Favorite Broadway Musical Flops?

[CoolDogeGuy]

Posted: 7/8/17 at 2:58am

I know it sounds stupid, but I'm sure there are some musicals that people love that are flops. Which musicals do you guys think shouldn't have been flops?

I think all of the musical flops in the 2015-16 Broadway season (A.K.A. The Hamilton Season) shouldn't have been flops. The 7 musicals that flopped didn't get the chance to be in the spotlight because Hamilton took all of the spotlights that year (hence why I call it "The Hamilton Season".

Other musicals that I shouldn't have flopped are Amelie, In Transit, Parade, The Rocky Horror Show, Big Fish, and Honeymoon in Vegas. 

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:05am

Here's a recent thread on that subject.

[Clyde15]

Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:06am

I absolutely adore Tuck Everlasting. I know it has some problems but I personally find the show to be stunning. I'll never understand why it didn't connect like other family shows. 

[froote]

Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:29am

The musicals from the 2015-2016 season that closed early DID have a chance. Waitress and School of Rock are still running, On Your Feet has had a nice healthy run and Shuffle Along could have lasted longer without the Audra stuff. 

[Willy Loman2]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 1:07am

Roza was a wonderful show with a great performance by Georgia Brown.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 1:19am

DEAR WORLD will always be my favorite, with SARAVA a close second.

[CorkySt.Clair]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:35am

Though this may be one of the more obvious choices,  I wish that MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG had a longer run. The score is just gorgeous, and the recent documentary convinced me further that it deserves more love. 

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:30am

I absolutely loved Grind.  Yes the book was a bit problematic, but overall the score and production was glorious. 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:44am

"Rags," Strouse's masterwork to my ears, with an ambitious but unfocused, too scattered book that can't be fixed. I played the overture again on the 4th of July. It alone is a kind of musical testament to Ellis Island. The whole score is just exquisite.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 9:04am

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark. There was some awesome misspent and wasted greatness inside there.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 11:07am

Even though there are countless of flops I did enjoy seeing, like CARRIE, the Faith Prince revival of BELLS ARE RINGING and a few others, I would say my favorite flop was 2003's TABOO.  At the time I was living in South Florida and flew up at least every other month to see shows so I was excited to see this after all the hype it was getting during previews - good and bad.  

I remember arriving into NYC on the show's Opening Night and passing the Plymouth Theatre (now the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre) and the red carpet being installed, etc.  I was excited to read the reviews later and I planned on seeing the show the following day.  

Back then I never bought tickets in advance but the morning of the performance and always getting my excellent seats that way.  Though THE PRODUCERS had begun the Premium Seats back in 2001, the concept wasn't adopted by other shows until years later.  I had totally forgotten about reading the Opening Night reviews for TABOO so I found it oddly weird that as I was walking up to the Plymouth Theatre, not a soul was in sight anywhere outside.  I was actually expecting to see hords of people.  It was just me and a cleaning lady in the lobby until the box office opened at 10am.  Not one person arrived during the entire time I was there.  I scored tickets in the front row orchestra center of course.  

Well, judging by the crowds that night, seems the 8pm performance was sold-out.  The energy in the audience was electric and I remember looking up to the mezzanine and balcony levels and seeing them full as was the orchestra level.  I actually loved the show as did the audience - judging by the roars and applause throughout the show.  The score and the performances were incredible and the show resonated enormously with me as it covers a time in my youth in the early 80s so I identified with everything the show was about.  

Anyway, it did leave me a bit depressed so I dashed over to the Marquis Theatre during intermission and quickly bought a ticket to see THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE again.  I needed a little sunshine to spring me back to a happy place and Sutton Foster never failed to do this which is why I saw that show way too many times during her run - each performance being fresh and brand-new.  She exemplified the reality that an actor continues to grow in a role and make them brand-new continually.  

I did eventually read the reviews for TABOO and completely agreed with each one.  It definitely did NOT belong on Broadway.  All the money Rosie O'Donnell put into the show was definitely seen on stage - the sets, the costumes (especially the elaborate Leigh Bowery fashion show), but it was not a show for Broadway.  It would have succeeded perfectly in a small theatre Off-Broadway and in the environmental setting that the London incarnation used.  

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 11:39am

Jane Eyre
Legally Blonde
Xanadu
Scarlet Pimpernel

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark. There was some awesome misspent and wasted greatness inside there.

