was hoping to catch this show so I too was hoping it would catch on. But alas."
It's totally this! They wanted a 42nd Street, the kind of show that's a one-stop-shop for tourists, but there's a bevy of more specific options available - Disney shows for the kids, jukeboxes for the nostalgic adults, quality hits like Hadestown and Hamilton that people have some level of FOMO about, etc. Nobody's paying top dollar for a period piece based on a 46-year-old flop movie if it doesn't have rave reviews and/or amazing word of mouth.