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Is a preview like an actual performance?

Is a preview like an actual performance?

scampsweep
#1Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 2:31am

Have tickets for a preview performance of Hello Dolly next April. Can I just ask : is a preview performance a continuous performance or is it likely that the performance stops here and there for adjustments to be made? I know they tweak shows in between preview performances, but do they stop DURINGthe performance as well? 

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Mr. Nowack
#2Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 2:36am

The only reason the show would stop is if there was a technical difficulty, ideally it should run as if it were a regular performance. The only difference is that it's not the "frozen" version and may be different from the performances before and after.


Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated

LizzieCurry Profile Photo
LizzieCurry
#3Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 2:39am

I've seen several shows in previews, including out-of-town previews, and although occasionally a member of the creative team would give a welcome/apologies if we stop speech before the show, I've never seen it happen. (Though it does.)


"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

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dramamama611
#4Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 3:40am

You should expect to see a complete show without stops...but take it with a grain of salt if there is one.

 

I, too, have been to many previews and never had one stop.   I have been to a handful of shows AFTER preview/opening that have stopped 


If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

Mike Costa Profile Photo
Mike Costa
#5Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 4:52am

A preview performance is one where most of the magic does not happen but the company still gets thru the show.  Producers used to understand their show was not ready to be seen and charge a considerably lower rate for these performances.  In new shows the lighting is not yet right or not cued correctly with the orchestration, the orchestration is not finished and not timed out with space for audience applause or reaction, the timing of the actors lines are toyed with in order to get the best reaction from the audience, costumes may change, entire numbers written or thrown out.  You get the idea, the stuff that makes a show worthy of being on Broadway is worked out during previews performances usually for a less discerning audience.

Recently, producers have discovered that audiences have no idea what they are seeing or  that things could be better so they had decided to charge full price for  preview performances.  In a revival show like Dolly! nothing in the book will change but Bette and the other actors will change their readings each night while trying to find what works best for those actors doing the show.  Actors and the entire crew rehearse even while performing at night during previews to make things better.  Yes, it is an exhausting time and actors are tired.

As a Broadway professional myself I was given free tickets to a new big musical during previews and both the General Manager and Musical Supervisor pulled me aside and told me how disappointed they were  to see me there and asked why, being in the business,  I did not  give them the courtesy to wait to see their work when it was finished.  Much of any actors best work is discovered when the audience is in the room.  Ms Middler certainly works that way, give the actors and designers twenty-one performances to figure it out before you spend your money on a show next time.

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imeldasturn
#6Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 7:22am

scampsweep said: "is a preview performance a continuous performance or is it likely that the performance stops here and there for adjustments to be made? 

"

That shouldn't really happen, it's a preview, not rehearsals. 

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GreasedLightning
#7Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 8:42am

Mike Costa said: "A preview performance is one where most of the magic does not happen but the company still gets thru the show. 

I disagree with this wholeheartedly. I enjoy seeing shows during previews and then returning to the finished product after opening if I enjoyed it the first go-around, and I have seen some of the most magical moments in memory while attending a preview. 

 Ms Middler certainly works that way, give the actors and designers twenty-one performances to figure it out before you spend your money on a show next time.

 

"

It's not consistently 21 performances. Sometimes it's 2 weeks, sometimes it's 3. Sometimes it's even 4 to 5 weeks. Depends on the show. Being such a highly regarded Broadway professional I would think you'd know this. 

Mike Costa Profile Photo
Mike Costa
#8Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 9:42am

Thanks for agreeing with me Greased Lightening even though you have, for some reason written you "whole heartedly disagree".

 Yes, the show is unfinished during previews which is why you have mentioned you later go back and see the "finished product" later.  Many of us cannot afford to see shows twice but I am happy you can and you ar=gree that the preview is not the finished product.

No where in my writing have I said a preview must be exactly twenty one performances, you are making that up.  That is just the number of previews it takes to get an average musical tight.  One show previewed for six months just to keep the critics out. 