Only in a couple of the sets.  That was about it.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 12:02pm

Legally Blonde
Xanadu

Though they may not have recouped their investments, I wouldn't consider these 2 as flops as they did have nice healthy runs and LEGALLY BLONDE not only generated a reality series but was filmed and aired on MTV.  

Flops, to me at least, are shows that ran a few days or weeks before closing quickly.  I wouldn't consider a show that ran over a year a flop. 

[hork]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 12:04pm

CorkySt.Clair said: "Though this may be one of the more obvious choices,  I wish that MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG had a longer run. The score is just gorgeous, and the recent documentary convinced me further that it deserves more love. 

It convinced me that it deserves more hate. The original production looked like The Mickey Mouse Club without the ears, and clearly deserved to flop.
 

Updated On: 7/9/17 at 12:04 PM

[mikey2573]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 12:11pm

I really enjoyed THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER when I took my kids to see it.  It had a very appealing cast and the set design by Heidi Ettinger was beautiful.  The chase through the caves at the end was quite brilliant.  Very enjoyable show. 

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 12:11pm

I have a sinking feeling that in years future we will be calling Groundhog Day a flop because it failed to make a dent in its capitalization and didn't last long. I hope not, but all evidence points in that direction.

 

And I do love that cast, crew, creatives, and that show

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 12:19pm

Awww, THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER with its month long run in 2001 at the Minskoff Theatre and the musical that brought us Kristen Bell as Becky Thatcher.

[markypoo]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:06pm

I was fortunate to see Dear World (in previews), Rags (also in previews), Roza (at its final performance), Pimpernel (first version), Jane Eyre, and Tom Sawyer (in a 2013 Church production!).

[jtishere]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:26pm

I remember going in blind to a Saturday matinee of Big Fish in December 2013, shortly before it would close. By "Daffodils," I was won over, and I pretty much openly sobbed through most of the second act. It was a beautiful production, with excellent performances from Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin. I wasn't excited going in, but it turned into one of my most treasured theater experiences. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:51pm

Well, FOLLIES, obviously. We are still using "failed to recoup expenses" to define flop, aren't we? (This is not a snark at the poster above who used a different definition. He defined his usage of "flop" clearly, which is always fair.)

And FALSETTOS, a financial flop in its first Broadway outing, though MARCH, at least, was previously a success off-Broadway.

Also, CANDIDE, GOLDEN APPLE and STREET SCENE, all flops on Broadway that have had subsequent lives in opera houses. (No, I didn't see the original productions--I'm not THAT old--but I've loved revivals elsewhere of all three.)

Less widely regarded, PASSION and THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.

Less well-known, ZOOT SUIT and THE MOONEY SHAPIRO SONGBOOK. (Full disclosure: I saw the latter in London, where it seemed to be a hit; it closed so quickly on Broadway I didn't get a chance to revisit.)

 

Updated On: 7/9/17 at 08:51 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 9:23pm

Well I adored the last Broadway revival of On the Town even though I know it lost a lot of money.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 10:11pm

I thoroughly enjoyed KING OF HEARTS. It was a really sweet show and the sets were amazing.

Flops from my childhood I still remember vividly (and fondly) :

FLORA THE RED MENACE

BAJOUR

HENRY, SWEET HENRY

 

More recent:

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (especially the second version re-directed by Longbottom)

And of course both SIDE SHOWS


Flops I loathed:

PLATINUM

A BROADWAY MUSICAL

THOU SHALL NOT

NEVER GONNA DANCE

DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES (another great set though)

 

Updated On: 7/12/17 at 10:11 PM

[yfs]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 11:23pm

SUPERMAN (not SPIDER MAN)

And, of course ANYONE CAN WHISTLE -- terrible but brilliant. But terrible. But brilliant, of course.  

 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 11:30pm

^^^^^ Or as Sondheim says, "too smart ass for (its) own good." Love the WHISTLE score, however, but that's an entirely different topic.

I, too, remember KING OF HEARTS with some fondness. Having loved the film, I thought they lost something important in all the spectacle, but the scene with the entire cast on the roof of the cathedral was certainly something!

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/9/17 at 11:34pm

Passion, Bridges of Madison County, Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Parade, Caroline, or Change, and Grey Gardens.