#26
Posted: 11/10/15 at 10:35pm
"The sponge was a hoot!" -- Mr Roxy on Dance of The Vampires, 12 years ago
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Shows That Were More Successful Out of Town — Page 2
#27
Posted: 11/10/15 at 10:44pm
As far as Follies is concerned, I doubt any production of it ever made money. It is a failure with class like Sideshow. Follies will get produced again. Sad to say, I doubt Sideshow ever will.
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#28
Posted: 11/10/15 at 10:56pm
Where did most shows do their "try outs"?
#29
Posted: 11/10/15 at 11:23pm
Philadelphia and Boston were the 2 main cities
A few tried out in Baltimore .
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#30
Posted: 11/10/15 at 11:23pm
Duplicate
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Updated On: 11/10/15 at 11:23 PM
#31
Posted: 11/10/15 at 11:30pm
The current deaf west revival of spring awakening comes to mind. While have just won like was it 8 ovation awards it's only packing in 50% crowds.
My father (AIDS)
My sister (AIDS)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades
#32
Posted: 11/11/15 at 7:25am
Big Fish deserved so much better! I still don't understand why it didn't last longer. Loved Norbert, Kate and Bobby...
#33
Posted: 11/11/15 at 7:38am
The Little Mermaid
The thing is, besides being an utter toad of a human being, Riedel usually has the least knowledge of the topic in the room. He doesn't usually understand the content or approach of a show, and is always completely and unfailingly socially ignorant, which makes it really infuriating when Susan can't get a word in edgewise. A definitive mansplainer; it's always painful when he has female guests. I watch the show sporadically when I really want to see a guest, because it's the only theatre talkshow we have, but it would be so much better without this hateful clown in a dadcoat. (thanks ScaryWarhol)
#34
Posted: 11/11/15 at 8:32am
The latest revival of Les Mis was very well received in Toronto, but received mostly mixed reviews when it opened on Broadway, if I recall correctly.
No, I think most of the reviews were fairly good. Sure, they weren't all raves, but I didn't think they were mostly mixed.
One example I can think of is Rocky, where that show had a much more successful run in Germany than it did on Broadway.
#35
Posted: 11/11/15 at 9:07am
As I mentioned initially, Amazing Grace was well-received in Chicago, but was definitely not as well-received on Broadway.
I really can’t agree that “Amazing Grace” was a success or well-received here in Chicago. It certainly wasn’t a hot ticket – there were tons of discounts and, at the performance I attended, lots of open seats. Chris Jones in the Trib certainly didn’t give it a glowing review and I have still yet to meet a friend/acquaintance of mine who actually saw it. From my perspective when it was here, I thought it was a pretty big flop and was extremely surprised to see that it actually opened on Broadway.
#36
Posted: 11/11/15 at 12:05pm
Seconding Gilmore's statement on Amazing Grace- I heard nothing but bad things from people when it played here in Chicago, and the reviews weren't particularly kind to it.
Big Fish was much better received (although certainly not perfect) during it's try-out, but still wasn't a big hit here either. Certainly not on the level of Spamalot, The Producers, or even Kinky Boots when they tried out here.
#38
Posted: 11/12/15 at 2:44am
another shout out for big fish
if it had opened in the spring, i think it could have had a chance to find an audience.
a very solid adaptation of a great movie with great acting sets and songs....
#39
Posted: 11/12/15 at 12:38pm
The thoughts that I've always been interested in when dealing with the response towards a show, is the city that the show is playing in. Something like The Little Mermaid tried out in Denver. Denver isn't exactly known for getting out of town tryouts, so I feel like they embraced something like this. Also, Denver is farther away from New York, or a regional thing might make a difference. Look at the Frank Wildhorn shows that all try out in Florida, and flop in New York.
I think New Haven, or Philadelphia, or Boston are closer to New York/Broadway so you might get more "like-minded" audience to what Broadway audiences might like.
#40
Posted: 11/12/15 at 2:04pm
Big Fish had core problems. There's not a ton of plot. It's basically this Dad's stories, but there's not a real central moving forward plot. The show was poorly designed and directed. For a show about magic, there weren't really any magical moments - much like Finding Neverland. And the songs weren't interesting enough and basically made the show stop and start. Scene. Song. Scene. Song. There was no theme for the score, no interesting ideas on stage. It all felt very by the numbers.
#41
Posted: 11/12/15 at 2:16pm
"Look at the Frank Wildhorn shows that all try out in Florida, and flop in New York."
Wonderland tried out (twice) in Florida, both times to bad reviews and tepid audience response. After that, they still brought it in, and it flopped, naturally.
Amazing Grace, Chaplin, Scandalous, and more all tried out with bad reviews, yet still came in under mostly freshman producing teams with more enthusiasm than artistic or financial smarts/experience. And they flopped in NY just as they did out of town.
Glory Days got a good review from that nut, Peter Marks, in DC. Now, Peter Marks is not a voice of importance in the theatre world, but based on his review, a relatively inexperienced team brought it in, where it closed after one night. So, if you call a good review "successful," Glory Days was more successful out of town. But it wasn't any good.
Updated On: 11/12/15 at 02:16 PM
#42
Posted: 11/26/15 at 12:18pm
I wanted to go over the delight that was the Honeymoon in Vegas struggling on Broadway thread, but after searching and googling for it I found out it was deleted! I didn't recall that happening, and I'm sad about it.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#43
Posted: 11/26/15 at 12:23pm
It was probably deleted as it was taking up to much memory for BWW. It was also an embarrassment that the show was beat up on for that long. Maybe the moderators felt sorry and did it out of mercy & pity. It was like a constant football game tackle that just went on and on. The pile on was really over the top.
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#44
Posted: 11/26/15 at 12:27pm
Neverland was most certainly was not trashed here in Boston. I read most of the reviews and most were very positive - some mixed. The were extremely positive around Jordan and McGrath. It also was a very hot ticket - you could not get your hands on a ticket at the end of the run, and was the best selling show the ART had ever seen.
#45
Posted: 11/26/15 at 12:29pm
Maybe it was not as bad as the NY critics & BWW ones say it is.
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#46
Posted: 11/26/15 at 11:51pm
Yes, I think it was better out of town.
i loved WAITRESS in Cambridge. So well received, I hope it will a great addition to Broadway in the spring. Sara Barelis wrote the most infectious music.
#47
Posted: 11/27/15 at 3:40am
Rocky and Tarzan were both big hits in Germany.
#48
Posted: 11/27/15 at 9:17am
Re: famous out-of-town try-out cities/places - don't forget the Shubert Theatre New Haven which hosted over 600 pre-Broadway tryouts - more than any other. The theatre even became known as the "Birthplace of the Nation’s Greatest Hits." Wildhorn's Jekyll &Hyde & Civil War; Richard Rogers began 11 of his shows there including Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, & The Sound of Music; A Streetcar Named Desire; Cain Mutiny Court Martial; My Fair Lady; Call Me Madam w/Merman; Long Day’s Journey into the Night; 8 of Neil Simon's shows.
#49
Posted: 11/27/15 at 1:15pm
Didn't Lennon do better in SF than on Broadway? Seems like the show was better in SF anyway.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#50
Posted: 11/27/15 at 3:39pm
Catch Me If You Can was much better in Seattle than it was on Broadway and 9 to 5 was much better in Los Angeles than it was on Broadway.
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