Shows With The Biggest Pre-Broadway To Broadway Changes

Anyone got any good knowledge?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum famously struggled with its opening number during out of town tryouts, which was then impacting the rest of the show since they were having trouble setting the tone right from the start. When they finally came up with "Comedy Tonight" it reportedly seemed to drastically improve everything that followed since it was now so perfectly set up by the new opening.

There are many famous stories - two for Hello, Dolly! alone: replacing the Act I finale production number "Penny In My Pocket," with its huge set and complex staging, with "Before the Parade Passes By," with an entirely new set and costumes. And Dolly's 11:00 Number, "No, A Million Times No" (in which she flew offstage at the end), was replaced by "So Long Dearie."

Speaking of cut sets, the Kaufman and Hart comedy Once In A Lifetime threw out an entire enormous nightclub set, when they rewrote the last act.

2002's Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp dance show MOVIN' OUT. The disastrous Chicago tryout incarnation was completely rethought and a completely new production arrived on Broadway and became a hit.

Didn't the 70s revival of No, No, Nanette undergo drastic changes during its tryout? I remember reading that it nearly closed out of town.

Spamalot cut two Sara Ramirez numbers where she appeared as a witch and a cow, streamlining the role down to just the Lady of the Lake. The witch number wasn't bad, but cutting The Cow Song was a very wise choice (it stopped all the action leading up to the first act finale and the song itself had nothing to do with the film and added nothing to the plot...plus, they costumed her in a cow dress!). In the end, it made a lot more sense that King Arthur and Lady of the Lake were the only static roles in the show with all the other actors playing various parts.

The Addams Family made some significant changes to the book and score. I actually preferred the original opening number, Clandango. The new number makes a bit more sense, I suppose, but I felt like the choice to explain The Addams Family to the audience was a bit patronizing and simplistic. Thank God they replaced Second Banana, the second act number for Morticia. I felt so bad for Bebe having to perform it. Her character arc was completely contradictory to the history of the character.

Aida went through a massive redesign when its original set kept failing.

The Jekyll & Hyde that ended up on Broadway was almost unrecognizable and vastly inferior to its premiere and tryouts.

2002's Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp dance show MOVIN' OUT. The disastrous Chicago tryout incarnation was completely rethought and a completely new production arrived on Broadway and became a hit.

I only saw the Chicago tryout. I don't remember it being completely overhauled. Based on video clips I saw of the Broadway production, it looked pretty much exactly as I saw it in Chicago. What was changed?

Updated On: 2/13/18 at 03:39 PM

DANCE OF THE VAMPIRE --- which was destroyed (almost) single-handedly by Michael Crawford. He was coming off PHANTOM and he demanded (and received) creative control and re-wrote the book to make it more of a "Producers-like" comedy.

He was hardly coming off Phantom either, it had been over a decade. Crawford wasn't the only one to blame, anyway.

The Visit cut an intermission

Aida had a disastrous out of town tryout in Atlanta, back when it was called Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida. The show was revised extensively, with a new director, choreographer, designer, etc. before the Chicago tryout a year later. If you can find any bootlegs of the Atalanta production, you’ll see it really bares nothing more than a passing resemblance to what eventually ended up on Broadway.

The Chicago tryout, a year later, featured many casting changes (Adam Pascal came on board in Chicago, for one), as well as the (acclaimed) designs of Bob Crowley. That was much closer to what later opened on Broadway, though they did cut the dangling tomb after it fell one night, as well as one song (a forgettable song called Our Nation Holds Sway).

Updated On: 2/13/18 at 05:37 PM

Dear Putting the "square" in "Squared,"

"Coming off" is usually used in this context to refer to something immediately following the previous effort, which Crawford's turn in DOTV did not. My apologies; I had no idea you were in the process of revising the English language. As for one parenthetical aside while otherwise laying the blame at his feet, I was merely emphasizing a point you made very poorly. But thanks for the condescension. It suits you.

All my love,

g.

Updated On: 2/13/18 at 06:03 PM

Does Finding Neverland count between the UK and the US?

Also Charlie and Chocolate Factory from the UK to the US?

Meanwhile, Home Sweet Homer at one point had a book by Erich Segal and a scene with the Cyclops (which was gone by the time the show was in Los Angeles). Segal and the Cyclops were not there for the one official performance. New book - new "musical staging" - same bad show.