Word: road
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Still--and this is what keeps the ritual of the road alive--productions can be saved, or almost saved, on the road. An "almost saved" show is one that looks like an embarrassing flop on the road, but, through revisions, opens in New York to enough praise to keep it running eight or nine months. (Examples: the Julie Harris musical Skyscraper and last season's The Happy Time...
...Another road is the regional theatre. Broadway producers have begun to take an interest in successful plays put on by theatre groups outside of New York. The Great White Hope (first performed at Arena Stage, Washington) and Red, White and Maddox (from Theater Atlanta) went this route...
...shows' destinies are changed on the road, why do the producers bother with the expense and frustration at all? Harold Prince, Zorba's producer-director, finds the out-of-town critics helpful in suggesting changes that might make a good show better. (His Fiddler on the Roof and West Side Story were perhaps perfected on the road, but his flops, such as Flora, the Red Menace, benefited little from the out-of-town experience...
...substitute for the old road, three new types of "road" have been developing for straight plays in recent years. The most established of these is the London route. Such plays as Hadrian the Seventh, Man in the Glass Booth, and The Homecoming were London successes brought to New York by American producers. This is not foolproof, since London hits can still be New York flops (such as Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane...
Perhaps the most encouraging new "road" is the university theatre. This season's We Bombed in New Haven (first done at Yale) and Fire (from Brandeis), both flops in New York, marked the beginning of this path to the Main Stem...