Word: shows
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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NEEDLESS TO SAY, everybody works to the point of exhaustion. Often, in the most desperate of cases, a producer will bring in additional writers to "doctor" or, hopefully, save the show. Alexander Cohen, Dear World's producer, used his wife, Hildy Parks, and another librettist, Joe Masteroff (who wrote Cabaret) to fix up his production. Neither of these show doctors will receive program credit for their work, but they will get a flat sum of money, and, if their rewriting is substantial, perhaps a percentage royalty...
...Dear World seemed to be past the point of no return. The doubtful new act cost in the neighborhood of $200,000 to put in (on top of the original outlay of $600,000), and the second act had not yet been touched. The show was scheduled to open in New York on Dec. 26, or about two weeks after the Boston closing...
Realizing that his show -- now the most expensive in Broadway history--would be a sure flop unless more radical changes could be made, producer Cohen decided to postpone the opening indefinitely, with all performances in New York designated as "previews" until he considered Dear World ready for an opening before critics. While critics accept this practice of previews as an addition to the road tryout period, they could not abide by Cohen's plan to play the unfinished show into the distant future before paying audiences. Several of the first-nighters threatened to show up at the show unannounced...
Sometimes, however, a show's future looks sufficiently ominous for the producer to close it before its official opening. One of the most legendary examples is David Merrick's musical Breakfast at Tiffany's. That one changed its title as well as directors and writers on the road. Originally written by screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, the musical's book was turned over to Abe Burrows and, eventually, Edward Albee. After six hellish weeks in Boston and Philadelphia Tiffany's played four previews in New York before Merrick closed it at a personal loss...
...show can even close on the road before reaching Broadway in any form. Last year, Merrick's Mata Hari (which cost as much as Tiffany's) folded in Washington shortly after a disastrous benefit - premiere during which scenery collapsed and the leading lady was caught nude on stage in a costume change. Merrick evidently found the show unfixable, sent director Vincente Minelli back to California, and auctioned off the sets to to Washington University play-houses...