Leonard Bernstein once observed that the definition of hell is an out-of-town tryout for a troubled musical bound for Broadway. He might add that an even deeper circle of hell is an out-of-town tryout for a troubled musical bound for Broadway—and produced by Harvey Weinstein.
While Weinstein is best known as a movie mogul (and for his unconscionable behavior), he also has an extensive record of bringing shows to Broadway, including such hits as The Producers and Billy Elliot as well as plenty of flops, such as Big Fish and Sweet Smell of Success. Most of his successful Broadway projects have been revivals—Gypsy, West Side Story, Wonderful Town, A Little Night Music—prompting a person who has worked with him to speculate that Weinstein is more comfortable tweaking established material—as he does when helping to edit a movie—than he is creating a show from scratch, where there is nearly an infinite number of possibilities to consider.
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