Will The Bands Visit and Hadestown make it to the West End?

Probably not the former, but what about the latter? Even if they aren’t big splashy shows, I’d expect the Tony Award winner for Best Musical banner should be enough to transfer it, no? I hope Hadestown is able to open a west end production before they close on Broadway(god forbid). The Noel Coward and Phoenix Theatres are opening up soon, so now is the time. I mean, if Bonnie and Clyde could surely any other show could.

I still think it’s shocking Gentleman’s Guide was never able to make the leap across the pond.

^^ was not aware of that, thank you for correcting me. Interesting it’s not a replicated production, that’ll sure be interesting to see.

The national is not the west end, though. Nor was it an open-ended run. Which is what I’m trying to get at.

Updated On: 7/1/22 at 11:33 PM

It wouldn’t be so odd, or retrograde. Much like in NYC, lots of shows transfer from non-profit to commercial runs. This would effectively be the same thing, but with a long time-gap in between. And during that time gap, the show has notably garnered a lot of acclaim that could very well increase demand from the last run. Plus, I think return engagements are more woven into the theatre culture there than they are here.

Also, I didn’t see the show at the Olivier, but I have to imagine the theatre was simply too big for that production. It might fit much better in one of the more intimate West End houses.

As for your comment about the original cast: if bringing it back with a cast other than the original is “retrograde” than so is continuing to perform the show on Broadway without the original cast. Obviously that’s not stopping them, nor has it stopped countless other hit shows that have run long enough to see all their original cast members leave. And in fact, opening a West End transfer could give them an opportunity to cast some of well-respected local talent, who might actually mean more to West End audiences than the original American cast.

JBroadway said: "
As for your comment about the original cast: if bringing it back with a cast other than the original is “retrograde” than so is continuing to perform the show on Broadway without the original cast. Obviously that’s not stopping them, nor has it stopped countless other hit shows that have run long enough to see all their original cast members leave. And in fact, opening a West End transfer could give them an opportunity to cast some of well-respected local talent, who might actually mean more to West End audiences than the original American cast."

OK, I just thought it might seem like an insult to London audiences.

ACL2006 said: "Surprised Hadestown hasn't been announced yet for the West End."

Maybe producers aren’t interested because the original London production - which was the same production that transferred to Broadway - received zero Olivier nominations.

It wouldn’t be considered for Best New Musical and it would be very expensive to transfer Chavkin’s production.