The idea of “previews” – performances where critics agree to stay away until they are invited to attend the “first night”, allowing the creative teams to iron out the kinks of their shows and see them on their feet in front of a live audience – has long been an accepted theatrical convention. For an early glimpse of the work-in-progress – and being an instrumental part of the developmental process, since its audience reaction that dictates whether something is actually working or not – tickets used to be heavily reduced in price, acknowledging the fact that audiences were not being given a product whose quality was assured, or at least definitive of what it was intended to be.
But over the last few years this principle has been eroded in both the West End and on Broadway, where shows often preview to no official, or only negligible, discounts (though of course there are lots of hidden ones, in as much as early performances, particularly on Broadway, are discounted instead via advance mail-outs that give booking codes that can be used to secure them). This week, however, I was pleased to notice that Disney are re-introducing the principle of reduced price previews, with a stated 25% off the top price for all previews (ie $76.25 instead of $101.25) of their forthcoming musical version of Tarzan when it comes to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre. Given that the show is going to preview for over 6 weeks (from March 24, prior to opening on May 10), that’s both artistically sensible – clearly, the previews are being used as the out-of-town tryout for the show, since it isn’t having one – but also could mean that it is sacrificing several million dollars worth of revenue by reducing its potential income by such a large sum.
But then Disney – who have also struck their own deals with the unions on Broadway, and eschewed membership of the League of American Theatres and Producers who negotiate on behalf of the whole membership – are adept at not playing by the usual rules. And not even the usual schedules: I notice that, beyond the summer, they will introduce a Wednesday to Sunday performance schedule for Tarzan, cramming five performances into Friday to Sunday – the time when a family-friendly show is likely to score best.
