I think that with the advance of social media (and even before that, when the internet started making the world a lot smaller), some of the advantage of an out-of-town tryout is gone. Whatever you do in Seattle, Chicago or Boston, will be instantly reported to anyone, including New Yorkers. You don't get a quiet place to experiment.
However, I assume tryouts are still a significantly cheaper way to test your show, tinker and experiment vs. doing the same in New York. |