Shows that made changes during their run

[jvoom]

I was watching a video the other afternoon about Broadway after 9/11. Nancy Opel and Brad Oscar were talking about how moments in their shows has to be changed given the circumstances; explosions were toned down in Springtime for Hitler, for example.

I got to thinking ... what other shows made changes to lyrics/lines throughout their run? Another I can think of is in The Book of Mormon the line referencing the president of the church of LDS was changed when the one originally mentioned died.

[Emmaloucbway]

Avenue Q changed the "George Bush is only for now" line a few times to what was/is currently relevant (I *think* they say Donald Trump now but I haven't seen the show in years so I'm not sure). 

[AADA81]

The original 1979 production of 'Sweeney Todd' dropped an entire song after recording it for the cast album.  The older Judge Turpin sang a song called 'Johanna', about his attraction to his adopted daughter, while whipping himself with his shirt off.  Audiences at the time weren't pleased, but it's been reinstated in later productions.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Beauty and the Beast added a song when Toni Braxton came.

[AEA AGMA SM]

The Scarlet Pimpernel rather famously closed for two weeks about a year into its run at the Minskoff and reopened with new leads and a rearranged production. It ran about another six months before closing, going out on tour, and reopening the next fall at the Neil Simon in another rearranged production and another new set of leads.

The Lion King cut "The Morning Report" and I believe the arial ballet in "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" well into its run (I think it also cut down the "Chow Down" dance break at this time, but I don't remember for sure).

[Dollypop]

The original 1964 production of HELLO, DOLLY! featured a butterfly number in the Harmonia Gardens and Ambrose wss a singer. When Gower Champion was rehearsing Ginger Rogers, he changed it to a polka contest and Ambrose became a dancer.

Also, Gwen Verdon decided to cut "Where Am I Going?" In SWEET CHARITY some time after the show opened.

[Mister Matt]

Years into the Broadway run, Les Miserables made some cuts to the score.

[Tag]

-as stated above, Les Mis cut 14 minutes off their running time in 2000 to save overtime costs

-Phantom changed the Masquerade choreo in 2016

-Spamalot axed the Britney Spears reference (at least for a time) in 2008 when she had her breakdown

-Wicked has made some staging changes over the years, notably getting rid of the large opening witch hat and replacing it with a projection, and adding the dancing young Wizard & Elphie's mom at the end of the show (they originally only appeared at the beginning)

[Dollypop]

WILDCAT made quite a few changes during its run. The song "For Janie" was cut because Lucille Ball couldn't perform it properly and "Corduroy Road" was cut because they finally realized it wasn't a good song.

[KathyNYC2]

During Matilda, there was a change from Escapologist to Escape Artist...along with an elimination/alternation of the British accents,..the intent was to help American audiences understand everything better. Successful?? Questionable.

And now of course, at Waitress, there are some changes in a few lines to fit the character of Old Josie instead of Old Joe. To me, they work just fine.

[HunterK]

Miss Saigon changed Kim’s final song 2 times and Ellen’s Act 2 I think is on it’s 3rd different inclination.

[andrewftw]

Waitress added a line before Bad Idea when Jenna is on the phone and Cal takes it. Cal got a couple new lines which was brought in during the tour and then moved to broadway

[thedrybandit]

Tag said: "-Phantom changed the Masquerade choreo in 2016"

In addition, when Norm Lewis began his run, they took that opportunity to add in some of the new orchestrations from the Las Vegas production, as well as adding Raoul back in to Wandering Child.

[PatrickDC]

After opening, Victor/Victoria cut "Louis Says," the original Act 2 opening ensemble number. I liked the number. Didn't advance the story other than to illustrate Victor's star is rising. I also heard it was cut to help preserve Julie's stamina and voice. The number is shown on the DVD of the performance that aired on Japanese television. After the cut, Toddy still enters wearing the bottom part of the dress Victor removes during the number, and Victor enters wearing the Marie Antoinette costume (minus the dress Toddy wears). 

[Dollypop]

THE FANTASTICKS changed the last line about the wall only a few weeks before it closed.

