Pop Composers Fail On Broadway

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:39pm

Elton John - Lestat
Sting - Last Ship
Paul Simon - The Capeman
Frank Wildhorn

Can anyone think of any others?

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 10:39 PM

[bwaybby]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:46pm

you realize Elton John also gave us Lion King and Aida right? I wouldn't classify Wildhorn as pop.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:46pm

Bob Merrill

Despite early success in 50's pop and with his early Broadway shows many of his solo scores were flops.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:47pm

I think you mean The Capeman.

Boy George - Taboo

I suppose also Galt McDermot for Via Galactica, Dude, and The Human Comedy Updated On: 2/16/15 at 10:47 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:51pm

>you realize Elton John also gave us Lion King and Aida right?<

And Billy Elliot.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:51pm

Dave Stewart/Glen Ballard - Ghost
Bono/Edge - Spiderman
Phil Collins - Tarzan

[PianoMann]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:52pm

"you realize Elton John also gave us Lion King and Aida right?"

And Billy Elliot, of course! But it's clear that Mr. Roxy is pointing out Elton's failure with Lestat in particular, rather than saying his entire theatrical catalogue is a failure (as he does with Wildhorn).

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:56pm

BB from ABBA - Chess

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:02pm

They haven't gotten to Broadway yet but this thread needs some ladies so I'll throw in Sara Bareilles (Waitress) and Sheryl Crow (Diner) as pop acts who are trying to write musicals.

I think you can succeed as a pop act writing for theatre without writing a jukebox musical but it's not easy because it's a different skill set. Some pop songs tell stories but they tell them in a different way that musical theatre songs. In the opposite direction, a lot of contemporary musical is very lyrically dense and doesn't cross over in the same way as the musical songs of the past that became popular standards.

[philly03]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:19pm

"I wouldn't classify Wildhorn as pop."

Wildhorn wrote pop songs for a variety of artists from Kenny Rogers to Stacy Lattisaw, and of course Whitney Houston before ever even recording a "Broadway" concept recording. True, however, that since the late 90s his focus has been musicals and for a time, Linda Eder's music.


Did Phil Collins have much involvement with Tarzan on Broadway?

[rcwr]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:20pm

Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy are pop composers, and we'll see very soon how their work does on Bway (Finding Neverland).

[JRybka]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:45pm

I would not put Elton in there...

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:00am

"Did Phil Collins have much involvement with Tarzan on Broadway?"

Unlike Elton John who was never anywhere near his own shows, Phil Collins was actually behaving the old fashion way by being around Tarzan the whole time.
You can learn more about it right here!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:03am

I include Wildhorn as critics on the board & off refer to him as peddling pop music on Broadway. I enjoy it but to each his own. I was referring to Lestat re Elton John. He must think very little of his work that he refuses to allow the release of the cast album.

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:41am

These are by no means failures but the list of crossover artists should also include Duncan Sheik, Pete Townshend, Tim Minchin, Eric Idle, Cyndi Lauper, Rupert Holmes, Dolly Parton, Trey Anastasio, Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Jim Steinman, and Harry Connick Jr.

And oh yeah, Brecht and Weill wrote songs that were later turned into hits by both The Doors and Bobby Darin. Updated On: 2/17/15 at 12:41 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:48am

What is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

U2 LuPowns THIS THREAD!!!

[seahag2]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 3:36am

I have some hope for Sara Bareilles. She's a really talented writer, hopefully it'll show through in Waitress!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 3:42am

What about country bandwagoneer Sheryl Crow's Barry Levinson's "Dier"?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 5:12am

Joe Brooks
Sting

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 7:17am

I don't quite follow the logic of this thread, because virtually all of the most successful shows of the past 40 years have had pop scores, including Menken, ALW and Boublil & Schoenberg, and so on.

Updated On: 2/17/15 at 07:17 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 8:23am

But all those composers are known for writing musical theater.

This thread is specifically referring to composers who came to the theater long after they were established pop stars/writers.

And I guess we're defining "pop" as top 40, more or less.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 8:59am

^ By that note, we can count out Broadway Local's vote for Jim Steinman, who may be more noted for his pop hits, but has been writing for theater since 1969.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:45am

Has he really, I am going to have to probe his oeuvre further...

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 10:05am

^ Allow me to help! These are just selected highlights from a long career.

1969 -- The Dream Engine (you can go to http://steinmania.com/ to read the script and hear the show streamed)
Late Sixties / early Seventies -- The Good Woman of Szechuan (he wrote music for a production of this Brecht piece; you can find some demos on the dreampollution channel on YouTube)
1972 -- Rhinegold (you can go to http://www.jimsteinman.com/rhinegold.htm to read the script and hear the show)
1973 -- More Than You Deserve (you can go to http://mljs.evilnickname.org/jimsteinman/morethanyoudeserve/souvenirs.html to read a draft of the script and find some demos on the dreampollution channel on YouTube)
1975 -- Kid Champion (he contributed some songs to this Thomas Babe play that can be found on the dreampollution channel on YouTube)
1976 -- The Confidence Man (a loose adaptation of the Herman Melville novel, developed in collaboration with Ray Errol Fox -- a studio cast recording to benefit BC/EFA was released in 2003; you can buy it used on Amazon, or "new" on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/confidence-man-original-cast/id911530732)
1977 -- Neverland (sort of an update of The Dream Engine; you can read a transcript and hear what sound samples survive from an audience tape at http://jimsteinman.com/neverlnd.htm)
1985-89 -- The Phantom of the Paradise (yes, based on the movie of the same name; his involvement with a musical version that never reached the stage was announced in 1985, and a demo tape dating from 1989 is in the NYPL archives -- you can find some of the songs on the dreampollution channel)

Just selected highlights, as I said. There's more out there that's missing, like a rock underscore for King Lear that was mentioned in his Playbill (or whatever programme the Public Theater was using at the time) bio for Kid Champion, and likely developed for Joe Papp, under whose patronage More Than You Deserve, Kid Champion, and The Confidence Man were produced and/or developed.

Updated On: 2/17/15 at 10:05 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:06am

Is gary barlow considered a pop artist? He's on Britain's x-factor right?