Have There Ever Been Two Productions of the Same Show on Broadway at the Same Time?

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This time, the question was: Have there ever been two different productions of the same show on Broadway at the same time?

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A recent BroadwayWorld board thread asked: “Have there ever been two different productions of the same show on Broadway”?

In 1923, two Broadway productions of the popular operetta Blossom Time played directly across the street from each other. Both Shubert productions, one was at the now-demolished 44th Street Theatre (to the east of where the Helen Hayes is) and the other at the Shubert Theatre.

In 1916, Das Dreimäderlhaus opened to great acclaim in Vienna. Several years later, the Shubert brothers arranged for an American version of the Austrian operetta to be brought to Broadway under the title Blossom Time. The show was rewritten for America with Dorothy Donnelly creating new book and lyrics, while Sigmund Romberg adapted the music by Franz Schubert and Heinrich Berte.

The basic plot of Blossom Time was a fictionalized recounting of the life of Franz Schubert. In it, he is unlucky in love when the woman he cares for is wooed by another man—using Schubert’s music! Romantic entanglements proliferate throughout this fizzy entertainment.

The original Broadway production of Blossom Time opened in September of 1921 at the Ambassador Theatre, current home of Chicago. It moved to Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre and the Century Theatre, two Broadway houses that are no longer, during its original run, chalking up a total of 516 performances. This made Blossom Time the second longest running Broadway musical of the 1920s, beating out well-known hits to this day like No, No, Nanette, and landing second only to Show Boat.

Just a few months after Blossom Time concluded its original run, The Shuberts brought it back—at not one Broadway theater, but two! From May to June of 1923, the show boasting songs like “Three Little Maids” and “Song of Love” was presented to audiences at the 44th Street and the Shubert simultaneously. This was partially because of the significant popularity of the show, able to sustain two separate productions at the same time. But it was also for a second, more devious reason.

The Shuberts claimed that they wanted to bring Blossom Time across the pond to London but didn’t know which cast members to bring with it. So to determine who was most worthy of opening Blossom Time in the West End, they pitted the two Broadway productions against each other. Audience members were asked to fill out surveys following performances, weighing in on which cast members were the best. Whether this was a publicity stunt or an actual gathering of information meant to be used is anyone’s guess!

Another unique element of the simultaneous Blossom Time productions was that patrons could purchase tickets that were good for either theater! So, if one bought a ticket for Blossom Time on Saturday May 26th, 1923, it could be used at either the 44th Street or the Shubert on that night.

Both of the 1923 Blossom Time companies on Broadway had previously been playing the show elsewhere. One came directly from Philadelphia where they broke theatre box office records in that town and the other was touring various cities in the northeast. Prior to that, the companies each took a turn playing during the original Broadway run of the show.

Blossom Time is rarely seen today. It was given seven Broadway revivals, but the most recent was in 1943. The style of operetta, beloved by 1920s audiences, which at one point boasted six simultaneous touring companies, is an uncommon delicacy today.

In recent years, rumors have circulated that smash hit Broadway shows, such as The Book of Mormon and Hamilton might go the path of Blossom Time and open a second production that would run on Broadway simultaneously to accommodate ticket demand. None of these have come to fruition yet. For now, Blossom Time is the only instance we know of where the Broadway listings in the newspapers boasted: “Two Companies at Two Theaters!”

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