Shows With The Biggest Pre-Broadway To Broadway Changes — Page 2

adamgreer said: "RippedMan said: "Why’d Jekyll lose the rights to the mirror? "

I’m curious, too. The only thing I can think of is that it was too similar to the effect in Phantom? But that’s a complete guess."



I can't remember the exact details, I am sure someone here might, but from what I remember there was a riff between it's creator and the producers and the creator of the mirror pulled it. For some reason i want to say it had to do with all of the changes they made to the show in NYC.

Mister Matt, you took the word out of my mouth. I started to say the same thing. I think it would have had a better run had they not messed with it. The only thing missing when i saw the original was that Cuccioli was not on. He evidently did not follow the instructions in the packet the DCPA e send out to incoming shows regarding the altitude and its affect on vocals. He did One or two nights and then missed like for our five performances the first week. A side note.... Linda Eder came back to Denver after the tour and did a thank you concert (the Denver run was their highest grosser and best attended) at the Audirorium Theatef (now the Ellie Caulkins) for free. It was the night she first sang don Qixiote live onstage. The place went nuts!

Updated On: 2/13/18 at 11:21 PM

FUNNY GIRL went thru an extensive amount of reworking during its 2 out-of-town stops: Boston and Philadelphia. The reworking continued even when they arrived on Broadway where Jerome Robbins was brought in to 'doctor' the show. Producer Ray Stark postponed the show's Broadway opening 5 times as Robbins worked his magic to the show. Roles and scenes were trimmed and/or cut as they streamlined the musical to showcase Barbra Streisand to the fullest.

ZellMorrowsPledge said: "Fun Home?"

Only really had a couple of changes -- replacing "Al for Short" with the party scene/song ("I despise this dress". Which I think was a change for the better. They also may have added the "Pony Girl" song for Bruce, but I'm not sure if that was in the off-bway version or they just didn't include it on the recording.

I think the argument for Fun Home here is that it went from a traditional proscenium staging to in the round for Broadway. The content didn't change so much as the staging, out of necessity.

Aida's changes were wild, and it's pretty impressive how willing Walt Disney Theatrical were willing to allow for those changes (compared to shows like Mermaid where they kept those bizarre plexiglass sets even after they made no sense in the out of town try out). It has to be because it was an original property written for the stage. I wish they'd do more of those.

Can someone please explain/elaborate on this "confrontation mirror" scene? I never saw J&H, but it sounds like something I would've liked.

In the original production, there was a large two-way mirror behind the laboratory and another actor appeared behind the mirror as Hyde and sang the duet with Jekyll (similar to the mirror effect in Phantom before he pulls Christine through). The original theatre is a large thrust setup, like a smaller version of the Vivenne Beaumont at Lincoln Center.

In the two subsequent tryouts, the show had to be restaged for traditional proscenium theatres. As a result, the laboratory set was bigger and more active with electricity bolts (tesla coils) and bubbling tubes and beakers. Above it hung a huge mirror (which was also lowered to the floor for In His Eyes and the women appeared in the mirror, then walked out in front of the mirror to perform the duet). For the Confrontation, there was a massive projection of Hyde's face that appeared in the mirror that sang the duet, timed with the orchestra. At the end of the song, there was an effect where Jekyll throws a chair at the mirror as the laboratory explodes and the mirror shatters. The audience response was massive every performance. Add the huge ovations for I Need to Know, Bring On The Men, This Is The Moment, Someone Like You, In His Eyes and A New Life, the show seemed an unstoppable hit. There were signs of trouble in the second tryout when design changes were being made (laboratory set was scaled down and cheapened, Bring On The Men added chorus boys and the costumes for the number started to resemble Mardis Gras) and some sloppy patchwork changes to the book.

Then it was basically scrapped and mysteriously reconceived as the mess that happened on Broadway. The only improvement was the orchestrations. Everything else about the Broadway production was ruined and the ponytail Confrontation descended into infamy and the massive buzz that had been building for years around the show had not only dissipated, but those who never saw the previous incarnations had written off both the show and Wildhorn solely based on the Broadway production and reviews.

I wish someone would bring back the old Jekyll, I'd love it. I still remember going to the library and checking out the cast album and jamming to "murder, murder."

Mister Matt said: "For the Confrontation, there was a massive projection of Hyde's face that appeared in the mirror that sang the duet, timed with the orchestra. At the end of the song, there was an effect where Jekyll throws a chair at the mirror as the laboratory explodes and the mirror shatters."

Oh yeah. I would've LOVED this.

Was the projected Hyde played by the same actor who played Jekyll, or was there ever a production where the two characters were played by different actors?

Mister Matt said: "the ponytail Confrontation descended into infamy"

I found clips of the "ponytail" approach with Rob Evan on YouTube and was less than impressed. I couldn't suspend disbelief to the extent that this man became unrecognizable to people who knew him well, simply because his hair looked like he got caught in a windstorm.