Most unlucky broadway theatre?

[Jay94]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 3:57am

I know that there probably is already a thread for this but i can't find it.
I think that the Marquis is the most unlucky theatre at the moment.

Take a look at this line up:
Wonderland 33
Come Fly Away 188
White Christmas 51 (I know it is a seasonal show)
9 to 5 148
Soul of Shaolin 21 (It was a special)
Cry-Baby 68
The Drowsy Chaperone 674 (Actually a pretty decent run)
The Woman in White 109
La Cage aux Folles 229

Another is the Palace:
Priscilla Queen of the Desert 145 (Hardly taking broadway by storm)
West Side Story 748 (To be honest this had a pretty good run)
Legally Blonde 595
Lestat 39
All Shook Up 213

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 6:09am

If one goes back in time, an unlucky theatre was the 54th ST. Theatre, variously named the Adelphi and the George Abbott. It was east of Broadway and further uptown than the vast majority of theatres. It was also a theatre where shows that originated elsewhere transferred to die. In the mid 1950's, the famous half hour HONEYMOONERS TV show starring Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows and Art Carney was filmed there. In addition to its unlucky status, it was unattractive. It was torn down probably in the 1960's. I doubt that it would ever have achieved status as a landmarked theatre which would have saved it from the wrecking ball.

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 7:13am

What about the Lyceum?

Ghetto Klown: 95
The Scottsboro Boys: 49
Looped: 33
In The Next Room: 60
Reasons To Be Pretty: 85
[title of show]: 102
Is He Dead?: 105

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 7:13am

What about the Lyceum?

Ghetto Klown: 95
The Scottsboro Boys: 49
Looped: 33
In The Next Room: 60
Reasons To Be Pretty: 85
[title of show]: 102
Is He Dead?: 105

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 7:23am

Although it's had a few recent hits, "The Curse of The Cort" has long been considered a flop-house.

[mikem]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 8:00am

I believe the Belasco has not originated a show that has run more than 300 performances in something like 40 or 50 years. I thought that streak was going to be broken with Women on the Verge, but we all know how that turned out. . .

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 8:11am

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. The Belasco hasn't sustained many long runs, but it has had a few hits over the years--The Denzel JULIUS CAESAR, FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, A DOLL'S HOUSE, The Ralph Fiennes HAMLET--and it's been used by companies like Lincoln Center (JOE TURNER, WOMEN ON THE VERGE) and Tony Randall's National Actors Theatre.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 10:28am

wasn't the Gershwin a flop house prior to WICKED?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 10:33am

Considering the chances of any new production, one could say *every* house is "unlucky". Traditionally, tho, it was anything east of Broadway. Still, there's been plenty of flops over the years to spread amongst all the theatres now standing.

FWIW: I love the Cort.

[staunchcharacter]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 5:35pm

I'm not educated enough to make an assessment on the unluckiest, but damn the Cort has been doing great lately! (Well, put aside born yesterday.....though it had one of personal favs of the season, nina)
Updated On: 7/28/11 at 05:35 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 6:06pm

Regarding the 54 th ST / Adelphi/George Abbott

Darling Of The Day
Golden Rainbow - Moved from the Shubert

Its last show was Gantry - 1 performance.

Updated On: 7/29/11 at 06:06 PM

[Proper Villain]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 9:23pm

I remember reading an article in the mid-90s - possibly The Times - about the curse of the Broadhurst Theatre, speaking about the closing of the Sondheim/Furth Getting Away with Murder (whatever happened to this play???). Scanning it's tenants on IBDB, I don't see many long-runs.
http://listen.carbonmade.com

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 4:25am

The Cort, Belasco, and Lyceum have more flops because they are on the East side of Bway and therefore considered less desirable. The Golden, Jacobs, Schoenfeld usually get first shot at plays.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 6:02am

Tony Randall's National Actors Theatre played the old but beautiful Lyceum, not the Belasco. Randall's ambitious project yielded few successes either financially or critically, but there were three exceptions: THREE MEN ON A HORSE and Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS, both starring Randall and Jack Klugman who had been recovering from major throat surgery and had to re-learn how to speak and especially how to project from the stage. Klugman was valiantly successful, especially in the hilarious production of THE SUNSHINE BOYS. A third success was a wonderful production of INHERIT THE WIND starring the great George C. Scott and Charles Durning, but at the Royale Theatre in 1996. Scott was quite ill at the time and at one performance Tony Randall as a sort of stand-by stepped into his role in mid-performance. This was to be George C. Scott's final theatre appearance. He certainly went out with a bang!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 7:58am

How can anyone forget The Mark Hellinger?

Flops:
Legs Diamond, Rags, Grind, Oliver (84), Merlin, A Doll's Life, Utter Glory of Morrisey Hall, Sarava, Platinum, Timbuktu, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Seesaw, Dear World, Coco, I'm Solomon, Ilya Darling, Joyful Noise, Fade Out-Fade In, Girl in the Pink Tights, and several that I think were flops, but I'm not really sure enough in that to stay so.

The only real hits I see are:
Sugar Babies, Shenandoah, JCS, On a Clear Day

It also housed several hit shows briefly and at what I think were the end of it's run, like Forum, Sound of Music and Man of La Mancha

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 8:00am

The first season of Randall's National Actors Theatre was indeed at the Belasco. They did The Crucible, A Little Hotel on the Side and The Master Builder there. All three were sub par, but Master Builder was especially awful.

[peerrjb]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:11pm

The Mark Hellinger Theatre was the original home to MY FAIR LADY.

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 2:35pm

The Mark Hellinger. Not because of the flops, but because it's a church now.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 3:36pm

The Hellinger was pretty unlucky while it was a theatre as well. It's was a spectacular place to see a show and entering that theatre felt like an event, but it was strangely flop prone. For every My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar or Sugar Babies that played there, the list of failures is pretty extraordinary: Legs Diamond, Rags, Grind, Merlin, Doll's Life, Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, Timbuktu!, Platinum, Sarava, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Ari, Dear World, I'm Solomon, A Joyful Noise, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Fade Out Fade In, Rungantino, Hit the Trail...

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 3:42pm

"The Mark Hellinger. Not because of the flops, but because it's a church now."

Well, if you put it that way, then the Helen Hayes, The Morosco, and the Bijou, which were torn down for the Marquis. At least the Hellinger remains, and in its glory, too.

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 4:11pm

One thing the Marquis has going for it is because of all the short runs, they have a rather impressive poster collection in the lobby of all the past tennants.