Recent from talks
Tryout (theatre)
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Tryout (theatre)
A tryout is the staging of performances of a theatrical production (a play or musical) at an out-of-town venue for evaluation and possible revision before the production premieres on Broadway or in the West End. A tryout serves a similar function as a workshop production: it gives a production a chance to work out its problems before facing the scrutiny of New York or London audiences and critics. A tryout is typically far more developed than a workshop, however; by the time a show goes out of town it is usually fully cast and staged, with orchestra and sets close to what audiences will eventually see on Broadway.
The practice grew out of the "road" system of American commercial theatre in the early 20th century, when producers routinely sent new productions on tour before a New York opening. By the mid-20th century, a smaller group of cities, particularly New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and Detroit, had come to dominate the pre-Broadway circuit. Since the late 20th century, many tryouts have instead been financed through "enhancement" deals with nonprofit regional theatres, and since the 2010s a growing number of productions have skipped an out-of-town tryout altogether and opened "cold" on Broadway after only a New York preview period, largely for reasons of cost and theatre availability.
Tryouts have reshaped some of Broadway's best-known musicals, sometimes for the better and sometimes not: songs have been cut, rewritten, or reassigned under pressure of an out-of-town run, directors and choreographers have been replaced mid-tour, and a handful of productions have closed on the road without ever reaching Broadway at all. A strong tryout is no guarantee of success in New York, either, and several productions have thrived out of town only to falter once they reached Broadway. British commercial theatre has a related but distinct practice, distinguishing a pre-London tour, which serves a similar evaluative function, from a transfer, which simply moves an already-opened production into the West End.
The out-of-town tryout grew out of the "road" system of American commercial theatre in the early 20th century. Producers routinely sent new productions on tour before a New York opening, and sometimes instead of one. Atlantic City, New Jersey, was a regular pre-Broadway tryout stop through most of the 1920s, though the practice there had largely faded out by 1935.
Some 1920s tryouts worked as intended, letting a show's creators gauge audience reaction and keep revising in response before risking a Broadway opening. Show Boat toured Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Philadelphia in November and December 1927; although producer Florenz Ziegfeld worried its serious tone would not appeal to audiences and the show still ran too long, tryout audiences responded well from the start, and continued rewrites carried that momentum into a triumphant Broadway opening.
Other tryouts told a harder story. The 1921 musical Shuffle Along toured New Jersey and Pennsylvania on a shoestring budget, with too little money to reliably pay the cast, and arrived in New York $18,000 in debt; it nonetheless became a surprise hit credited with helping to launch the Harlem Renaissance. No, No, Nanette had a similarly rough path: its 1924 tryout tour stumbled badly enough that the production brought in new stars and largely rewrote the script and score before it finally opened on Broadway in 1925 to success.
Over the following decades, a smaller group of cities came to dominate the pre-Broadway circuit, especially New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Ownership was part of the reason: the Shubert Organization, which controlled a large share of Broadway's own theatres, also owned Shubert Theatres in New Haven, Boston, and Philadelphia, making the route from one of its out-of-town houses to one of its Broadway houses a straightforward business proposition. New Haven's Shubert Theatre, in particular, hosted nine eventual Best Musical winners between the 1940s and 1960s, more than any other theatre in the Big Three; according to theatre historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper, this was partly because Philadelphia and Boston each split their bookings between two competing tryout houses while New Haven's Shubert had the market to itself. Detroit's rise followed similar logic under a different operator: the Nederlander family, who had managed the city's Fisher Theatre since 1961, began acquiring Broadway theatres of their own in 1964 and went on to become the second-largest Broadway theatre owner after the Shuberts. The Fisher hosted the first tryout performances of Hello, Dolly! in November 1963; after a poor reception there, the production moved to Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre for extensive further rewrites before opening on Broadway in January 1964.
Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre built a similar reputation over the same period, hosting pre-Broadway engagements for musicals including Show Boat in 1927 and West Side Story in 1957, in addition to Hello, Dolly!. The theatre has kept that role into the 21st century, hosting tryouts for shows such as Mean Girls and Beetlejuice. By Tepper's count, the National has also hosted pre-Broadway tryouts for more shows that would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical than any other commercial rental theatre, six between the 1950s and 1990s.
