How long will it take for shows to get up and running?

[Dave13]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 3:06pm

When Broadway gets the green light to reopen, how long will it take for a production to be ready to put on a show? Cameron Mackintosh in his interview suggested 4-5 months. I read St Martin suggest 6 weeks. Seems like a wide range of guesses as to how long it will take for Broadway to reopen.

For an established show, I cant imagine it would take long if the cast remained intact. A few weeks of rehearsals should have the cast ready. If the cast doesnt come back in its entirety, then that could vary. Also shows like Hamilton, Wicked and etc have advanced sales. So there is a lot of pressure to get up and going as soon as possible.

Interested in hearing others opinions that work in the industry.

Updated On: 5/3/20 at 03:06 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 3:16pm

So this is like the 12th thread with this exact topic asked? WTF?!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 3:18pm

I think shows retaining their full casts is highly unlikely so there will have to be casting to take into consideration, as well. Not to mention all the new people backstage who will have to learn the show. After 8-13 months of not doing it, it’s not going to be a simple matter of a couple refresher run-throughs.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 4:02pm

As with everything else, it depends. If a show stays largely intact, I would think the new folks would rehearse as they routinely do before being put in, and then the cast would come in for an extended period  (like 2 weeks) as Jordan is suggesting. To me that is 6 weeks or thereabouts. During the early weeks, crew will get up to speed and every element will be checked and rechecked. Things have a way of breaking when they are not used, and not everything can be reproduced on a dime. 

For a new show (and I think that's what CM is talking about but I have not read whatever he said) I think 4-5 months is the right number. And again, remember that a lot of shows are fed to Broadway via out of town or off-B, so a lot of these shows are not coming in as quickly as that. Expect it to take a year or more from the first shows for there to be a significant number of shows on the main stem.

And yes there will be many many variations on this theme. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 4:12pm

Advance sales mean nothing right now.