Out of Town Tryouts

[ucjrdude902]

When did these become the norm? It seems they are starting to not happen as often.

[madlibrarian]

What are you trying to ask? Your two sentences contradict each other.

[dramamama611]

These have come in and out of style over the years.

[SondheimFan5]

Shows as old as Porgy and Bess (and older) had out-of-town tryouts.

[frontrowcentre2]

It was very common in Broadway's formative years for shows to have out-of-town try-outs. Victor Herbert's BABES IN TOYLAND premiered in Chicago in June 1903 before moving to Broadway in October that year. NO NO NANETTE had a very lengthy try-out tour staring in Detroit in April 1924 (where the producer fired the leads, had the book rewritten and threw out 5 songs, replacing them with 4 new numbers including the eventual hits Tea for Two and I Want to Be Happy.)

In the 1970s the huge expense of these try-outs led to producers holding preview performances in New York. SWEENEY TODD rather famously stayed in town because of the cost of the huge set. The plan backfired on Hal Prince with MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG where the press gleefully reported on the show's problems and audience walk-outs at the early performances.

[fingerlakessinger]

Recently it has become the norm for shows with larger budgets to do out of town try outs (Shrek, The Addams Family, Hairspray, WICKED, Lion King, Pirate Queen, ect.) because the producers/backers know that since a ton of money is going into the production, they should have as much of a "growth" period as possible. And not just a period of time where they learn what needs to be worked on, but a period of time AWAY from NYC critics.

[ClumsyDude15]

There's also the new trend of the pre-Broadway engagement tour - Flashdance and the upcoming Jekyll and Hyde revival are examples of that.

[uncageg]

Am currently reading a good book called "On Broadway: Art and Commerce on the Great White Way" by Steven Adler. Some good information on out of town tryouts are discussed in the book.

[CapnHook]

That's not a new trend, it's also a revisiting trend. It's at least as old as 1905, and occured heavily in the 1960's.

[ClumsyDude15]

I realized that after I posted it, but the next poster had already posted, so I lazily let it go. It's not a new trend, but a returning trend to the mainstream, especially in recent years.

[peerrjb]

Pretty much ALL the "Golden Age" musicals had out-of-towners. Great stories about all of them ABOUND. Even the ones that never made it INTO town. Doing an extended "national" tour today is a tour of a CYA basis...not an out-of-town tryout in the classic sense. (Shows were actually being CREATED and REWRITTEN, RESTRUCTURED, etc etc in those experiences.) If you really love Musical Theatre (or even "-er") I am amazed that you've not explored these wildly varying tales of change... aka "Fiddler" and "Forum" were pretty disastrous until changes BIG and small were made... "Fair Lady" was a constant argument of rewrites and, well, arguments... And of course, there's the expected-to-be-Flop "Away We Go" [er... "Oklahoma!"] (As Porter wrote in the opening to "...Kate": Another op'nin', another show... in Philly, Boston, or Baltimo'...." cuz that's where they WENT.)