[2][4] The musical was mid-run for its world premiere and pre-Broadway tryout at the Paramount Theatre in March 2020 with Sydney Morton (Christy Lockhart) and Billy Harrigan Tighe (Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield) as leads and Greenberg directing when production was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
[1][5][10][11] Chicago Sun-Times critic Catey Sullivan, calling the movie a "dumpster fire" and wondering "How on God’s green earth could anyone watch the 1987 film’s parade of stereotypes and misogyny and think, 'Hey!
[10] Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones questioned whether the storyline, which he said had seemed dated in 1987, was edgy enough to attract a modern Broadway audience.
[5] Around the Town critic Alan Bresloff had also questioned whether the source material could be made interesting to modern audiences, but that the show had proved him wrong.
[1] New City Stage critic Noel Schechter had also questioned the wisdom of using the source material for a new musical but was convinced, crediting the success to the creation of multiple strong female lead characters, including Morton's Christy Lockhart and Heidi Kettenring's Vera Prescott.