Flop&Hit Shows

[Inigomontoya]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 3:46pm

Hi,
I'm suppose to give a lecture about musical theater, and one of the things I'd like to talk about is that it's hard to predict if a show will be a hit or a flop, and I want to do it with my class in some sort of an interactive way, where they will be in the place of "investors", I will present them with facts about the show and they will have to say would they back it or not.
Now, I'm looking for some good examples of shows that are very famous that flopped, shows that were hits against all odds and things like that. extra points if you could help me confuse them (like talk about Yeston's Phantom instead of ALW)

Sorry for the long post, hope I was clear enough

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/1/15 at 6:04pm

You have to start out by reminding the group that a "hit" is simply one that made money. It has nothing to do with artistic qualities.
So, Sweeney Todd flopped - which many may find surprising. Jeckyl & Hyde flopped despite running for several years. There were high hopes for A Catered Affair - given the creatives, but it flopped.

Cats may be considered a hit against all odds (A musical based on a book of poems with basically no story) Probably Les Miz (Yeah, let's take a 1500 page novel that spans decades, have two French composers - translate to English - and have little or no dialog - and one that the critics didn't like too much). The Lion King - I mean really? how is that going to work on stage?
You could up both versions of the Wild Party - using the creatives for comparison - as to which they should invest in.

[BroadwayB8bE]

Posted: 3/2/15 at 1:22pm

And flops which in theory worked on paper:

Viva Forever - Mamma Mia meets The Spice Girls
Martin Guerre - Les Mis II
Spiderman - Massive comic/movie franchise + the world's biggest stadium act + the Lion King director





Updated On: 3/2/15 at 01:22 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 2:33pm

I'm not sure Viva Forever ever worked on paper. Why was Martin Guerre considered Les Mis II and by whom? That's the first I've heard of it. Does that mean Les Mis was La Revolution Francaise II? And what does that make Miss Saigon and The Pirate Queen? Weird.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/7/15 at 10:30pm

More flops that looked good on paper

Nick & Nora - Musical of The Thin Man
The Last Ship

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 3/8/15 at 9:47am

And don't forget the famous flop/hit that was Sunset Boulevard!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/8/15 at 4:06pm

Lestat

Best selling novel
Elton John score

How could it miss?