Friday, September 03, 2004

 

The Road to Broadway

Interesting reviews coming in. Most praise the cast, the orchestra, the visuals very highly. What's left, you might ask? Well, they think the piece itself needs more "tinkering."

Broadway musicals used to have one common path to Broadway...the out-of-town tryout. Sometimes in New Haven or some other city near, but not in NYC. And NYC critics generally didn't go and review those productions. You might recall the lyrics to "Another Openin'; Another Show" from 'Kiss Me Kate': "Another Openin'; Another Show. In Philly Boston or Baltimo'"

That became a rather expensive undertaking, so Broadway shows started having the endless Preview syndrome. Some shows extended their Opening Night date so many times it became a big Broadway joke before they even opened. I'm remembering that being the case for Marvin Hamlisch's "Smile" when I lived in NY. (And BTW I quite liked that show myself.)

But of late, something new has been happening. Shows that open in quite far away regional theatres, and work their way to Broadway a little more slowly.

"Into the Woods" opened in La Jolla first. It underwent some major tinkering (including the replacement of original Witch Ellen Foley with Bernadette Peters) before making its way to NYC.

Much more recently "Wicked" opened here in SF first. And yes, underwent some major tinkering itself.

It's a different road to Broadway, but as both of those examples show, it can be a successful one.



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