Rocky Preview Shutdowns

So disappointed in last nights (2/22) production of Rocky. 3 times in Act 1 the curtain was brought down to correct technical problems. What I don't get is that friends saw Thursday evening and it was flawless

At intermission they gave away free drinks - which extended the normal 15 minute intermission an additional 10 minutes. I wish they had given the audience tickets to come back and see it - cause breaking it up like that really broke the show

The actors seemed frustrated but made jokes

The 1st time they brought the curtain down was when Rocky goes in to the gym to get his locker - the set wouldn't move. When it restarted Rock comes in and breaks the lock off his locker and says "nothing seems to work around here"

Then during the interviews one of the jumbo screens came off track and crashed into the set

Then when Rocky goes to meet Apallo's people the set wouldn't move. This was the LONGEST time curtain was closed. Even the AD came out to talk to people He said "we are so close to the intermission so we made a couple modifications" When the curtain opened it was a black box theater with NO set. The actor said Come in Rocky. Sorry we are doing some redecorating"

At the end of the 2nd act when the lights went out for Apallo's entrance we thought it was another F up and you could hear the ENTIRE audience go "NOOOOOOOO" and then actually applaud when the stage lights continued.

We didn't get out until 11:30

This is exactly why they have previews. To see what goes wrong and fix it. Different things can go wrong, and they use the preview period to see what does go wrong and figure out a way to make it right.

So what? Mishaps can happen at any time and not just during previews. I'm sure every member here can give you a story of something going wrong during a show - even well-established, long running shows. That's part of what makes live theatre so great. If you don't like it then stay home and watch the movie.

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Haha. Owned.

I enjoyed reading your original post, I tend to stop visiting super long threads so I would not have read yours without this new thread.

Just rest assured that no one here has ever been elected or hired to be the hall monitor, but there are certainly some people who take it upon themselves to scold and issue demerits even though nobody ever asked them to. They really don't have to worry, it's not like BWW is running out of paper so everybody must conserve.

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You keep talking about how the night before ran smoothly like that means something. It's live theater - more than that, it's live theater on an extremely set/tech-heavy show that is in previews (aka the work process). Have you never heard the tales of Titanic and Spiderman in previews? Audiences were sent home.

Just recently, Machinal had a major tech snafu that stopped the show on opening night. It happens. Years from now, people who weren't there will be claiming they saw this debacle. You saw an utterly unique piece of theater that only a thousand or so people will EVER see.

If you can't appreciate that, then yes, you should stop going to previews - at least in shows with such huge and complicated sets.

This second thread on Rocky previews is sponsored by The Department of Redundancy Department.

"The show opened less than two weeks ago and they are still figuring it all out....previews!"

And that is why tickets to preview performances are always priced A LOT less than tickets to the show once it formally opens... oh wait... never mind.

I wonder if they made structural changes to the book that reordered a scene or two. If so, the programming involved to reorganize the production (sets and lights) could be profound. This could explain why the night before it ran smoothly and the performance you saw was problematic.

I am far more concerned about the comment in the other thread that implied that one of the monitors might have been seriously damaged. As they didn't come back in the second act and during the performance I saw they were used more than once in act 2, I fear that the issues are more than some annoyed audience members. Those monitors are quite expensive and I'm not sure they are easily replaced.

For those who are going tonight and later in this next week, please report on whether or not the monitors show up at all. I truly hope they are fixed or replaced and not cut.

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^ They wanted to, but the stage door flew off its hinges and killed 3 of the people waiting. But it's to be expected cause it's still previews.

I too empathize. Although I appreciate that previews are as much for the company as it is for the audience, I found myself worrying during the opening few minutes of watch Rocky that something would go wrong. I never do that when watching a show that has opened.

I was just very lucky to both get the seats we got and that all went smoothly.

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Maybe you should have had TWO free drinks.

Isn't today 2/22?

I saw it on Tuesday. The assistant director came onstage before the show to remind us that they are in previews and that the show could possibly be stopped if a problem arose. No problems. Went off without a hitch.

ART is probably correct. I do know some changes went in on Thursday night so that could be what is going on. My understanding is that a few changes are being made.

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Updated On: 2/22/14 at 05:38 PM