Flop Musicals
Flop Musicals
#1Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/24/13 at 9:08pmI'm sure there have been plenty of threads like this before, but what are some flop musicals that you still love, regardless of the fact that they didn't do so well? Mine would be Breakfast at Tiffany's and Carrie.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#2Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:44pm
"I'm sure there have been plenty of threads like this before"
This is where the search function would have come in handy:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=963692
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1005613
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1050679
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1058921
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
Updated On: 8/24/13 at 10:44 PM
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#2Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:46pmI bet this turns into a "that show was not a flop!" thread.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
FlowerChild67
Stand-by Joined: 7/11/12
#3Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 6:26am
Bonnie and Clyde. I just love nearly everything about it (I would say everything,
But Made In America exists, soo...) And I'm convinced that if Porgy and Bess had been another season, Laura Osnes would have gotten the Tony.
Also, Anyone Can Whistle and Merrily We Roll Along were originally both flops, and I adore both shows.
chewy5000
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/09
#4Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 6:33amBut they're both classics! That means they weren't flops!!1!!!one!
ARTc3
Broadway Star Joined: 8/5/13
#5Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:02amAs I type this I am listing to Via Galactica! One incredible kind poster read my interest of hearing this show again - I saw it when I was a teen - and had a bootleg copy. Via Galactica was a flop and deserved to be so, but it is wonderful to hear Galt McDermott's score again after all of these years.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#6Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:11am
Via was a flop losing $7500000 .Today a loss of that ain't that bad.
Poster Emeritus
#7Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:18am
But they're both classics! That means they weren't flops!!1!!!one!
chewy5000, you can't re-write history. The original Broadway productions of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG both flopped.
ARTc3
Broadway Star Joined: 8/5/13
#8Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:26amOn Via Galactic... 750K was huge then. You have to adjust for inflation.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
#9Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:39pm
Flops I loved that deserve revivals:
The Robber Bridegroom
The Rink
A Man of No Importance
and one day, Bonnie and Clyde
#10Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:43pm
On Via Galactic... 750K was huge then. You have to adjust for inflation.
Courtesy of the online Inflation Rate Calculator, that loss (in 2013 dollars) is $4,191,315.79.
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
#11Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:49pmBonnie and Clyde and Women on the Verge. They are both on my list for my favorite new musicals of the 21st century.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
ARTc3
Broadway Star Joined: 8/5/13
#12Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:52pm
g.d.e.l.g.i. thank you for that. I was actually wondering what that would be and too lazy to find a calculator on the Internet. $4M is still a relatively small price to pay for a musical today.
As Via Galactica has been recently been called, the Spider-man of its time, I wonder if Broadway has inflated at a much greater rate than the general economy. And, if so, why?
This is a topic for Ken Davenport and The Producer's Perspective.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
Updated On: 8/25/13 at 03:52 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#13Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 5:11pmSimple answer. Broadway prices have greatly increased over rate of inflation
Poster Emeritus
#14Flop Musicals
Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:41pm
Mr. Roxy and ArtC3, I read recently that, in the early days of Broadway, it was considered bad form to raise prices during a run. That changed towards the end of the 20th century, and may have contributed to the incredibly long runs of such shows as You-Know-What. It also may have contributed to skyrocketing ticket prices.
Another possibility is the expensive staging that many musicals require -- crashing chandeliers, helicopters, flying actors, and stuntpeople are becoming common, whereas in the "old days," they were much less common.
I wish that the National Endowment for the Arts had enough funding to contribute a bundle to Broadway, and help reduce ticket prices.
You alone can make my song take flight.
