When a Broadway show changes theaters...

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 1:19pm

What major changes, if any, happen to a broadway show when it changes theaters(such as Chicago, Beauty and the Beast etc...)?

[lc1965]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 2:06pm

They usually need a smaller set, so they take the road set.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 2:08pm

Most of the time there are not that many changes, if any, when a show switches houses.

But in the case of Beauty/Beast and the earlier Scarlet Pimpernel, when the shows moved they also shut down for the requisite six weeks demanded by Equity to nullify the contracts and thereby the producers could cut roles. Beauty lost only two actors I think with minimal show revision, but Pimpernel went from 41 to 29 actors(all numbers aproximate). In Pimpernel's case, there were substantial rewrites when the show that were put in when the show went back into rehearsal for the reopening.

How substantial? I don't know since I saw the original and did not go back for subsequent revises. There was an intermediate production as well done about a year into the run.

Others here can go on about the differences to both shows.

This rewriting is not usually the case.

Updated On: 1/16/04 at 02:08 PM

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 3:18pm

Thanks for the info wosq. The main reason that I asked is because I'm planning a trip to NYC in May and am considering Beauty and the Beast, but would like to know if the show is better or worse than it was at the Palace.

[localonecrew]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 3:38pm

beauty didnt close for the six weeks mandated by the equity contract. they cut a deal with equity that allowed them to cut the jobs. equity sold out its members cause it is such a weak union.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 3:52pm

beauty and the beast swapped out their broadway set for what was then the national tour set. it was a most elaborate set for a tour. i can't recall what all was cut, but if you'd seen the original, you probably would notice some things missing.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 4:00pm

So... what happens when a set is torn down?

Is there some "Smithsonian of Theatre" that is getting select props and set pieces?

I assume anything that isn't "recyclable" (such as DOTV's table and chairs going to Fiddler) gets chopped and thrown...

Or do the big producers have a warehouse somewhere?

I if a show has a chance at a remounting at my theatre, the set goes to a tractor trailer and sits in a lot somewhere. For instance, Brighton Beach Memoirs is in a trailer waiting for our production of Broadway Bound.