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Badly Titled Shows

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ObiHave
Profile
Understudy
joined:10/13/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:36pm
Just interested in opinions of shows that have suffered from titles that were nebulous or could stand a new marketing strategy. "Redhead" seems an obvious choice. While the title is relevent to the piece, neither it or the poster indicate what the show is really about.
chewy5000
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/1/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:50pm
Urinetown
IMHO I see Queenie as being more of a brunette...
2ndBalcony
Chorus Member
joined:11/26/06
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:00pm
Thread killer. After you've said "Urinetown", nobody else can say a word.

PS, I love Urinetown! - personal note: I was in NY trying to get in to see Wicked just after it opened. Yeah, right. While I was glumly walking back to my hotel, I saw this black theater with a totally obnoxious name. Well, WTH. I went in, and it was AWESOME!!!! I've seen Wicked many times since, but never enjoyed it as much as Urinetown on Broadway. And I did buy the Urinetown Bottled Water at the refreshment counter. Yum!
My Oh My
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Broadway Legend
joined:6/29/07
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:01pm
Love Never Dies
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Almira
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:12/6/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:23pm
Think MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is an awful title.

JELLY'S LAST JAM makes me think of smuckers.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt
AwesomeDanny
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:7/30/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:35pm
I don't see why Urinetown is a bad title. I think humor is implied in the title. Also, the title sounds like "you're in town", so when you read the title, it adds to the humor.
inick122492
Profile
Featured Actor
joined:1/11/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:37pm
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dram-coat... too wordy
BroadwayGuy12
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:12/22/07
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:40pm
AwesomeDanny, I believe the posters who listed URINETOWN were including it because the title is actually mocked within the show for being so odd.
Could I leave you, and your shelves of the world's best books?
My Oh My
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:6/29/07
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:45pm
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
JMPlayer6
Profile
Featured Actor
joined:2/7/10
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 12:38am
Personally, I always thought that "Watching the Children Play in the Park on a Sunday Afternoon When the Thunderstorms Theatrened and the Nannies Ducked for Cover" was really just a very bad name for a musical.
Shows seen in 2014 (NYC unless otherwise noted): 1/12 Working (Lyric Stage, Boston); 1/18 The Underpants (Hartford Stage); 1/25 The Bridges of Madison County (had seen at Wiiiamstown Theatre Festival); 1/25 Beautiful; 1/26 Machinal; 2/1 Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Ocean State Theatre); 2/2 The Lyons (2nd Story Theatre); 2/8 Outside Mullingar; 2/8 Bronx Bombers; 2/9 Little Me (Encores!); 2/16 Seven Keys to Baldpate (2nd Story Theatre); 2/23 Witness Uganda (ART, Cambridge MA); 3/8 The Happiest Song Plays Last; 3/8 Rocky; 3/9 The Other Josh Cohen (Papermill Playhouse); 3/15 4000 Miles (Long Wharf Theatre) ; 3/23 The Whale (Speakeasy, Boston); 3/29 Mothers and Sons; 3/29 Buyer & Cellar; 3/30 Of Mice and Men; 4/5 Becoming Cuba (Huntington Theatre, Boston); 4/6 45 Seconds from Broadway (Mansfield Music & Arts Society); 4/12 Bullets Over Broadway; 4/12 A Raisin in the Sun; 4/13 Les Miserables (saw original Broadway run plus recent national tour); 4/19 We Will Rock You (PPAC); 4/23 Veronica Meadows (Trinity Square Rep); 4/26 Aladdin; 4/26 Hedwig and the Angry Inch; 4/27 If/Then; 5/3 Book of Mormon (PPAC, Providence RI; seen twice on Broadway previously); 5/4 42nd Street (Ocean State Theatre; had seen original Broadway production); 5/10 Violet; 5/10 Cabaret; 5/11 The Cripple of Inishmaan; 5/18 Light in the Piazzo (Wilbraham Players); 5/24 Casa Valentina; 5/24 Heathers: The Musical; 5/25 The Realistic Joneses; 6/7 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill; 6/7 Act One; 6/8 Grease (Paper Mill Playhouse); 6/22 Fingers & Toes (Ivoryton Playhouse); 6/28 Holler If Ya Hear Me; 7/3 Working on a Special Day (Barrington Stage); 7/4 Kiss Me Kate (Barrington Stage); 7/4 The Mystery of Irma Vep (Berkshie Theatre); 7/5 June Moon (Williamstown Theatre Festival); 7/6 Madagascar (Chester Theatre Company); 7/13 Me & My Girl (Reagle Music Theatre; had seen national tour); 7/19 Guys and Dolls (Ocean State Theatre); 7/20 Monty Python Live (Mostly) (local movie theater); 7/27 Hay Fever (2nd Story Theatre); 8/3 Finding Neverland (A.R.T.); 8/8 Dancing Lessons (Barrington Stage Company); 8/9 Design for Living (Berkshire Theatre); 8/9 The Visit (Williamstown Theatre Festival); 8/10 The Golem of Havana (Barrington Stage Company); 8/17 Singin' in the Rain (Reagle Music Theatre; previously seen at Ogunquit Playhouse); 8/23 Newsies (4th time overall); 8/23 Sex with Strangers; 8/24 Run For Your Wife (Granite Theatre; previously seen in London); 8/30 And Then There Were None (2nd Story Theatre) ... Forthcoming: 9/6 It's Only a Play; 9/6 The Money Shot; 9/7 The Opponent; 9/14 Ether Dome (Hartford Stage); 9/20 Sorcerer (Theater at Monmouth); 9/21 The Witches of Eastwick (Ogunquit Playhouse); 9/28 Comedy Is Hard! (Ivoryton Playhouse); 10/4 Far From Heaven (Speakeasy Theatre, Boston); 10/4 Sweeney Todd (Lyric Stage, Boston; saw original Broadway run); 10/11 The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time; 10/11 On the Town; 10/12 Can-Can (Paper Mill Playhouse); 10/18 Holiday Inn (Goodspeed); 10/19 My Fair Lady (Ocean State Theatre; seeing yet again); 10/25 You Can't Take It With You; 10/25 The Last Ship; 10/26 This Is Our Youth; 11/1 Love Letters; 11/2 Dial 'M' for Murder (Ocean State Theatre); 11/8 The Circus in Winter (Goodspeed); 11/15 The Elephant Man; 11/15 The River; 11/16 The Country House; 11/22 The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Lyric Stage, Boston); 12/6 Disgraced; 12/6 Honeymoon in Vegas (had seen at Paper Mill Playhouse); 12/7 A Delicate Balance; 12/13 Picasso at the Lap in Agile (Long Wharf Theatre); 12/14 Barefoot in the Park (Trinity Square); 12/20 The Real Thing; 12/20 The Illusionists; 12/21 Side Show
mallardo
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:5/28/04
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 02:57pm
Yes, Urinetown is in fact a great title - Little Sally's claims to the contrary. But I sure agree the Love Never Dies is an awful title.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
Schmerg_The_Impaler
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:8/31/08
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 03:13pm
I never wanted to see Sunday in the Park With George because the title sounded so dumb to me... then I heard what it was about and was intrigued, and now I love it. But by the title alone, I never would have had anything to do with it.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
Pippin
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Broadway Legend
joined:8/3/05
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 03:27pm
Ragtime- Brought to you by Tampax.

