Julie Taymor’s $65 million musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has been in previews since November — an eternity in the world of theater. It has garnered more attention during what has essentially become an in-town version of an out-of-town tryout period than most shows ever hope to win during their regular runs.
The drawn-out preview period of “Spider-Man” is a rarity on Broadway, and usually a sign that a show is in trouble. If producers push back the opening date, which has happened several times in the case of “Spider-Man,” what does that mean for audiences?
The issue caught the attention this month of New York City public advocate Bill de Blasio, who wrote a sharply worded letter to the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs expressing concern that the show “may be violating consumer protection law by not clearly distinguishing its preview period (when the show is still considered a work in progress) from its post-opening performances (when the show is a finished product), and could face fines.”
Why the big stink? What are previews, anyway?
Nearly all theater productions begin with previews, which are a block of performances before a show opens to critics. At Chicago’s major theaters — some of which are commercial, but most nonprofit — the standard preview period ranges from eight to 14 performances. Technical glitches are hammered out and actors hone their performances. Tickets are sold to previews, sometimes at a reduced rate, sometimes not. Changes might be made during this period, from costume adjustments to reworked dialogue, if the play is new. In the case of “Spider-Man,” the changes have been substantial and the injuries to cast members numerous.
In all, a preview means the show has not yet been declared finished by the producers or theater company.
The issues raised by de Blasio in New York are relevant in Chicago, where the websites run by many of the city’s major Equity theaters do not make a clear distinction between the dates of a show’s regular run and the preview period.
Local producers contend that, unlike the “Spider-Man” debacle, their shows are in good shape once they open for previews. “We are still, to some degree, working on it (during previews),” said Northlight Theatre Executive Director Tim Evans, “but we have a very strenuous and healthy rehearsal process.”
At Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Executive Director David Hawkanson said, “Frankly, you’re not getting a much different show before opening and after opening. … If a show is not ready to be seen in front of an audience, we cancel that performance.” Which is what happened during early previews for “The Tempest” in 2009. But generally, Hawkanson said, “The work is not inferior during a preview to what it is after it opens.”
“Spider-Man” producers, incidentally, are charging top dollar for previews, up to $150 a ticket, higher than most other Broadway shows in regular runs. Morbid curiosity might be why, for one week earlier this month, the show outgrossed “Wicked” — while still in previews.
To put this in some perspective, tickets for Bears preseason games are no cheaper than they are during the regular season. On the other hand, test screenings for movies are free.
In Chicago, many theaters do offer preview discounts to single-ticket buyers (i.e., nonsubscribers). Discounts can range from a couple of dollars to nearly half off. In some cases, such as the previews at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and the shows presented by Broadway in Chicago, there is typically no price reduction.
But no matter what the price, de Blasio was arguing, consumers have a right to know what they’re getting. The distinction between previews and the regular run is a small but vital piece of consumer information that seems to have fallen through the cracks as theaters have rushed to embrace the Internet.
That’s not to say theater administrators or producers are being intentionally misleading, but it is a trend that has taken root over the past few years with the proliferation of online ticketing. (It should be noted that media outlets, including the Tribune, do not always provide this information, either.)
Court Theatre in Hyde Park is more transparent than most, with a website that expressly points out which dates are previews. “Join us for a preview performance and save $10,” the site read last week in large, red letters on the home page, which featured a link to the company’s production of “Three Tall Women,” which has since opened.
Not every theatergoer wants to avoid previews — in fact, there is a devoted segment of the audience that seeks them out. Most theater professionals argue that previews are an essential component to launching a production. And most theaters make a preshow announcement telling audiences they are about to see a preview performance — which some find exciting, especially the closer you get to opening night. The larger issue is one of advance disclosure.
Unless that information is available in ads and especially on theater company websites (on pages where tickets are sold), even a sophisticated theatergoer could be fooled into thinking the first date listed is indeed opening night. (In response to de Blasio’s concerns, incidentally, the website for “Spider-Man,” as well as advertisements, has been updated to include language about previews and the show’s opening date, which is currently set for March 15.)
According to a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office, “Theaters should disclose to consumers that they are buying tickets to a preview, if that is something that consumers would want to know before they purchase their tickets.” But also, “Consumers should ask questions to ensure the show they want to see is the show they’re purchasing tickets for, and that they’re seeing the phase of the show they want to see.”
Which is tough to do if you are buying off the Web.
Ultimately, theatergoers who buy tickets by phone and talk to a live person in the box office don’t have to worry about this as much. But online ticket buyers — a growing segment — can be left in the dark. When asked why they don’t spell out which dates are previews, executive directors at many of Chicago’s major theater companies countered that it hasn’t been a problem requiring their attention.
“We’re not getting complaints from people,” said the Goodman Theatre’s executive director, Roche Schulfer. Anecdotal evidence, based on informal interviews with theatergoers over the past two weeks, backs that up as well.
The sentiment that no one has complained so far was echoed by everyone interviewed for this article, including top executives at Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace and Lookingglass.
“You try to make things as simple as possible, so you list the (general) performance dates,” said Steppenwolf’s Hawkanson. “People call up and they’ll find out when they call what the status is. If we had complaints about this, we would change it. It’s never come up as an issue.”
In the case of Broadway in Chicago, national tours booked into downtown theaters typically open to critics one night after the first performance. (Recently, performances of “9 to 5” began on a Tuesday, with the press in on Wednesday.) When you’re talking about a tour — where it is simply a matter of the cast and crew acclimating themselves to the venue — the difference between that one-night preview and the rest of the run is negligible, except, in some cases, for issues of sound reinforcement.
That said, Broadway in Chicago is presenting a new, untested, Chicago-only production of Studs Terkel’s “Working,” which will have an extended preview period by comparison, beginning Feb. 15 and opening March 2. They are not offering any discounts to those previews. Broadway in Chicago Vice President Eileen LaCario did not respond to requests for a comment.
At least one company in town mistakenly assumed that preview dates were already listed on its website. “I was blown away that it wasn’t,” said Lookingglass Executive Director Rachel Kraft. “So I did a little reality check and asked everybody here, and we all thought it was on there.”
Kraft and her counterparts at the area’s biggest theaters are all quick to point out that there aren’t that many preview tickets available anyway. (The majority of seats are already scooped up by subscribers.) Nevertheless, it should be a level playing field for all consumers, Kraft acknowledged.
“This got us having a conversation here about those people (who order tickets) on the website, and that information is going up.” Lookingglass has yet to make tickets for its next production (“Ethan Frome”) available online. Previews begin Feb. 23, with a March 5 opening.
Listing preview dates on its website is already standard practice at Court.
“We know that the shows take a journey during previews,” said Executive Director Stephen J. Albert, “and the value of knowing that you’re going to see a show that’s undergoing changes and growing and getting deeper is something that’s been taken into account. We’re trying to make sure that our offer to audiences is one that they’re fully informed and empowered by. We want an audience member to walk in and not immediately feel they got fooled or taken advantage of.”
