All we need is a little patience...

No, it's not a suggestion to produce a Guns N Roses jukebox musical, but it could be a direct message to the producers who seem eager to get their shows to New York before the product is ready.

Yesterday, as I was editing my Sondheim on Sondheim review, I kept going back to how many times songs and shows require rewrites to get it right. Before he gave us "Comedy Tonight", Sondheim wrote "Forget War". Before he gave us the masterpiece that is "Being Alive", there was "Multitudes of Amy's" and "Happily Ever After". Even a genius songwriter like Sondheim is going to strike out on occasions before hitting the grand slam.

To listen to his narratives throughout the docu-musical, it would appear that his shows were given more time to come together at their out of town previews, through trial and error. Songs were rewritten, scenes were reworked, and roles were re-cast. The process might have been tedious, but very necessary.

The biggest question is this. Are today's playwrights and producers giving their shows the same level of time to incubate??? Or are they such slaves to their own production schedules that they are rushing a show to Broadway before it's ready. It's almost equivalent to a mom-to-be asking for a C-section at 7 months into the pregnancy because she just wants to be a mom right now.

There is evidence to suggest that a creative team's patience will payoff in the long run. No show in recent memory has received more critical praise than Next to Normal, but it was a 7 year journey from it's first workshop to opening at the Booth Theater. In fact, during it's off Broadway run, the show was heavily criticized by some for failing to strike a proper balance between pathos and comedy. The show went back to the regional level, where it was reworked at Arena stage. Comic songs and glitzy production numbers were replaced with numbers more emotionally compatible with the book. That version of Next to Normal received rave reviews, and has gone on to be a critical and financial success.

Rock of Ages went through considerable changes after out of town performances in LA and Las Vegas. It was three years before the show would open in New York, where it was nominated for 5 Tony Awards and has now been optioned as a film with New Line Cinema.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is The Addams Family, which was killed by critics during it's Chicago previews. Directors were fired, show doctors were brought in, songs were rewritten. But the whole process happened in 90 days to meet an April timetable to open. The result is a show that's often times funny, but comes across like a patchwork quilt of creative visions that nobody could decide on. With 16.5 million dollars at stake, and A-list talent in place, didn't the show deserve more time to be polished??

I was amazed to read that Shrek would be opening in London, after going through extensive rewrites from it's failed Broadway run?? Really?? Dreamworks waited until AFTER the show failed to fix the problems with the script? For the record, I very much enjoyed Shrek, but they never were able to figure out how to stage the very expensive dragon sequence after the show was panned in Seattle.

I'd love to hear from some of the insiders who read this blog. Is there something I'm missing? Is the cost too great to delay your opening to fix the material? Is it more expensive than losing your investment if the show fails??

Looking forward to your comments and emails on this.