Pippin
Half a Sixpence
Subways are for Sleeping
1776
Bklyn
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
Mark_E
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:1/26/06
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 03:27pm
"The Drowsy Chaperone"

Funny Show, Iffy Title
2012 Shows!
The Railway Children, The Lion In Winter, The Comedy of Errors, Richard II, Pippin, The Ladykillers, Absent Friends, Shrek, Masterclass, Jersey Boys Rock Of Ages, Legally Blonde, Hay Fever, Singin' in the Rain, Abigail's Party, What the Butler Saw, Ragtime. [Booked] London Road, The Last of the Haussmans.
AEA AGMA SM
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:8/13/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 03:27pm
An example of combining an ambiguous title with artwork that gives absolutely no idea of what the show is about:



No wonder the show couldn't find an audience
Did you know that every day Mexican gays cross our borders and unplug our brain-dead ladies?
tazber
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:5/10/05
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 03:44pm
Chu-Chem
Gutenberg! The Musical
Welcome To The Club
3 Guys Naked From The Waist Down
Cry For Us All
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
How Now Dow Jones
Lunch
Now Is The Time For All Good Men
Zanna Don't
....but the world goes 'round
sondheimboy2
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:11/5/05
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 04:10pm
"The Will Rodgers Follies" always bothered me.

It seems like the had a better, longer title in mind, but couldn't afford to pay for all the words...
"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music "Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70 "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba
Stage Door Sally
Broadway Star
joined:6/4/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 05:53pm
I loved Urinetown, but it was badly titled. I know people who wouldn't go because of that.

Yeah the story pokes fun at the name, and so did the advertisements for it. I don't think it helped much in drawing a crowd though. Shame.

I also think The Play What I Wrote is a stupid-sounding title, but it suited the show which was quite silly.
backwoodsbarbie
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:7/31/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 08:19pm
I am obsessed with the show, but "Sondheim on Sondheim"...really?
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
matty159
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:3/30/07
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 08:27pm
I don't know so much as these two are bad so much as wordy and confounding...though to their credit, I remember them well:

Four Baboons Adoring The Sun

Observe The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme
2014 Seen-It List: The Glass Menagerie, A Man's A Man, WOW (at BRIC), Bullets Over Broadway, Here Lies Love, Mothers and Sons, TONY Awards Dress Rehearsal
aasjb4ever
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:3/29/09
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 09:14pm
I am obsessed with the show, but "Sondheim on Sondheim"...really?
sounds like a filthy porno...I kinda want to see it
What a colossal piece of crap! It'll probably run for years.
WithoutATrace
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:11/27/04
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/4/10 at 10:41pm
But Never Jam Today
ColorTheHours048
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:4/4/08
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/5/10 at 11:43am
Rent
singtopher
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/28/05
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/5/10 at 12:53pm
Enron...at least for american audiences.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
Dancin Thru Life
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:2/4/07
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/5/10 at 02:37pm
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

I often wondered how many people avoided it because they assumed it was performed in French?

Even most people who like the show cannot promounce the title properly.

"To love another person is to see the face of God!"
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend
joined:2/9/04
Badly Titled Shows
Posted: 7/5/10 at 04:32pm
SPIDER MAN--Yay! We know what that is! TURN OFF THE DARK--A bad lyric by The Cure?

GOT TU GO DISCO

ROCKABYE HAMLET (in the tree top?)

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG--Maybe this title sold tickets in the 1930's when everyone was lightheaded from starvation, but not now.

A BROADWAY MUSICAL--And...?

DUDE

THE TAP DANCE KID--An ABC Afterschool Special

BABY--Just makes the imagination reel, no?

GREASE--Ewww!

13

HAIR--"I heard it's even better than NAILS!"
"It's now rather very common to hear people say 'I'm rather offended by that'. As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more than a whine. It has no meaning, no purpose. It has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that'. Well, so f**king what?"--Stephen Fry
Updated On: 7/5/10 at 04:32 PM

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