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When the author leaves town a few days after previews started

Posted by: dramedy 11:23 am EST 11/02/15
In reply to: re: CHINA DOLL - Teesh 10:34 am EST 11/02/15

Has he even come back to NYC? I don't see how you can argue they are professional and fixing the play. Pacino might be forgiven if they were giving him lots of rewrites during previews and rehearsals.

Elton John also left during San Fran tryout of lestat, but at least he had the excuse of Vegas performance dates.


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re: When the author leaves town a few days after previews started

Posted by: NewtonUK 11:29 am EST 11/02/15
In reply to: When the author leaves town a few days after previews started - dramedy 11:23 am EST 11/02/15

SO before we jump to conclusions and bash everyone involved in CHINA DOLL - previews start, Pacino has line problems. FAir enough for the author (he's not directing the play) to not be around for a few days, or a week - until there is something more secure to look at to figure out if there are problems to fix.

That said, Mamet doesnt strike me as a big rewriter during previews. He is a playwright (perhaps not in the same class) like Pinter, carefully crafting language in his personal mode, weaving a story our of it all.

Then its the director and actors' job to mine the text for performances and a show.

Its also good to NOT see every preview - if writer or director - to be sure you don't start fixing what isn't broken. What IS broken you only have to see once.


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Authors of new shows leaving town during previews?

Posted by: mikem 12:59 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: re: When the author leaves town a few days after previews started - NewtonUK 11:29 am EST 11/02/15

I've always assumed that the authors of a new Broadway play or musical are at virtually every performance until the show is frozen. (This may not be true for transfers.)

Is it common for authors of new work on Broadway not to be there for even a few days in early previews, particularly for a world premiere? I seem to remember reading that Neil LaBute was revising from California during one of his recent Off-Broadway premieres, and Elton John and U2 were notoriously out of town during recent flops. Are there other examples?


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re: Authors of new shows leaving town during previews?

Posted by: AlanScott 11:23 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: Authors of new shows leaving town during previews? - mikem 12:59 pm EST 11/02/15

In Everything Was Possible, there is a mention of Sondheim not having been to any performance of Follies for a week at one point during the Boston run. He was busy writing new stuff. And sometimes it's probably good to stay away for at least a few days, even if you're not staying away specifically to write new material or rewrite or make cuts. You may come back with a somewhat fresher perspective.


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the visit

Posted by: dramedy 03:57 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: Authors of new shows leaving town during previews? - mikem 12:59 pm EST 11/02/15

McNally was working on his opera great Scott during previews of the visit. He was there for the first week or two in NYC, but slipped out to San Fran for a week to work on the opera However, the visit had been a work in progress for a decade, so there probably was little for him to do anyway.


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re: the visit

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 05:15 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: the visit - dramedy 03:57 pm EST 11/02/15

Also, I believe the production of THE VISIT came to Broadway more or less intact from Williamstown.

Am I remembering correctly that Bono and The Edge were not present for at least some of what was to have been the initial preview period of SPIDER-MAN? (Obviously, no one would ever have expected them to stay for all of what turned out to be six months of previews.)


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Yup, they went on tour

Posted by: dramedy 05:25 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: re: the visit - Michael_Portantiere 05:15 pm EST 11/02/15

But I think those tour dates were after the first official opening night in December before it was postponed. So understandable to move on. Of course, they probavly made a lot of money for the four years Spider-Man ran on Broadway.


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re: Authors of new shows leaving town during previews?

Posted by: ryhog 01:26 pm EST 11/02/15
In reply to: Authors of new shows leaving town during previews? - mikem 12:59 pm EST 11/02/15

As with most things, there are no rules. There are also cases where the director and/or actors and/or producers ask the author to take a hike. And there are cases where (as noted in another post) the author has seen enough to know what needs to be done and goes off to write those changes in solitude.


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Someone posted below that they saw the show on Friday

Posted by: Esther 11:28 am EST 11/02/15
In reply to: When the author leaves town a few days after previews started - dramedy 11:23 am EST 11/02/15

night & spoke to Mamet, so it appears he is or was in NYC three days ago.


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