Show That Have Sat Down
Show That Have Sat Down
Timon3
Stand-by Joined: 4/29/20
#1Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/24/24 at 5:30pm
I just want to find out plays/musicals that have sat down in North American cities other than New York?
#2Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/24/24 at 6:07pm
The ones that come to mind: Avenue Q, Phantom, Hairspray, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Once, Cursed Child, Six, and Wicked. Mainly the bigger/tourist friendly/best musical winners.
I am big. It’s the REVIVALS that got small.
#3Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/24/24 at 7:25pm
Las Vegas has seen many! MAMMA MIA, JERSEY BOYS, LION KING, PHANTOM, AVENUE Q, SPAMALOT HAIRSPRAY, THE PRODUCERS, CHICAGO come to mind pretty quickly! After the success of MAMMA MIA, there was a big burst of shows, most of them cut down to 90 minutes.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#4Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/24/24 at 7:33pm
Had they been rockin' the boat?
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bettyco
Chorus Member Joined: 3/28/19
William12
Understudy Joined: 1/27/19
#6Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/24/24 at 11:48pm
Toronto has had several sit-down productions. SIX is a sit-down that is currently running, The Lion King opens one later this year too. They've also had sit-downs of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Dear Evan Hansen, Come from Away, Matilda, Kinky Boots, War Horse, Les Miserables, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, and several others.
#7Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 2:05am
Chicago had Wicked and Hamilton sit-down productions that both ran for many years. (An attempted Billy Elliot sit-down didn’t fare as well.)
carlisle14
Swing Joined: 1/2/15
#8Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 8:38am
Brave Sir Robin2 said: "Las Vegas has seen many! MAMMA MIA, JERSEY BOYS, LION KING, PHANTOM, AVENUE Q, SPAMALOT HAIRSPRAY, THE PRODUCERS, CHICAGO come to mind pretty quickly! After the success of MAMMA MIA, there was a big burst of shows, most of them cut down to 90 minutes."
Vegas also had Phantom for a while. The stagework was cool for that one in Vegas.
#9Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 9:29am
Chicago also had sit downs of Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Ragtime.
Outside the Loop, there were long-running productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes at the Apollo, Forever Plaid at Wisdom Bridge, and Coed Prison Sl*ts at the Annoyance Theatre.
#10Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 9:37am
Toronto also had sit downs of Beauty and the Beast, Jersey Boys, Sunset Blvd, Tommy, The Sound of Music, Rock of Ages, The Wizard of Oz, Dirty Dancing, Phantom, Hairspray, Miss Saigon, Les Miz
Boston had a production of 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
"Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok. Have you guys heard about fidget spinners!?" ~Patti LuPone
#11Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 9:48am
BalconyClub said: "Chicago also had sit downs of Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, andRagtime.."
Forgot about Joseph! (despite the incessant 90s ads! haha) Are the others sit-downs or just longer tour stops? I may be unclear on what makes a sit-down production. I thought they were purpose-built open-ended productions vs. extended tour stops. (And the off-loop mentions were just local productions that found long-time audiences, no?)
bowtie7
Stand-by Joined: 7/27/11
#12Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 10:21am
Phantom had a sit down production in Los Angeles. After it closed, the physical production moved to San Francisco for an even longer run. I believe each of these productions were produced under the old production contract with Los Angeles and then San Francisco being the home city. As I remember, the Equity production contract used to allow a production to choose one of four home/base cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Having a production based in one of these cities allowed the production to avoid paying a weekly per deim if a cast member was cast locally, I believe the Chicago Phantom was technically the start of the first national tour though it played a very long run before its first move. I think the Los Angeles and San Francisco production were not designed to tour and took a long time to make the move between the two. Las Vegas has its own Equity contract for musicals, which allowed for more performances for show that only ran 90 minutes (which was also the traditional limit for how long casino owners would allow patrons to be away from gaming tables/slots). Several of the musicals in Las Vegas were full length including Mama Mia and Lion King. Phantom, Hairspray, Producers were cut down to 90 minutes (boy did Hairspray move fast--and lost two songs (Baltimore Crab/Act 2 prison opening, if I remember correctly--only slowing down for You're Timeless to Me)
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#13Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 1:45pm
Brave Sir Robin2 said: "Las Vegas has seen many! MAMMA MIA, JERSEY BOYS, LION KING, PHANTOM, AVENUE Q, SPAMALOT HAIRSPRAY, THE PRODUCERS, CHICAGO come to mind pretty quickly! After the success of MAMMA MIA, there was a big burst of shows, most of them cut down to 90 minutes."
It’s almost ironic that so many of the shows insisted they needed to cut down to 90 minutes when the first one to have a long-term successful run in Vegas was Mamma Mia, which famously didn’t cut the show down to one act. Most of the 90 minute reduced shows failed to run very long or turn a profit even when they did have a long run, like Phantom (which had an insanely high capitalization since they built that theatre from the ground up, and was worth seeing just for the improved chandelier alone).
