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''Bridegroom'' revisited

Posted by:	WaymanWong 08:36 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to:	re: ive seen it - Snowysdad 06:05 pm EDT 10/29/15

''The Robber Bridegroom'' has an unusual Tony history. It opened in October 1975 at the Harkness, starring Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone, and closed after 14 performances. And yet it got 2 Tony nods: Book (Uhry) and Featured Actress (LuPone). It was then revived in October 1976 at the Biltmore, starring Barry Bostwick and Rhonda Coullet. And it ran for 145 performances. It received only 1 Tony nomination: Leading Actor (Bostwick). Though the show closed 4 months before the Tonys, he won. (Yes, others have won a Tony for a show's that closed, but rarely when it's the ONLY nomination.) I can't think of another new Broadway musical that opened in one season ... and then was revived only a year later (and got at least one Tony nomination in each season). Maybe someone else here remembers what the circumstances were. It wasn't Tony-nominated for Best Musical, but the Drama Desk nominated it for Best Musical in 1975 AND 1976, losing both times.

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re: ''Bridegroom'' revisited

Posted by:	AlanScott 10:09 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to:	''Bridegroom'' revisited - WaymanWong 08:36 pm EDT 10/29/15

The circumstances were that it was produced by the Acting Company. The group played a limited engagement rep season at the Harkness, after which it was back to already scheduled touring. The reviews were good enough that it came back. John Houseman, the Acting Company's artistic director, and Margot Harley, the group's producing director, were actively involved with the commercial remounting. The commercial Broadway production recreated the Acting Company production — same production team — with a completely different cast. It played a tryout of sorts at the Mark Taper Forum before coming to the Biltmore. The Acting Company's production played at the Harkness during a musicians' strike. Because the Harkness was operating under a special contract with the union, it was the only Broadway musical performing at the time.

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