The Two-Act Musical Structure (Condensing)

What I've noticed in a few of the preview threads (especially in the Head Over Heels thread) is a lot of people seem to feel that a few of the newer shows in previews would have been a lot better if they had been truncated and condensed from two acts to one.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. The average tourist can only keep their attention spans so foucused on what they're watching that it creates this problem of "people checking watches" and "clearly seeing bored people around me", which some blame on the fact that a certain show (this thread is chiefly about Head Over Heels) is two acts instead of one.

My question is where did this idea come from that we need to condense a show in order for it to not only flow better, but be better as well?

Updated On: 7/24/18 at 01:58 AM

I think that many contemporary young(ish) writers, having grown up on a diet of television and movies much more than theatre, are not entirely comfortable writing in a two-or-three act structure.

Related, some young songwriters, having grown up on pop songs that fade out rather than end, seem to be uncomfortable writing songs with buttons that lead to applause.

It could be about writing in the idiom with which one is most familiar.

Seems show-specific. If a show doesn't have enough consequences and moving parts to sustain a compelling narrative, then it should shrink to whatever length that story supports (or get bulked up by the creative team before it lands on Broadway). The issue with shows like Head Over Heels is that they can fall victim to needing to shoehorn all the hits of their jukebox overlords into a show, and sometimes the seams are more visible than they should be.

It is like what Roger Ebert said about movies: “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.”

"I look to The Band’s Visit, Come from Away, and Spelling Bee as the top three one-act musical successes."

I rather preferred Spelling Bee in its original two-act version, when Chip was forced to sell candy in the lobby; Jose Llana was hilarious in his improvised interactions with audience members.