| All 4 of these shows had a significant international provenance before touring America. Does that distinguish them from shows that had only pre-Broadway tryouts in the US? Not clear to me. I do think, however, that circumnavigating Broadway (note that most of these latter shows had intended otherwise when announced) as a strategy cannot necessarily support the weight assigned to it. It remains the case that there are no rules (see, e.g., Summer), and also that each show is different. Yes there are cases where a producer would be well served by not treating Broadway as the sine qua non of succeeding, Skipping Broadway will not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Finally, it is naive to think that some shows would skip Broadway for one reason or another, and the two mentioned (SBSP and Margaritaville) fall in this category, for different reasons. |
