I'm sure there have been plenty of threads like this before, but what are some flop musicals that you still love, regardless of the fact that they didn't do so well? Mine would be Breakfast at Tiffany's and Carrie.
Bonnie and Clyde. I just love nearly everything about it (I would say everything, But Made In America exists, soo...) And I'm convinced that if Porgy and Bess had been another season, Laura Osnes would have gotten the Tony.
Also, Anyone Can Whistle and Merrily We Roll Along were originally both flops, and I adore both shows.
As I type this I am listing to Via Galactica! One incredible kind poster read my interest of hearing this show again - I saw it when I was a teen - and had a bootleg copy. Via Galactica was a flop and deserved to be so, but it is wonderful to hear Galt McDermott's score again after all of these years.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
g.d.e.l.g.i. thank you for that. I was actually wondering what that would be and too lazy to find a calculator on the Internet. $4M is still a relatively small price to pay for a musical today.
As Via Galactica has been recently been called, the Spider-man of its time, I wonder if Broadway has inflated at a much greater rate than the general economy. And, if so, why?
This is a topic for Ken Davenport and The Producer's Perspective.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
Mr. Roxy and ArtC3, I read recently that, in the early days of Broadway, it was considered bad form to raise prices during a run. That changed towards the end of the 20th century, and may have contributed to the incredibly long runs of such shows as You-Know-What. It also may have contributed to skyrocketing ticket prices.
Another possibility is the expensive staging that many musicals require -- crashing chandeliers, helicopters, flying actors, and stuntpeople are becoming common, whereas in the "old days," they were much less common.
I wish that the National Endowment for the Arts had enough funding to contribute a bundle to Broadway, and help reduce ticket prices.