No where did I write I was a " highly regarded professional" you seem to have made that up too.

I was simply answering the original posters question to the best of my ability.  You seem to be writing lies about what I have written simply to be contrary.  It is why so many professionals have left this board.

 

dramamama611 Profile Photo
dramamama611
#9Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:42am

I've seen plenty of "magic" in preview performances.  PLENTY. 

 

Is it sometimes NOT as polished as it MIGHT be several weeks later?  Sometimes.  But not often enough to change one's entire experience.   

 

Is it "wrong" of the producers to charge full price?  Yes, I think it is...but as I've never felt ripped off by a preview, I don't have much to complain about.   There are only two shows I can think of that my experience MIGHT have been considerably different had I waited longer would be: Shuffle Along (I saw it right before the hiatus) and Spider-man (first version they put out there).   I do think I may have enjoyed SA more....but I cannot imagine that Spider-man really got better.  Two shows over the dozens and dozens I have seen in previews?  Not too shabby, certainly not shabby enough to "warn" people against previews.


If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

LizzieCurry Profile Photo
LizzieCurry
#10Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:43am

Oh, Mike... you don't need a bulletproof vest to post on this board. You don't have to act like you do.


"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

Someone in a Tree2 Profile Photo
Someone in a Tree2
#11Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 11:27am

Re SPIDER-MAN, I felt so lucky to have seen one of the Taymor-era previews.  By all accounts, nearly every daffy thing I loved about that performance was gone by the time the show officially opened months later. 

Early attendees of the SHUFFLE ALONG previews were also lucky-- they saw nearly an hour more of material than we later audiences got to see. I truly envy folks like Whizzer who can watch the creation of a great show in process by seeing all those first previews, and then what the shows later became.

HSky
#12Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 12:21pm

The only preview stop I've seen was a tech stop during Dear Evan Hansen in DC. One of the platforms didn't move as scheduled so they paused for a few minutes, made an announcement, then restarted the scene. 

As others said, I enjoy previews because you sometimes see stuff that doesn't end up making the final cut. "Lovely Love" from Something Rotten is one that comes to mind.

amaklo
#13Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 1:45pm

I was at a preview of Big Fish that was stopped.  Somehow some liquid spilled on the stage. There were a lot of people in the scene including one actor on stilts. Norbert Leo Butz stopped the show, saying something like "Sorry folks, this isn't safe, so we're stopping to let the crew clean it up."  The curtain came down for a few minutes, then went back up and they started the scene again.  Unfortunately, that was the most interesting part of the show.

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SweetLips
#14Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 3:31pm

I remember when[way back '70s]---[in Australia]--previews were much cheaper, the production crew sat in the middle of the stalls with desk tops and subdued lamps taking notes and the director always came on stage before the performance started to explain what we the audience were about to see--an unfinished run-through that could possibly stop and start due to many 'problems' encountered--so please forgive and enjoy our show.

That was what 'previews' originally were all about. Firstly rehearsals in some hall somewhere/bump in and tech.into the theatre/lighting-positions-costumes-orchestra. When all that is set then it is time for an audience reaction and previews.

Would that be somewhat correct Mike?

SL

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SamIAm
#15Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 4:47pm

The answers in this post will give you a general idea of what previews are and how they are used. As someone mentioned, preview tickets used to be less expensive than tickets for performances after opening night but that hasn't been the case in quite a few years. Previews give the cast and crew a chance to refine and in the case of new material or substantially changed material in a revival, they offer a chance to tighten and change things before opening. During previews the cast will often rehearse changes during the day and perform them at night to see how they play. 

BUT, having said that, nearly all of the preview performances will run as a standard performance unless, as others have said here, something goes wrong. I have attended a lot of preview performances and, while the show might change quite a bit by the time it is frozen at opening night, it wasn't as if the preview performance looked like a rehearsal. In all likelihood you won't KNOW it is a preview.


