10 Broadway Shows That Got Stuck in Previews — and Some That Closed Shortly Thereafter

It’s always an exciting time when a Broadway production has officially started previews. There’s finally an audience in the house, changes are being incorporated to make the show the best that it can be, and the countdown is on until opening night. 

But there have been a handful of musicals that got stuck in their preview periods. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark infamously made history with a whopping 182 preview performances before it finally opened on June 14, 2011. 

However, the characters of Spider-Man, Arachne and the Green Goblin haven’t been the only ones forced to postpone their big red-carpet opening. 

Below, BroadwayWorld looks at 10 Broadway shows that had exceptionally long preview periods and quite the problematic journey to opening night. 

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Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (182 Previews)

Everyone had high hopes when Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark began previews on November 28, 2010 — but the musical’s troubles began that very night. Natalie Mendoza, who was originally cast as Arachne, suffered a concussion during the first preview and had to take leave from the production. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, it wasn’t long before producer Michael Cohl issued a statement saying that their planned January 11, 2011, opening was pushed back. “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is an extremely ambitious undertaking, as everyone knows, and I have no intention of cutting a single corner in getting to the finish line,” he said at the time. (Mendoza was eventually replaced by T.V. Carpio.)

The musical was back in the news when actor Christopher Tierney was injured onstage during a performance and had to go to the hospital. Simultaneously, changes were constantly being made to the musical, which at the time was under the direction of Julie Taymor. In March 2011, the theater industry was shocked to learn that Taymor exited the musical and Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa joined the creative team to work on new staging and book rewrites. 

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark temporarily shut down for a creative overhaul, and when version 2.0 began performances on Broadway, the Greek Chorus (which acted as narrators) were cut from the show entirely. Though there were a few other bumps along the way, Spider-Man — featuring music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge and a book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger and Aguirre-Sacasa — finally opened on Broadway on June 14, 2011. The musical played 1,066 regular performances before closing on January 4, 2014, at the then Foxwoods Theatre.

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West Side Story, 2020 Revival (77 previews) 

The 2020 Broadway revival of Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s classic West Side Story faced a handful of setbacks during its short-lived run at the Broadway Theatre. The production already had a significant preview period for director Ivo van Hove’s radical reimagining. The 95-minute, no-intermission production — which began performances on December 10, 2019 — included new choreography, live video and substantial cuts like the Act II opener “I Feel Pretty.” 

About two weeks into previews, it was announced that its opening night was pushed back by two weeks after actor Isaac Powell (who played Tony) sustained a knee injury. Producer Scott Rudin said at the time, “We’re postponing two weeks — from February 6 to February 20 — to give Isaac the chance to recover from an injury to his knee, so that he can have the same duration of preview playing period we've always had scheduled. Luckily he is much braver than me and will be back and playing his full, remarkable show very shortly.” 

Several performances later, it was announced that Dharon E. Jones would succeed actor Ben Cook in the role of Riff after Cook sustained an injury during the show. “I think finally it turned out well,” Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker told 60 Minutes. “But I would be lying if I say that it went, like, smoothly like this, you know?” Shortly after it opened on February 20, it was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic after 24 regular performances and never returned. 

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Legs Diamond (72 Previews) 

Not only was the opening night of the 1988 Peter Allen musical Legs Diamond delayed — so were the previews! According to an article by the Associated Press, performances were originally intended to start on October 18 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre (now the Times Square Church), but they were delayed by a week because of technical problems. After previews officially began on October 25, there was a lot to fix — especially considering that the musical didn’t have an out-of-town tryout. 

According to the AP, the first preview performance ran more than three hours, and many people in the audience walked out after the first act. “The audience reaction was not too great,” producer Arthur Rubin said at the time. “There were a lot of things to fix.” The musical — featuring music and lyrics by its star, Allen, with a book by Charles Suppon and Harvey Fierstein — went through a massive overhaul during its preview period, which included cutting approximately 45 minutes, getting rid of characters and even throwing out some sets.

The opening was originally planned for December 1, but then it was postponed to December 11. It eventually opened, however, on December 26. “We just want to make it work,” said Rubin. “I didn’t care how many times we had to postpone. We would do it until we got it right.” Legs Diamond, about a Depression-era mobster who wants to make it in showbiz, only ran for 64 regular performances (less than the amount of previews).

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Nick & Nora (71 Previews)

Nick & Nora — with a book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by Charles Strouse — was a “flop” before it even opened, actor Barry Bostwick once told BroadwayWorld. The musical, starring Bostwick as Nick Charles opposite Joanna Gleason as Nora Charles, opted to have a longer preview period at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre instead of having an out-of-town tryout. 

When Nick & Nora began previews on October 8, 1991, it was off to an incredibly rocky start. According to Bostwick, “the road to it becoming a flop was so long and so costly to me personally, that it’s really soured me on that whole process on getting a new musical up and running.” 

Bostwick recalled that changes were being made to the show “every day” during that two-month period. “It was exhausting, it was troubling,” he said. “We were being lambasted by the people who followed the development of these musicals. In the culture of New York, we were a flop before we ever opened in the eyes of the community. Even though I thought in the final analysis, it was a fairly good show, I liked the music, but it was a dark musical, and it just never quite worked.” 

He also said it cost him a lot of money, considering that when it opened on December 8, it closed after just nine regular performances. “We were just making rehearsal fee, and then when we finally opened, when we were going to get the serious dough, we closed in 10 days,” he said. “So, I was like, ‘Well sh–, what’s the point, you know?’”

