Michael Swift (Will Chase) is back, and Julia (Debra Messing) refuses to talk to Tom (Christian Borle) for selling her out.
Rebecca (Uma Thurman) shares her worries about the lack of applause to Karen, and then has her throat close up due to an allergic reaction to peanuts in her smoothie.
The show's songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman made cameo appearances as the restaurant pianist who accompanies Eileen on "September Song" and a bar patron respectively.
Club gave the episode a B− rating, praising the episode's authentic depiction of an out-of-town preview, but ultimately commenting: "There’s no perspective here on anything, no sense that anyone involved in the show is trying to give us more than a cursory view of a world most of us are unfamiliar with, which makes you wonder, just what the hell the point of all this is.
"[1] "Previews" was watched by 5.72 million viewers and received a 1.8 rating and a 5 share among adults 18-49.