Shows that changed when they crossed the Atlantic

When a theatre show bags a transfer from the West End to Broadway or vice versa, it’s usually based on its merits. So it is rare for anything substantial to shift. When it does, it can be because of cultural differences, cast or creative team changes, a passing of time, or feedback from the prior run.

Here are some of the shows that broke the mould and made pretty major changes:

Cinderella

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Emerald Fennell and David Zippel’s musical seemed cursed from the start when Covid restrictions played havoc with its premiere. So it made sense for a fresh start when it was announced that Belleville was Broadway-bound. A rebrand to Bad Cinderella focused more on the twisted fairytale plot, with Linedy Genao taking on the title role.

Clueless

Off-Broadway, Amy Heckerling’s adaptation of her hit 1995 film was a jukebox musical. However, a new version with music by KT Tunstall and Glenn Slater premiered in Bromley in 2024 in preparation for a West End outing early next year. Let’s hope it can drive itself forward.

Hadestown

Hadestown returned to London earlier this year and became the first production to encourage performers to use their accents. Opening with an Irish Orpheus (Dónal Finn), a Midlands Eurydice (Grace Hodgett-Young) and a Trinidadian Hermes (Melanie La Barrie), the songs sounded reimagined – with a few lyric tweaks too. It’s a wonder the changing cast on Broadway haven’t adopted the same approach.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The Harry Potter play is comprised of two parts and takes place nearly 20 years after the final book in the series. It opened in the West End in 2016, before landing on Broadway two years later. While the two-parter is still running in London, over in New York (and in Hamburg) a reduced, and reduced again, one-part play has taken over.

Heathers

From its off-Broadway conception to its run in the West End, Heathers underwent a bit of a makeover. They removed “Blue”, a song sung by Kurt and Ram, and replaced it with “You’re Welcome”. The song list was further padded with the addition of Heather Duke’s number “Never Shut Up Again” and Veronica’s big “I Say No”. If you listen to the London cast recording starring Carrie Hope Fletcher and compare it to the original with Barrett Wilbert Weed, you’ll notice some censorship, presumably to appeal to a broader West End audience.

Mean Girls

It took a few years and a musical movie before Mean Girls made its way to the West End, and with a ready-built fanbase, eager eyes were quick to spot differences in the Tina Fey/Jeff Richmond/Nell Benjamin import. These include songs being cut (“Fearless” and “Stop”) and a new number being added in (“Blowing Up”) alongside some fresh costume updates, lyric changes, and even a reference to Paddington Bear. How very British!

@whatsonstage

MEET THE PLASTICS! 🔥🔥 See the West send cast in action #MeanGirls #WestEnd

♬ original sound – WhatsOnStage

Six

Mega-hit Six actively invites audiences to get out their mobile phones and record the closing number in the UK – but there are no prompts on Broadway. It’s fascinating that a show so popular on social media, due to the sharing of the “MegaSix”, had to remove that element due to American union rules. The Queens also sing in their own accents.

Starlight Express

When Lloyd Webber’s musical about steam trains skated onto Broadway, the location was changed to see the trains racing across America. Pearl’s solo “Made Up My Heart” was added for the first time, despite an ultimately streamlined plot with one less race. There were also music and lyric changes and updates to the costumes, setting the tradition of no two productions being the same – you can see for yourself in the London revival currently playing in Wembley Park.

Sunset Boulevard

The big Act 2 opener delighted audiences in the West End and continues to on Broadway. You can’t have missed Olivier Award-winner Tom Francis singing the title number and taking it out onto the streets as a live camera feed plays in the auditorium. However, over in New York he doesn’t perform the song alone and is instead joined by the ensemble for part of the walk.

The Full Monty

This one is a slightly different example of takes on both sides of the Atlantic. Based on Simon Beaufoy’s 1997 film about a group of unemployed men who start a stripteasing act to make money, The Full Monty was adapted into an Americanised musical in 2000. In the Broadway and later West End hit, the setting is moved from Sheffield to Buffalo, New York. Twelve years later, Beaufoy adapted his screenplay into a comedy stage show bringing the location back to the north of England, where it also had its premiere.

The Hills of California

Jez Butterworth’s latest drama has just transferred to Broadway and the biggest change is in its ending. In the piece, three sisters are awaiting the return of their prodigal fourth while their mother Veronica lies on her deathbed upstairs. In a recent interview, Butterworth admits that he spent a lot of time thinking about the Webb family, and – no spoilers here – it’s what encouraged him to trim 15 minutes and swap out the final scenes.

There are countless other examples – so please let us know on social media what your favourite switches are!