Hub AI
Tryout (theatre) AI simulator
(@Tryout (theatre)_simulator)
Tryout (theatre)
A tryout is the staging of performances of a theatrical production (a play or musical) at an out-of-town venue for evaluation and possible revision before the production premieres on Broadway or in the West End. A tryout serves a similar function as a workshop production: it gives a production a chance to work out its problems before facing the scrutiny of New York or London audiences and critics. A tryout is typically far more developed than a workshop, however; by the time a show goes out of town it is usually fully cast and staged, with orchestra and sets close to what audiences will eventually see on Broadway.
The practice grew out of the "road" system of American commercial theatre in the early 20th century, when producers routinely sent new productions on tour before a New York opening. By the mid-20th century, a smaller group of cities, particularly New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and Detroit, had come to dominate the pre-Broadway circuit. Since the late 20th century, many tryouts have instead been financed through "enhancement" deals with nonprofit regional theatres, and since the 2010s a growing number of productions have skipped an out-of-town tryout altogether and opened "cold" on Broadway after only a New York preview period, largely for reasons of cost and theatre availability.
Tryouts have reshaped some of Broadway's best-known musicals, sometimes for the better and sometimes not: songs have been cut, rewritten, or reassigned under pressure of an out-of-town run, directors and choreographers have been replaced mid-tour, and a handful of productions have closed on the road without ever reaching Broadway at all. A strong tryout is no guarantee of success in New York, either, and several productions have thrived out of town only to falter once they reached Broadway. British commercial theatre has a related but distinct practice, distinguishing a pre-London tour, which serves a similar evaluative function, from a transfer, which simply moves an already-opened production into the West End.
The out-of-town tryout grew out of the "road" system of American commercial theatre in the early 20th century. Producers routinely sent new productions on tour before a New York opening, and sometimes instead of one. Atlantic City, New Jersey, was a regular pre-Broadway tryout stop through most of the 1920s, though the practice there had largely faded out by 1935.
Some 1920s tryouts worked as intended, letting a show's creators gauge audience reaction and keep revising in response before risking a Broadway opening. Show Boat toured Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Philadelphia in November and December 1927; although producer Florenz Ziegfeld worried its serious tone would not appeal to audiences and the show still ran too long, tryout audiences responded well from the start, and continued rewrites carried that momentum into a triumphant Broadway opening.
Other tryouts told a harder story. The 1921 musical Shuffle Along toured New Jersey and Pennsylvania on a shoestring budget, with too little money to reliably pay the cast, and arrived in New York $18,000 in debt; it nonetheless became a surprise hit credited with helping to launch the Harlem Renaissance. No, No, Nanette had a similarly rough path: its 1924 tryout tour stumbled badly enough that the production brought in new stars and largely rewrote the script and score before it finally opened on Broadway in 1925 to success.
Over the following decades, a smaller group of cities came to dominate the pre-Broadway circuit, especially New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Ownership was part of the reason: the Shubert Organization, which controlled a large share of Broadway's own theatres, also owned Shubert Theatres in New Haven, Boston, and Philadelphia, making the route from one of its out-of-town houses to one of its Broadway houses a straightforward business proposition. New Haven's Shubert Theatre, in particular, hosted nine eventual Best Musical winners between the 1940s and 1960s, more than any other theatre in the Big Three; according to theatre historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper, this was partly because Philadelphia and Boston each split their bookings between two competing tryout houses while New Haven's Shubert had the market to itself. Detroit's rise followed similar logic under a different operator: the Nederlander family, who had managed the city's Fisher Theatre since 1961, began acquiring Broadway theatres of their own in 1964 and went on to become the second-largest Broadway theatre owner after the Shuberts. The Fisher hosted the first tryout performances of Hello, Dolly! in November 1963; after a poor reception there, the production moved to Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre for extensive further rewrites before opening on Broadway in January 1964.
Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre built a similar reputation over the same period, hosting pre-Broadway engagements for musicals including Show Boat in 1927 and West Side Story in 1957, in addition to Hello, Dolly!. The theatre has kept that role into the 21st century, hosting tryouts for shows such as Mean Girls and Beetlejuice. By Tepper's count, the National has also hosted pre-Broadway tryouts for more shows that would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical than any other commercial rental theatre, six between the 1950s and 1990s.