Previews

[Lindy66]

Just been to the theatre in west end london and the play was in the preview stage.

Officially opens next week.

Can someone tell me what the difference is, the shows opening has always been advertised in Feb but only mentioned on prog and in theatre the official opening date.

[Quizmonkey]

In reality there is rarely any discernible difference between the two - yes, directors etc use that week or fortnight to hone things, but from the audience's point of view, the show will still be the same show.

Some people (notably Stephen Sondheim!) do use the preview period to test out new songs, new sequences etc - but that's fairly rare.