Shows that have TOTALLY turned it around during previews or out of town?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 8:31am

What shows have gone from being messes to being well-crafted productions throughout their preview run or pre-Broadway engagement?

I'm hearing AMERICAN BUFFALO may be one to qualify...

Updated On: 11/14/08 at 08:31 AM

[Barihunk]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:34am

Having seen the second preview performance of "Titanic", I can attest that it was a hot mess when it first started. I'm among those who still think it fell far short of the mark in it's final version as well but it sure was a vast improvement.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:41am

Well, not previews. But it's well known that Hello, Dolly was a hot mess out of town and completely changed it around by the time it came to New York.

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:43am

Does it count if they close on the road and then a completely new production opens up and is a hit?

Oklahoma in its out of town tryouts never really "hit"--I think I read that anyway. I'm sure there are a lot of other examples.

Oh one more I just remembered--Funny Girl. A HUGE mess of a musical, finally Jerome Robbins came in and whipped things into shape and it was a hit when it reached Broadway.

Seesaw is a different example--again a HUGE mess out of town, depeserate they hired Michael Bennett who came in, fired half the cast including the lead, got a lot of new music, redid most of the choreography, rewrote most of the book, got some different sets and then it managed to somehow, millions later, open on Broadway to good reviews. It wasn't enough to really carve a long run, but it certainly was a lot more successful show than it woulda been

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:46am

I saw TITANIC a week or two before it closed and it was still a hot mess. Was it really worse in previews?

God it was terrible...

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 10:13am

TITANIC was an INCREDIBLE show!

[keithp]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 10:17am

Agree- Titanic was a terrific show.

[musikman]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 10:42am

Wasn't Movin' Out hammered by the critics in Chicago, then eventually opened to great reviews in NY?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 10:49am

lol Wannabe didn't see much in Billy Elliot but thought Titanic was an 'Incredible' show

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 10:59am

I don't know that Wicked was such a "mess" before, but they did change a lot before Broadway.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 11:10am

Well there's The Wiz, for sure.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 11:19am

The biggest turnaround I can recall in my lifetime is My One and Only.

Here's a recap from a website about the show. Some of this text is a bit over the top, but the facts are generally accurate:

"Perhaps no musical arrived on Broadway with a stranger history and became a runaway surprise hit…

Originating as a misguided Peter Sellers attempt to bring Russian deconstructionalism to the Broadway stage, the show faced the most devastating pre-Broadway reviews in history…even Tommy Tune apologized to the audience on opening night in Boston.

Taking the helm, Tommy Tune reconstructed the entire show in one month before opening in New York City. Peter Stone (1776) was brought in to fix the script virtually overnight, and even Mike Nichols took his hand at fixing what skeptical New Yorkers had already nicknamed "My Flop and Phony". Every single song was gone, every scene re-written, every character changed, and every dance step re-choreographed. No Broadway-bound cast had ever done that, and in only 4 weeks time.

Imagine New York’s surprise when what arrived was a tuneful, fast paced romp through 20’s Gershwin tunes with inventive choreography and a bubbly, funny script. Gone were the factory gear-like sets, and in their place was a simple show that brought audience after audience to it’s feet. Opening in the same year as CATS, this was no mean feat.

The rest is history…the show received unanimous rave reviews, and went on to keep the St. James theatre filled for almost two years."

Updated On: 11/14/08 at 11:19 AM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 11:39am

My favorite Funny Girl story: the last scene between Fanny and Nick had about 45 versions. The last version was being rehearsed on stage as the audience was entering the theatre on opening night, a date that had to be rescheduled seven times.

They still never got the show right.

Sugar had big problems out of town (How many shows fire their set designer?) and came in and ran about 15 months and broke even. It also really wasn't any good.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 11:49am

I do recall Ragtime being a terrible mess out of town and in previews and then it turned around to become the masterpiece that it is. My boss, who has his doctrette in theatre saw it in previews and said he walked out it was so terrible. And now its one of the most treasured in the american theatre IMO.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 12:36pm

OK let's nip this one in the bud. RAGTIME opened to rave reviews in Toronto and what eventually opened in New York was not significantly changed. There were minor tweaks, and one song was replaced twice before the spot was eliminated.

The Tornto cast album highlights - made months before the show even staretd previews here - shows the score was largely unchanged between Toronto and New York. (The NY cast album is more complete but compare the sections that are the same and you'll see that not a great deal was changed.)



WHERE did you get the idea the show was in trouble out-of-town???

[mallardo]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 12:43pm

Yes, I saw Ragtime in Toronto and it was fabulous then and only slightly more fabulous later on Broadway.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 3:46pm

"Oklahoma in its out of town tryouts never really 'hit'--I think I read that anyway. I'm sure there are a lot of other examples."

You may well have read that, it's something that's been written many times, but it's wrong. Oklahoma! was liked by audiences and critics from the day it opened in New Haven. The Variety review from New Haven predicted a long run and a film sale. There was actually one mixed review in Boston, but otherwise the critics in both New Haven and Boston were favorable and it was clear that audiences liked it all along. Ethan Mordden even writes (though citing no source) that it was getting ecstatic standing ovations in Boston at a time when standing ovations were virtually unheard of.

One reason why this myth that it was in trouble has been repeated many times is because Winchell said so, quoting the famous "No gags, no girls, no chance!" line, attributed (IIRC) to Michael Todd, but probably coined by one of his assistants.

Expectations in New York were low for the show. They were desperately trying to fill the theatre on opening night, giving away lots of free tickets to lucky servicemen on leave. But the expectations were at odds with the actual out-of-town response.

Despite the favorable response from day one, they worked very hard making the show better. So much so that legend has it one day in Boston, as everyone was trying to figure out what else to change, Richard Rodgers said, "You know what's wrong this show? Nothing!" And they stopped fixing it.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 4:59pm

How is this thread different from the other thread???????

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 5:01pm

My One and Only opened when I was in college. I do remember reading about the horror stories of its out-of-town tryout. What a wonderful show it became. I saw it twice.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 12:17am

"lol Wannabe didn't see much in Billy Elliot but thought Titanic was an 'Incredible' show"


TITANIC was an infinitely better show than BILLY ELLIOT. 'Production value' does not equate 'quality.'

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 10:46am

MY ONE AND OLY was pretty much written off before it opened in New York and surprised everyone getting good reviews and a long run.

I loved Tommy Tune in it and the Gershwin songs but found it totally resistable. It was the book that (for me) made the characters not the least bit interesting. Last summer they did this show at Stratford and my parents went to see it...I didn't say much to them about it beforehand, tho I did loan them my copy of the cast album. They enjoyed the songs and the dancing but didn't think much of the show either.

I guess it was what we call a lucky hit. (It's main competition was CATS.)