The "Boston Try-Out"
The "Boston Try-Out"
romgitsean
Broadway Star Joined: 4/7/08
#1The "Boston Try-Out"
Posted: 11/27/10 at 11:36am
So, I was wondering: what shows besides Prettybelle and Lolita had Boston try-outs?
And when did the "Boston Try-out" officially go out of style? (seeing as not many shows try-out there anymore).
I know there's those "Lost in Boston" albums, which I've been meaning to get- but did all of those shows try out in Boston? Sorry if it seems like a dumb question - I just assumed it was a compilation album of songs from shows that tried out and didn't do well in Boston and just deleted songs from shows in general.
Next On The List :: Clybourne Park, Once, Streetcar, BOM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#2The 'Boston Try-Out'
Posted: 11/27/10 at 11:47amToo expensive is the main reason.
jacobp
Featured Actor Joined: 12/6/05
broadwayboy987
Stand-by Joined: 2/15/10
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#7The 'Boston Try-Out'
Posted: 11/27/10 at 2:14pm
It was VERY common up until the costs started becoming prohibitive.
Things also tried out in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Haven...many times they'd do more than just one try out.
Detroit and California were somewhat less common, but still happened. Occasionally Dallas would get something.
daredevil
Featured Actor Joined: 8/17/05
#8The 'Boston Try-Out'
Posted: 11/27/10 at 2:40pm
Just about any Broadway show that opened prior to 1963 had tryouts in either Boston, Philidelphia and New Haven (usually the first place) By the mid-fifties, Washington had also become a solid tryout town. In the early sixties, cities like Detroit and Toronto built large new muscial theaters, and several shows began to try out there (Hello Dolly and Fiddler began in Detroit, and Camelot began in Toronto). What was also very interesting about those days, is that if the last tryout performance was in Phildelphia on Saturday evening, the show would then ship to NY, and open usually on the Wednesday or Thursday of the next week (sometimes even Tuesday if things were cramped); during the "Golden Age" the preview was an unknnown quanitity; shows would just ship their scenery to NY, maybe have one performance and then open for critics.
Virginia Woolf, in 1962, was the first play to my memory, that opted for low price previews, rather then an out of town tryout. In the next few years, it was sort of half and half, more non-musical plays opted for previews, while large shows like Dolly, Fiddler, etc, tried out on the road.
One reason that happens so rarely now is that most non-musical plays are transfers from somewhere else---off Broadway or regional theaters, so they have already been tested, but I am sure this way is cheaper as well---remember in the beginning of the "preview" era, preview seats were well below prices after opening night---something that does not exist any more. Imagine a new musical or play charging $50.00, $40.00 and $30.00 for three weeks of preview performances, at this time, and you see the difference.
wiggum2
Broadway Star Joined: 9/21/03
#10The 'Boston Try-Out'
Posted: 11/27/10 at 5:43pm
Platinum tried out in Philadelphia. I saw it twice there.
Not sure if it was an out of town try-out, but I also saw Carol Channing in "The Bed Before Yesterday". Also saw "Robeson" with James Earl Jones on its tour before hitting Broadway.
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