Michael Musto's Advice To Broadway Producers

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Michael does make sense, in his suggestions. But then again, he's not everybody's "cup of tea." Still....from RC in Austin, Texas
Dear Mr. Producer

[newintown]

On the surface, you might think he has a point, until you actually think for a second about the countless flops over the years that did have out of town tryouts.

[chanel]

The piece does make the point that flops happen despite tryouts, but that the process can help weed them out.

He also notes in a comment that Dead Accounts was indeed performed elsewhere before Broadway.

[broadwaydevil]

Musto's article is filled with logical flaws. Broadway's biggest hit, The Book of Mormon, had no pre-Broadway tryout. Most crap that's come through HAS had tryouts before debuting on Broadway in the last year as Musto points out - Scandalous, Dead Accounts, Chaplin, Leap of Faith, Lysistrata Jones, and the list goes on. An out-of-town tryout may be useful for making minor tweaks but it rarely provides creative teams with the interest or time in seriously rewriting their work. Besides, out-of-town tryouts are often not very successful at weeding out bad shows because they open to rave reviews in smaller markets and then get destroyed by stronger (and better) competition on Broadway.

Let's allow Broadway to be a place not just to show over-processed, manufactured dreck but instead let it be a place for nice surprises and new, exhilarating work. Out-of-town tryouts aren't always a bad idea but I highly would contest the notion that there's a significant (if any) relationship between out-of-town tryouts providing major help to Broadway shows.

[FindingNamo]

"Let's allow Broadway to be a place not just to show over-processed, manufactured dreck but instead let it be a place for nice surprises and new, exhilarating work."

Good luck with that.

[PalJoey]

Sometimes I prefer over-processed, manufactured dreck to under-developed, ill-conceived kaka.

[JoeKv99]

Michael Musto knows nothing about Broadway. Does he post here? If so, I think i know his nickname.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Joe...that's way over the top. Michael Musto does know a great deal about Broadway....even if it's not to your liking. Just saying...from RC in Austin, Texas

[ghostlight2]

No, Patti LuPone FANatic, Musto really doesn't.

[Addison D.]

A meaningless blog entry that feels more than anything like something written to fulfill an "X words/day" clause in a contract.

Opening--some glib snark in which he "savagely" demonstrates how hopelessly doomed several recent shows were from their very conception.

Genius.

Except he could just as easily marvel at the idiots who thought a show about a "neurotic stage mother, a stripper and a dancing cow" would ever recoup.

The magic isn't in a slapdash precis--it's in the text, the score, the acting, etc.

And then we get a couple of paragraphs explaining how out-of-town tryouts would fix everything. Followed by a couple of paragraphs clarifying that out-of-town tryouts don't really guarantee anything.

Thanks for the insights, Mikey.

[JoeKv99]

Look, I enjoy Musto's column- I love his style and perspective on current events and pop culture. But if you are going to make pronouncements, back it up! An out of town tryout DOES NOT guarantee success on Broadway- and lack of one doesn't mean certain failure. That's not an opinion- it's fact and if challenged I'd happily produce evidence (as fellow posters have above).
Otherwise stick to writing about which go-go boys shave their testicles.