Wright and Green credit Anastasio with the flexibility and bravery to know when a song isn't working, as he did just a week into previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

WSJ: How Phish's Trey Anastasio wooed Doug Wright

The members of the creative team have since fixed all the problems, and the producers have had the good sense to transfer "Hardbody" to the medium-sized Brooks Atkinson Theatre, whose stage is small enough to give the show a tight focus that was missing from the La Jolla production.

WSJ: Small-Town Dreams | Hands on Hardbody | Brooks Atkinson Theater | Happy Birthday | TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, Beckett

The agenda was clear: Sprint had a new music phone designed by Samsung, and the group was hoping for a positive reception from a man who has become to technology what Brooks Atkinson once was to the New York theatre someone whose judgment can ratify years of effort or sink the show.

NEWYORKER: Critical Mass