Fosse76
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/05
#14Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 3:06pm
jpbran said: "BalconyClub said: "Chicago also had sit downs of Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Ragtime.
Outside the Loop, there were long-running productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes at the Apollo, Forever Plaid at Wisdom Bridge, and Coed Prison Sl*ts at the Annoyance Theatre."
Forgot about Joseph! (despite the incessant 90s ads! haha) Are the others sit-downs or just longer tour stops? I may be unclear on what makes a sit-down production. I thought they were purpose-built open-ended productions vs. extended tour stops.
Not all open runs have to run for years to be an open run. The only thing that makes something a sit-down or open run is that the show opens without a pre-determined closing date. And with the exception of Hamilton, all were physically designed to tour.
You can also add The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Color Purple, Jersey Boys, and Hal Prince's Show Boat to the list of Chicago's open runs (and as has been previously mentioned, Billy Elliot, Wicked, and Hamilton).
Billy Elliot and The Color Purple were the only two that underperformed, though the former did have a lengthy run. Some shows might have had an internal, unannounced closing date in mind (i.e., even if sales supported a longer run, they would still close on Xxx date to tour). And the earlier shows weren't really advertised as open runs, they simply just kept extending.
A fun note: Cameron Macintosh actually shuttered Miss Saigon early and moved it to Boston in response to a then recently-passed entertainment tax by the city, which was ironically passed because of the success of the recent long runs of Phantom, Lez Miz, and Miss Saigon.
jpbran said: "(And the off-loop mentions were just local productions that found long-time audiences, no?)"
Not necessarily. Most off-Loop shows that are derived from off-Broadway, etc. aren't big enough to have national companies, and often rely on local producers to mount productions. That doesn't make them any less legit open runs.
bear88
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/26/16
#15Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 4:29pm
bowtie7 said: "Phantom had a sit down production in Los Angeles. After it closed, the physical production moved to San Francisco for an even longer run. I believe each of these productions were produced under the old production contract with Los Angeles and then San Francisco being the home city. As I remember, the Equity production contract used to allow a production to choose one of four home/base cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Having a production based in one of these cities allowed the production to avoid paying a weekly per deim if a cast member was cast locally, I believe the Chicago Phantom was technically the start of the first national tour though it played a very long run before its first move. I think the Los Angeles and San Francisco production were not designed to tour and took a long time to make the move between the two. Las Vegas has its own Equity contract for musicals, which allowed for more performances for show that only ran 90 minutes (which was also the traditional limit for how long casino owners would allow patrons to be away from gaming tables/slots). Several of the musicals in Las Vegas were full length including Mama Mia and Lion King. Phantom, Hairspray, Producers were cut down to 90 minutes (boy did Hairspray move fast--and lost two songs (Baltimore Crab/Act 2 prison opening, if I remember correctly--only slowing down for You're Timeless to Me)"
The San Francisco run of Phantom of the Opera ran an extraordinary five years at the Curran in the 1990s.
bowtie7
Stand-by Joined: 7/27/11
#16Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 5:45pm
If I remember correctly, Wicked in Chicago was a strange situation, with the first national tour booked for a very limited run (which may have been due to several previous big touring shows under performing, especially Sunset Boulevard)--when the show sold amazingly well, the run was turned into a sit down production. The original tour cast went on with scheduled tour and new Chicago based cast was hired to take over the show. Not 100% sure--but I think the set stayed in Chicago and a new one constructed quickly to continue the tour. The original tour cast (Stephanie J Block, Kendra Kassebaum, Carol Kane, David Garrison) played April 29 to June 12, 2005. The Chicago cast (Anna Gasteyer, Kate Reinders, Rondi Reed) started performances June 24th with the run continuing to January 25, 2009.
LuckyDipster
Stand-by Joined: 8/2/23
#17Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 6:07pm
I've not heard of this before. What is a sit down show?
#18Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 7:19pm
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET ran in Chicago for over 3,000 performances - seven years! Longer than the Broadway run.
#19Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 7:40pm
Los Angeles had THE LION KING, THE PRODUCERS (with Jason Alexander and Martin Short), HAMILTON, and WICKED at the Pantages, as well! The Shubert had LES MISERABLES, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, CATS, RAGTIME, and the US premiere of SUNSET BOULEVARD, before it closed in 2002.
Interesting to see the musicals outside of Disney, Drabinsky, and Mackintosh that had sit-down productions!
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
CJRochester
Stand-by Joined: 11/17/11
#20Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 8:48pm
The Toronto production of Phantom ran for 10 years, 1989-1999.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#21Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/25/24 at 8:50pm
We had commercials playing for the Toronto production all the time in Cleveland. I can still here the voice telling me to “buy Phantom by phone”!
LuckyDipster
Stand-by Joined: 8/2/23
#22Show That Have Sat Down
Posted: 3/27/24 at 4:38pm
LuckyDipster said: "I've not heard of this before. What is a sit down show?"
Ok, I'll take a guess. Is it a show that has an extended run in a non Broadway theatre?
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