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| re: Hidden puns in character names? | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 03:51 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 03:49 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Hidden puns in character names? - showtunetrivia 02:27 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Speaking of ''Gypsy,'' it took me years to realize that Tulsa and Yonkers were probably named based on where these boys joined Rose's troupe. In later revivals, the show added other names, like Kansas, which were not among those listed in the original cast. By the way, in looking up the original cast listing, I was surprised to learn that ''Gypsy'' (1959) did only 2 previews (!). We're so used to new musicals being in previews for a month or so. Even the 2008 ''Gypsy'' revival, starring Patti LuPone, did 27 previews. Just for a point of reference, I looked up the original ''The Sound of Music'' (also 1959), and it did only 5 previews. |
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| Previews were out of town back then | |
| Posted by: whereismikeyfl 04:20 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Hidden puns in character names? - WaymanWong 03:49 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| The reason their Gypsy and Sound of Music has so few previews was that they had out of town tryouts. The original Gypsy did six weeks in Philadelphia (and I think a few more in New Haven). That adds up to a lot more than 27 preview performances. |
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| re: Previews were out of town back then | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:17 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: Previews were out of town back then - whereismikeyfl 04:20 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| On a minor matter, Gypsy played only Philadelphia prior to Broadway, and for five weeks. The truth is that over time even musicals that did traditional out-of-town tryouts, back when musicals still did that, generally started playing more previews in New York, although it varied somewhat. (In case anyone thinks I'm saying that no musicals nowadays do out-of-town tryouts, I'm not. I'm talking about shows playing out of town and then proceeding to New York without taking a break of at least a couple of months.) At one time, many musicals and plays closed out of town on a Saturday, and opened on Broadway two days later with no previews, but that was pretty long ago. I'm sure you know that, but not everyone does. |
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| Much more technically complex stagings today | |
| Last Edit: seeseveryshow 06:50 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| Posted by: seeseveryshow 06:49 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: Previews were out of town back then - whereismikeyfl 04:20 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Back in the 1950's, big musicals like GYPSY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC could close in one theater on a Saturday night, and open a few days later at another. They didn't have the sophisticated scenic and lighting machinery, and sound design, that shows do today and, I believe, they didn't bring in their own decks. Accordingly, they did not require as much tech time to make sure everything worked properly prior to opening. So, they could open after a couple of previews. I saw the original productions of both of those shows from excellent mezzanine seats (admittedly a long time ago), and I don't recall that they used electronics or computers to move set pieces on and off, or traps and elevators, which are common nowadays. The employed simple, perhaps even primitive, stagecraft by today's standards. Maybe someone knows when the modern deck became standard for most Broadway shows. IIRC, the original Camelot had some sort of luminous stage floor. Not sure how that was accomplished. |
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| re: Much more technically complex stagings today | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:21 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: Much more technically complex stagings today - seeseveryshow 06:49 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Even shows that had decks were able to do that because the decks were simpler. I may be wrong on this, I'm not an expert, but I would think any show that used turntables or winches or (this was less common but was done) a treadmill had to have had a deck of some sort. And those go back a long time. | |
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