"Life is a lesson in humility"

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bwayrose7
#16Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 5:08pm

Okay, I have a related question I'd like to pose to those of you who have been to previews. Is it more (or less) likely to see the regular cast, as opposed to understudies, particularly in the week or two immediately prior to official opening? Or are the odds pretty much the same as they would be during regular performances?

freewilma
#17Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 5:16pm

If I understand correctly, understudies are almost never in previews; unless there is an emergency.  

KathyNYC2
#18Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/16/16 at 7:18pm

Right..the only understudy that I remember on recently was for Laura Benanti at She Loves Me when she had bronchitis right before opening...and I believe also for Jessie Mueller at Waitress once for vocal reasons.

In so far as previews, I always think there are two kinds..early previews and those at the end. At the beginning, you might get to some some scenes/dialogue or even hear a song/number that might be eventually cut out of the show (which happened at Kinky Boots)...or if you get later tickets, you can see a show that is just about what you will see when it opens.

I saw a few mishaps during previews (such as the scenery didn't move and/or crashed into something else on the stage at Something Rotten but the actors just moved it manually and didn't miss a beat)...but the only time I remember a show stopping mid show was once at Matilda when Matilda's bed broke and for safety reasons, they called the actors off stage and the tech people went out to fix it.

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jenn328
#19Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 10:09am

I've seen many previews and never had any problems except at this latest revival of tick, tick...boom!  It was the first night and the sound went out during the first song.  We had about a 45 minute break but we got half priced drinks out of it so it was tolerable.

dramamama611 Profile Photo
dramamama611
#20Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 10:55am

Understudies don't usually even begin rehearsal until previews, and sometimes not until opening.


If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

MinnieFay
#21Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 11:13am

dramamama611 said: "Understudies don't usually even begin rehearsal until previews, and sometimes not until opening"

Sorry mama --- but you're wrong about that.  Certain off-Bway contracts allow understudies to be hired later ---but Broadway understudies generally start the week before tech starts (often earlier for musicals).

LizzieCurry Profile Photo
LizzieCurry
#22Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 11:14am

Is that a recent thing? I remember it coming up in the Standbys documentary that understudies/standbys aren't usually rehearsed until after opening.


"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

MinnieFay
#23Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 11:54am

LizzieCurry said: "Is that a recent thing? I remember it coming up in the Standbys documentary that understudies/standbys aren't usually rehearsed until after opening."

 

While they may well not be physically "rehearsed" (i.e. on stage in costumes with sets and orchestra), they are most certainly present at rehearsals, watching, running lines, learning the cues and blocking, etc.  It is true that understudy rehearsals don't happen until the show is up and running.

kreichelt
#24Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 12:01pm

I've been to several previews, and for the most part, you'd never know it wasn't post-opening.  Occasionally, there have been very minor tweaks made afterwards (which you'll probably only know if you see it again later and pay very close attention)

The one time I had a more interesting experience was when I saw "All the Way" (pre-Broadway at the ART).  They had a set malfunction, and it was fascinating to watch.  There was a desk that was supposed to drop into the stage, but it got stuck.  The actors on stage froze in position while they attempted to fix the set.  When it was clear it was going to take a little longer, they dropped the curtain for a few minutes and got things fixed.  When they started back up, they rewound slightly.

It was fascinating to watch.  It was the clear the performers all knew exactly what to do in the event in such a failure, and was really neat to see them work through it.  Obviously, not planned - but in a lot of ways better than not seeing the malfunction.  Also, it really makes you appreciate everything involved in designing the sets and getting it all to run smoothly during the show - stuff you otherwise pretty much take for granted. 

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PalJoey
#25Is a preview like an actual performance?
Posted: 10/17/16 at 12:55pm

 

During the preview period, a show develops timing and pacing. So it frequently happens that a show that leaves you lukewarm in an early preview ends up enchanting you when you return to it.

At a certain point late in previews the show is "frozen." In a case of a revival of a solid show like Hello, Dolly! with a seasoned pro like Bette Midler directed by a master of the genre like Jerry Zaks, the show will probably jell early in previews.