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Merlin (69 Previews)

Merlin was a musical starring famed illusionist Doug Henning, but even a little magic couldn’t get it off the ground. After the show — featuring music by Elmer Bernstein, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Richard Levinson and William Link — began at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on December 10, 1982, its early previews were reportedly a mess onstage and off. According to a piece in Time, cues were missed, props were dropped, and there was an overhaul to the creative team. Original director Frank Dunlop was replaced by co-producer Ivan Reitman, and Billy Wilson was brought in to choreograph alongside Christopher Chadman. According to Time, directors Michael Bennett and Jerome Robbins even came backstage to advise on the production, which also starred Chita Rivera, Nathan Lane and a young Christian Slater.

Ahead of its official February 13 opening, the New York Times and the Daily News reviewed the production — fearing it may be stuck in previews. While the producers complained, the Times’ Arts and Leisure editor William Honan explained, “Our responsibility is to our readers. When a show becomes a public event, a good newspaper ought to cover it.”  

In a PBS interview, actor Lane explained, “I don’t even remember the opening because we were in previews for months, for several months. When we finally opened, they thought it was a revival. Don’t get me started with the Merlin jokes!”

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Dance of the Vampires (61 Previews)

The Broadway production of Dance of the Vampires was heavily rewritten from the musical’s original German-language production (titled Tanz der Vampire). However, its postponement was mainly due to technical issues or matters of circumstance. 

The Jim Steinman musical delayed its previews by two days to October 16, 2002, due to the technical time needed to prepare the show for Broadway. Its opening was later pushed back from November 21 to December 9 since director John Rando had to take a leave of absence from being with the production to be with his mother, who was recovering from emergency open-heart surgery at the time. 

It eventually opened on Broadway on December 9, 2002, and ran for 56 regular performances. Star Michael Crawford explained in an interview with BroadwayWorld that its rewrite for Broadway was “a little more tongue-in-cheek, and, of course, that was not what was wanted by either the public or the fans of the show,” adding: “So, our mistake, I suppose.” 

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The Capeman (59 Previews)

Paul Simon and Derek Walcott’s The Capeman was in the works for several years before it began previews on December 1, 1997, at the Marquis Theatre, but it still had a tumultuous preview period when it finally made it to Broadway. 

According to Time, the show’s opening, originally scheduled for January 8, was postponed to January 29 after multiple directors were brought on to the production to reshape the show. Jerry Zaks and choreographer Joey McKneely lent a helping hand to the production. Zaks said he was excited to “help something already on its way to being something, to become what it wants to be,” and he felt happy with the results. 

However, the show was attracting negative press, and producer Edgar Dobie said the reception was unfair. “Would I wish this kind of scrutiny and fishbowl on any artist?” he asked. “No.” After 59 previews, it finally opened on January 29, 1998, and ran for 68 regular performances before closing on March 28.

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The Red Shoes (51 Previews)

Jule Styne and Marsha Norman’s The Red Shoes had just five regular performances on Broadway when it closed on December 19, 1993, at the Gershwin Theatre. But at least it had 51 previews. The musical — based on the 1948 film inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale — began previews on November 2 of that year, but it was off to a very shaky start.

A Los Angeles Times article reported that opening night was delayed amid a tumultuous preview period that included finding last-minute replacements. Susan H. Schulman was initially supposed to direct, but she was let go before rehearsals began, with producer Martin Starger citing “creative differences.” Stanley Donen took over as director.  

There were also cast changes, including Roger Rees being replaced by his standby, Steve Barton. Styne had been working on the musical for a decade and fought to bring the show to Broadway. “What made me want to present it on the stage was the final minute of the movie: the spotlight follows the ballerina around the set of the ballet she once performed, only she’s not there,” he told the Times. “There’s only the blank spaces, and a very slow curtain. It’s very theatrical; it’s a tragedy.”  

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Good Vibrations (50 Previews)

The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations, which didn’t have an out-of-town tryout, was receiving poor word-of-mouth when it began performances on December 20, 2004, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. It didn’t help that there was also some drama happening behind the scenes. 

Variety reported that its January 27, 2005, opening was pushed back to February 2 as the jukebox musical underwent changes. Director David Warren was brought in to assist director-choreographer John Carrafa. Justin Guarini also dropped out of the show before the start of previews, and Chad Kimball announced he would leave soon after the show opened to join Lennon.  

Richard Dresser, who wrote the musical’s book, told The Christian Science Monitor that the show’s music didn’t “tell a literal story but an emotional one, because of the sense of yearning that’s so strong in the songs.” It played just 94 regular performances before closing on April 24 of that year.

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Merrily We Roll Along (44 Previews)

Because George Furth and Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along didn’t receive a traditional out-of-town tryout, it opted for a longer preview period of “tryout performances” beginning October 8, 1981, at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon). 

According to BroadwayWorld’s retrospective, the musical was met with a negative response, and audience members were walking out before the end of the show. In Sondheim’s book Finishing the Hat, the legendary songwriter explained, “The last 20 minutes of the show, when the cast reverted to their true ages, was undeniably touching, but the rest of the evening had an amateur feeling — which ironically had been what we wanted. If the show had played in an Off-Broadway house at Off-Broadway prices, it would have stood a better chance of fulfilling our intentions.” 

“As it was at Broadway’s Alvin Theater and at Broadway prices, it turned the audiences off,” he continued. “The theatergoers who didn’t leave at intermission did a lot of squirming and with reason: they felt cheated. There were severe problems with the sets and costumes as well, the former being cluttered and charmless, the latter so confusing that Hal [Prince] threw them all out at dress rehearsal and replaced them with t-shirts lettered with a description of each wearer’s relationship to Frank...I rather liked it. The paying audience did not.” 

It opened on November 16, 1981, and only played 16 regular performances through November 28. However, the recent Broadway revival starring Jonathan Groff as Franklin, Daniel Radcliffe as Charley and Lindsay Mendez as Mary was a hit, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival.