How Would You Fix Your Favorite Flop?

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 6:34pm

I'm curious to see what kinds of solutions people have for musicals that flopped on Broadway. How would you fix your favorite flop musical?

For example, I know Amour had a lot of technical problems regarding passing through walls during its preview period. I would suggest that a future production could steal a page from Brief Encounter and use small sections of louvered projection screens to do the passing sequences. It would be challenging to work the exact size and placement at first, but would, in a way, simplify the effect. Have specific sections on stage (one stage left, one stage right, one center stage) where Dusoleil can cross (and always crosses in one of those spots), then plan all the sequences to take place in those locations. Projections would be used to fill in the scenery around the screens to mask them when not in use. I'm talking like the wall-shaking projections in Young Frankenstein; those freaked me out when I saw the show as I couldn't even tell they weren't just painted flats.

So, what fixes would you use on your favorite flop? Would you redesign the sets and costumes for Carrie? Push the absurdity to straight-up slapstick for Candide? Re-orchestrate Greenwillow into an intimate chamber musical to better set the fantasy of the book? What say you?

[Overkill]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:16pm

If SEUSSICAl had been what Eric Idle originally wrote and conceived, it would have been still running today. All they had to do was keep it exactly how he wrote it and cast him as The Cat in the Hat as originally planned. It was so dear, witty and touching. What it turned into was an over produced mess, that I actually still enjoyed. Seussical NOW, the one they license, is just dreadful.

[minicko88]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:51pm

First, put Parade in a small intimate theater. Cut down the cast size to the cast that played at the Mark Taper Forum. Cut "Where Will You Stand When the Flood Comes"... Not a big fan of that song. Sets similar to those at the Mark Taper Forum. Really cut down the cost of the show. This show is magical on stage, but its targeted audience is small. Have Alice Ripley play Lucille haha... Then, we got ourselves a show!

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 10:07pm

I have a few favourite flops, actually:

One of the things that killed CRY FOR US ALL was Howard Bay's creaking mountain of a turntable set. That'd be the first thing to go in my production, replaced with a slighter, more elegant approach that puts the staircase almost front and centre and suggests everything else.

I'd hire the writers from the Daily Show to rework the book for THE FROGS and make some of it so topical it changes every night. Lane didnt go nearly far enough with it because he was, it seemed, so reverential towards the material.

I'd tinker a bit with CELEBRATION's book and then really push the ritual-theatre aspect of it. They were trying to be just a bit too much crunchy-granola when it was on Broadway, but the book just kept careening off the rails.

[NotSinceCarrie2]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 11:35pm

Without a doubt, I'd change Max Menken (from SUPERMAN) to Lex Luthor. That tie to continuity would be much needed.

[JOak]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 11:43pm

My favorite flop is Dear World, I'd fix the book, cut the title song, add a Sensible Woman, stage it intimately and cast Christine Ebersole as the Countess.

[Urban]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 7:13am

JOak - Christine Ebersole as the Countess in devine!

[tazber]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 8:14am

I think The Baker's Wife could work if it was done on a small scale and the townspeople scenes were cut out.

Mack and Mabel needs to find a way to fix that ending. I know they've tried several different times to no avail, but I'm convinced there is a way to do it.

I think Romance In Hard Times is perfect the way it is and really wish it had gotten better reviews. From what I gather people had an issue with the absurd (as in dramatically intentioned Ionesco-esque absurd, not random negative absurdity) aspects of the plot, but what a glorious score and tons of heart.

[Sauja]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 9:37am

I have a ridiculous affection for The Life, but the Sam Harris character Jojo always really bothered me--he never really worked as a narrator. The role should be cut significantly, and a few of the songs could really go--"Piece of the Action," "My Way or the Highway," and "Mr. Greed" aren't very good and don't do much for the show. The focus should have been tighter on the women. That said, if someone put this on without changing one cliched, cartoonish thing about it, I'd still be there in a heartbeat.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 9:52am

I'm really liking the ideas so far.

I have another one. It's an easy fix, too. For Taboo, go with the original London book and score. If the producers/creative team didn't assume American audiences were ignorant and couldn't understand a show set in a "different" culture, the show would have had a much longer run. The changes for Broadway really dragged down the pacing of the show and the substituted songs/orchestrations/arrangements were not improvements.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 9:57am

I've always wondered why Mack & Mabel couldn't be made to work. There are so many musicals that end on a down note (Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, etc)

To fix Mack & Mabel, I would cut Mabel's death. It's not important to the show. Acknowledge her drug use, have her meet someone who can help her rehab and end the show either with a reprise of "Time Heals Everything" with some changed lyrics so that it's a song about renewal or have Jerry Herman write a new song about new starts in life.

It might need a bit of rearranging the songs because Act 2 needs a bit more music. But it could work.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 10:35am

Has a flop ever been changed to a hit (barring Madama Butterfly)? It must be rare, and I imagine it would primarily be due to writing/structural problems, not related to design, casting, theatre size, or isolated songs.

Taboo is a funny mention above - I was talking with the director of the London version, which I found unbearably dull and pointless, and he said even he wasn't crazy about it. The one thing I kind of enjoyed was the Boy as Leigh Bowery camping his way through "Ich bin Kunst," simply because it was the one moment the show wasn't soporific.

[TheatreDork3]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 12:11pm

I can't believe that no one here has mentioned Carrie. As someone who has seen every version of pirated Carrie in circulation (that I know of), I loved the show. The show's moments between Carrie and her mother are some of the best ever written for the stage. Unfortunately, it had some ridiculous and absurd moments as well. First, I would focus on the music that soars and get rid of every teenybopper song in the show, which is sadly anything sang by the ensemble: Don't Waste the Moom, Do Me a Favor, Out for Blood (god the spandex still gives me nightmares), and What a Night. Interestingly, I thought 99% of the moments Carrie had on stage actually worked, it was the supporting cast that made me want to slight my wrists.

Thankfully, if plans continue, my dream may come true next year.

TD

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 2:27pm

Most of my favorite flops were great off-Broadway, but they didn't work well on Broadway. So, I'd keep them off-Broadway.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 2:46pm

TheatreDork, I was actually approached by a company in NJ that wanted to talk the authors into letting them do a revival. We got decently far into preproduction for it as well. Some of the designs can be seen at the link.

I agree: the show deserves an overhaul. But ditch those bad, bad 80s numbers! LOL


Carrie designs

Updated On: 12/23/10 at 02:46 PM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 4:05pm

Sean Martin, those Carrie designs are lovely. I especially like the transformation from the Prom to the Destruction.

Regarding the score, the ensemble numbers did need to go. Anything not centered around Carrie or her mother just didn't work. I even like some of those songs--Dream On, in particular, captures the high school experience rather nicely--but agree that removing them would be better. I'd like to see more of the flashbacks from the novel integrated into the book and score to justify Carrie's mother's over-protectiveness. Just imagine her singing a number narrating the day Carrie made the stones fall from the sky. It would foreshadow the danger of Carrie's power leading into the destruction in Act II.

Shoot, I'd almost like to see a total overhaul that turns it into a full length musical with no intermission set entirely in the house. You'd lose the visual of the destruction, but you'd gain a more intimate, suspenseful, unyielding production. Reset some of the scenes if you have to: the girls could apologize to Carrie and Mrs. White at the front door, Tommy could show up and sing Heaven right when Carrie reveals her dress to her mother, and other adjustments of the sort. I think Heaven would make an interesting song to use as a through-line in the score, as well. Give the first performance to Mrs. White (new lyrics, maybe about how much Carrie's safety means to her), then a reprise for Carrie to replace I'm Not Alone (about how her rediscovered abilities free her to the greater world), and another reprise for when Carrie leaves for the prom (a few changes to the original lyrics, reset as a duet, to give Carrie a genuinely happy moment). Give Mrs. White a song to sing while Carrie's away, signify the passing of time with lighting or some other tech, then have Carrie return in the ruined dressed to describe what she happened at the prom. Mrs. White tells her to go upstairs as she ran a bath for her and stabs Carrie when her back is turned (maybe a brief reprise of Evening Prayers). Carrie fights back and clearly sings what she's doing to her mother (Evening Prayers, as well) as they both collapse on the floor to end the show.

Not that I've put a lot of thought into how I would redo Carrie. Nope, no notes, designs, or incidental music sitting around my piano.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 8:24pm

Thanks, Trent!! Pity it never got off the ground, because I think you would have liked what the director wanted to do.

[Frank thebellhop]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 10:20pm

My guilty pleasure recording is Legs Diamond. I'd have Harvey Firestien shape up the book and give it more focus. Cut some of the sappier songs. Get a director and design team who can really give it the feel of an old school gangster musical like Guys and Dolls or Pal Joey. Cast Cheyenne Jackson. Boom Tony award for Best Actor.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 5:46pm

Favorite flop, jeez... where do I start?

I guess as long as we're near the top of the alphabet, Dance of the Vampires is a good start. (My apologies to those who've already heard me expound on this show at length.) The solution is simple:

1. Change the title. It was named in Europe to tie in with the title of the movie it was based on there, and while it doesn't help that the film is obscurer in the United States, the U.S. release also changed the title. How about moving one step closer to brand recognition, and changing the title to reflect the U.S. name for the film? For the more serious thrust, Vampire Killers would be a good fit. (Changing the title also helps the revisal avoid negative association with the flop.)

2. Go back to the drawing board. And by "drawing board," I mean the European version, which was still pretty funny, but like a dark, brooding opera by comparison to the campy romp of a rewrite that opened in NY. I'm not saying go back to the three hour version that originally opened in Vienna; that's pure lunacy, and the critics would be about as pissed as opening night of Chess in '88. Take the original, and do some careful cutting and rearranging, like the countless European productions since its premiere.

3. If you're going to cast star names, pick appropriate talent. Michael Crawford was a bad choice. They picked him to remind people of his turn in Phantom, and he did...in all the wrong ways. If one must go for an older lead vampire, pick a Bowie or McCartney type, someone more rock or pop as opposed to musical theater*, and more importantly someone who doesn't look like warmed-over stale ham.

* I will never forget the sales ads for DOTV pre-opening that advertised Michael Crawford's name and the tagline "This fall, sex, garlic and rock 'n' roll take a bite out of Broadway" in the same breath. When one thinks sexiness and rock & roll, to be blunt, Michael Crawford is not the first image in anyone's mind. I was surprised they could use that name and tagline in tandem and sleep at night.

4. On that note... advertising is the key. The commercial for DOTV cost $300,000, and looked like it took twenty minutes to make. Here was your average viewer's perception: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Michael Crawford and some chick --> sexy dancers --> quick flash of a couple making out --> Michael Crawford holding a fancy high note. It didn't tell you anything about the show at all, and at that pace, I almost wonder if they planned the commercial to run so quickly that your immediate reaction would be to buy a ticket to find out what the hell you just saw.

Here's my sample commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5u3tSE0a1g. It ain't much better, but it's more interesting.

Stopping now before I plotz completely.

[HistoryBoy2]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 6:20pm

Just rub it a little.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 7:34pm

I would open Rockabye Hamlet in an unconventional off-Broadway setting and cast it with amazing singers. Done.

Lolita, My Love would be best suited in an off-Broadway limited engagement. I have heard the whole show and think the book, staging, and score would be best served by making it even weirder than it is. Bring out even more of Humbert's interlocutor/narrator position and go for dark comedy. Not meant for mainstream audiences, but Lolita is a good piece.

Drat! The Cat! should be made into a television musical with the book overhauled by James Lapine.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 7:47pm

How about VIA GALACTICA as a Cirque production? Not really my favourite flop, but I am proud of the fact that I was one of about twenty people who actually saw that big ol trannie mess...

[twinbelters]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 8:43pm

I was thinking about that too! That score is more than salvageable.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 11:01pm

I agree 100% about DotV- I LOVED the show on Broadway (as did my family), but I think it would have been much more critically and financially successful if it were less campy and more appropriately marketed.
In the same vein as what others have said about other shows, I would strip down The Woman in White and tighten up the book/lyrics a little bit. That score is too gorgeous and that story too captivating to not be a hit. I think the projections took too much away from every other element of the show and it became "the show with all the projections" instead of anything else.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 11:14pm

bwaylvsong, I think we're going to see a lot more Gothic-tinged flops before the set/lighting designers and/or directors start connecting the overuse of projections for ghostly/Gothic effect and the failure of those shows. I understand these stories as originally written are filled with rattling suits of armor and unexplained shadows in the night; that doesn't mean those have to pop up in the middle of every scene for a cheap strike at a scare. A simpler presentation of The Woman in White would have been the right way to go.

I think Lestat takes the cake for overwrought projection effects. I was so busy trying to understand why the rooms and lights kept shaking that I couldn't keep track of who bit who, why, and how. Just because you have all those toys to play with doesn't mean you should take them all out at once and leave them all over the stage.