[trpguyy]

oncemorewithfeeling2 said: "Beauty and the Beast added a song when Toni Braxton came."

She also got a new costume for the curtain call. 

 

Aladdin has had a few line changes — “I can’t breathe” is now “you’re squishing me;”

“not in a weird way” is now “not in a creepy way;”

and just this week the entire “barbaric” phrase in Arabian Nights was replaced. 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Dollypop said: "THE FANTASTICKS changed the last line about the wall only a few weeks before it closed."

I think that change was made in 2014, about 3 years before the closing. (Unless the line was changed again in 2017?)

[ljay889]

After it opened, the 2009 West Side Story revival changed the fully Spanish lyrics of "I feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That" to a 'Spanglish' mix. The cast recording only documented full Spanish and full English versions of the songs, unfortunately the much improved Spanglish versions were instated after the cast recording was made. 

[SomethingPeculiar]

I always think it's interesting when a show makes major changes to accommodate a star. (And I don't mean cosmetic changes like key changes or different costumes.) In addition to some of the other things mentioned here...

– When Liza stepped into VictorVictoria, "Crazy World" was replaced with "Who Can I Tell." Also, when Liza went into Chicago, "I Am My Own Best Friend" was made a solo. I'm kind of surprised the current revival hasn't gone the solo route for some of the star Roxies.

– When Debbie Reynolds went into "Woman of the Year" the title song was re-written

– Merman's 2 added songs in DOLLY

This is also sort of a different situation and I could have the story wrong, but: When Alexis Smith got sick during FOLLIES, they would drop "Could I Leave You?" entirely at some performances.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Tag said: "Wicked has made some staging changes over the years, notablygetting rid of the large opening witch hat and replacing it with a projection, and adding the dancing young Wizard & Elphie's mom at the end of the show (they originally only appeared at the beginning)"

Another change was Fiyero's entrance/his first meeting with Elphaba. Originally, Elphaba is not present at the start of the scene that leads into "Dancing Through Life" and the first time he even sees her is when she arrives wearing the hat at the ball. So their first actual on stage interaction with one another was the class room scene. It's a change you didn't need to be made until they made and you think about "wow yeah, this is much better."

[CATSNYrevival]

Dollypop said: "THE FANTASTICKS changed the last line about the wall only a few weeks before it closed."

What was it changed to? It seems to be the same on the original and revival cast albums.

[LizzieCurry]

jvoom, Mormon did change "President of the church Thomas Monson" twice — first to "former President" when he died (but before the new one was official), and then to "President of the Church Russell Nelson."

Jersey Boys went back and forth with Bob's line during Walk Like a Man, I think depending on where the election cycle was: "Some guys have run for president on less" vs "Some guys have been elected president on less."

[Dollypop]

CATSNYrevival said: "Dollypop said: "THE FANTASTICKS changed the last line about the wall only a few weeks before it closed."

What was it changed to? It seems to be the same on the original and revival cast albums."

It was changed to;"No, leave the wall. It was never about the wall."  Ed Watts was the El Gallo when the change was implimented and he never really understood understood why the change was made.

[whatdoesntkillme]

Scarlet Leigh said: "Another change was Fiyero's entrance/his first meeting with Elphaba. Originally, Elphaba is not present at the start of the scene that leads into "Dancing Through Life" and the first time he even sees her is when she arrives wearing the hat at the ball. So their first actual on stage interaction with one another was the class room scene. It's a change you didn't need to be made until they made and you think about "wow yeah, this is much better.""

When did this change happen? I've always known the new one, but I first saw the show in 2005. 

[Scarlet Leigh]

whatdoesntkillme said: "When did this change happen? I've always known the new one, but I first saw the show in 2005."

Not sure of the exact time frame when it happened but I know that it (and a lot of the other changes mentioned previously by Tag like the removal of the giant Witches hat being the show opener and a number of light design changes) were first done on the touring production and then the changes were put into action on Broadway. I have never actually seen the show with the NEW changes. I have only ever seen pictures and short clips and the last time I saw the show was Megan's second show as the full time Glinda so like May/June of 2005. Man I need to see it again. It's been too long.