shows that went through development hell?

Just wondering what shows out there went through development hell... or rather had a really long road to get to broadway that eventually either succeeded or failed... what shows had the longest journey or the shortest... just want to hear some good stories...

The recent revival of SWEET CHARITY comes to mind.

After three workshops with three different stars (one of whom left under bad circumstances,) the show went through an official cancellation, re-casting out of town, a resurrection, and the major injury of its leading lady (causing them to temporarily replace her) before finally making it to Broadway.

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Updated On: 1/18/09 at 02:28 PM

"A Tale Of Two Cities," anyone? It was in the works for AGES, only to spend a month on Broadway. Just thinking about it makes me feel depressed.

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JUDY & ME

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what about classic shows... like original productions of South Pacific, King and I, Guys and Dolls, etc... how many changes did these shows go through? did they go through workshops back in the day?

^ God heavens, what were they doing for four years?

"what about classic shows... like original productions of South Pacific, King and I, Guys and Dolls, etc... how many changes did these shows go through? did they go through workshops back in the day?"

No workshops back then. Changes were made during pre-Broadway tryouts. Then they opened on Broadway after, at most, one or two previews. Often, especially prior to the 1950s, no previews at all on Broadway, not even one.

Of the three shows you mention, two opened in good shape out of town. Though some changes were made before Broadway, especially in South Pacific, they were clearly on the road to success.

The King and I was felt to be in major trouble out of town. Several numbers were cut, and several were added. The numbers that were added were "Getting to Know You" (using the music for a cut song from South Pacific, which was apparently suggested by Mary Martin), "Something Wonderful" (replacing another song), and "I Have Dreamed."

And all that, along with lots of other changes, was done in a few weeks.

People worked hard and fast on shows back then. Lots of good books out there on the creation of various shows, for example, Everything Was Possible about Follies, and two books on Oklahoma!: one by Max Wilk and one by Tim Carter. All of those are worth reading, and the two Oklahoma! books complement one another nicely, though the Carter book is the one to read if you're only reading one.

Going way back, The New Moon was in such trouble that it closed out of town. A few months later, a rewritten New Moon reopened out of town and was a hit.

Another old show that closed out of town and came back as a hit was Strike Up the Band. That one actually got great reviews out of town, but audiences stayed away from the bitter satire and the producers closed it. Three years later, a lighter version of the show was a big hit.

This has happened with plays, too. The Heiress closed out of town. That original version stuck closely to Washington Square, including the last scene. Then the playwrights wrote a much more traditionally dramatic last scene and it came back a hit, I think in a largely new production.

Updated On: 1/18/09 at 03:50 PM

SEESAW was legendary in its problems on the road. Lainie Kazan was fired, new sets and choreography were brought in and half the score was re-written. They continued working on the show while it was in previews--so much so that one could not follow the scenes and musical numbers that were listed in the Playbill.

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If you read Everything Was Possible, Follies went through such massive and minute transformations basically up until the show's opening night in New York.

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Elaborating on the Suessical thing, "the script for the first tour was extensively reworked after the poor showing on Broadway. The main alteration resulted in the Seuss world being a figment of Jojo's imagination. This resulted in the removal or reworking of several songs. It is this version of the musical that is currently rented by the leasing company, and has enjoyed some success in regional and children's theater companies across the country.
A one-act version of the show has been created. The "Theatre for Young Audience" version contains significant changes, including reducing the cast to 12 actors and removing the entire military subplot. Another one-act version of the show, "Seussical Jr", is designed for performances by junior high or middle school students. (Both are offered by Music Theatre International (MTI), the current North American rights holder.)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seussical

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"The recent London production of 'Gone with the wind' was in the work for a few years, yet it was still going through development hell during previews!"

Well, Sondheim and Goldman started writing The Girls Upstairs in 1965, but when it was out of own in 1971 as Follies, it was still going through some pretty big changes.

And Follies didn't even really go through such huge changes out of town compared to some other shows. What was unusual in the case of Follies was how much of it was even written when rehearsals started.

Camelot was another show that went through famous out-of-town hell, chronicled in several books.

"Scarlet Pimpernel comes to mind... "

As I was saying earlier...Pimpernel hadn't too much "development" troubles. In fact, hardly anything changed (except some lyrics & orchestrational things, among hte general story; and of course the removal fo the song "High Time" which was never placed in (it's basically the old/original version of "She Was There," although entirely different except same in meaning!)). The development/producers/et al were pretty confident they had a hit on their hands, but of course...not! So I'm not sure if I'd call it "Development Hell," because they pretty much got it right the second time. Talk about how an out-of-town tryout could save a show !

To comment on Aida, it was the Atlanta run of Elaborate Lives that was hell with the major set piece being a pyramid center stage that was operated by computer that, of course, malfunctioned on opening night forcing the cast to do the show in chairs as a read through at the front of the stage. After that in Chicago and previews in New York the show changed mostly visually with new sets and costumes by Bob Crowley that were constantly being cut or redesigned. The original Linda Wolverton book used in Atlanta was completely rewritten after Robert Falls came on board as director. "Our Nation Holds Sway" was cut in favor of "Fortune Favors the Brave", "Elaborate Lives" was given to Radames with an added reprise for Aida in act two and another song "The Messenger" was cut altogether which supposedly was Elton's favorite song from the show.