Biggest upsets?
Biggest upsets?
#1Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 8:58pm
It seemed almost everyone on this board had big hopes and dreams of the current Carousel revival to be revealed it had not gone the way we all envisioned, and not in a good way. Are there any other upsets that you can think of? Where the cast and crew were the best of broadway, but the production ended up falling flat?
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#2Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 9:00pm
The reaction to Women on the Verge comes to mind. I mean, the reputation of the show seemed to recover a little bit after substantial changes were made and the recording released. But that was a show everyone seemed to be SO excited for. A highly prestigious creative team, cast, subject matter - but people here responded to early previews like a lead balloon.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#3Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 9:01pm
For me at least, Shuffle Along. I found it to be a horrendous evening at the theatre, despite the world-class names on the marquee.
BroadwayRox3588
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/16
#4Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 9:13pm
Agreed on Shuffle Along. The performances were wonderful, but the overall production fell flat for me.
#5Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 9:29pm
I was convinced An American in Paris was going to be amazing, but instead it's probably one of my least favorite musicals in the past few years.
Fosse76
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/05
#6Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 9:55pmIf I recall, everyone was amped for Charlotte d'Amboise as Cassie in A Chorus Line and what a perfect casting decision. Turned out, not so much.
#8Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:05pm
PThespian said: "Let's not forget Chita Rivera and Roger Rees in The Visit. What a disappointment that was."
Well financially yes, and there were some very questionable vocals from the leads there (ESPECIALLY from Rees). But were you really disappointed with the show as a whole? A tense and sometimes heartbreaking story with a great score ("I Walk Away", "You, You, You", "Yellow Shoes", "Winter", "I Would Never Leave You", "The Only One", "Love and Love Alone" "In the Forest Again"
. A breathtaking set, lighting - and some interesting staging with the Coffin from Doyle. I find the show to be incredibly underrated! Anton's vocals sound even better in the Lincoln Archive recording because Rees was sadly out of the show by that stage due to ailing health I believe.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#9Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:21pmWasn't a disappointment for me, either.
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BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#10Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:24pm
The Visit was kind of like War Paint to me. The show itself was meh, fine, nothing horribly offensive or bad. But I'll always cherish having gone just to have seen the legend(s) on that stage.
Shuffle Along, while filled with stage icons, was irredeemably bad.
#12Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/18/18 at 11:08pmi thought shuffle along was a little dull in spots (and i’m ashamed to admit i dozed off at one point late in the evening) but thought there was some truly thrilling moments the height of which for me was Adrienne Warren singing I’m Craving for That Kind of Love, which was absolutely stunning and the fact that there was no cast recording is sad simply because i can’t just listen to her sing that song whenever i feel like it.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
Emmaloucbway
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/16/11
#13Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:43am
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last year. Everyone on the board was so excited to see what the set design was like, and once performances began it was very underwhelming.
Playbill_Trash
Stand-by Joined: 3/15/18
#14Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 10:46am
Catch Me If You Can. I enjoyed the show and still listen to the album all the time. But I remember having really high expectations for how the show was going to be executed and it all going over very bland during the show.
The clips that were online from the Seattle run were so exciting and really hyped the arrival on Broadway, but the show that opened was not as exciting. It was also overshadowed by Book of Mormon that season and was unfortunately compared to the phenomenon.
#15Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 11:08am
A real upset for me is when Butz was handed the Tony.
He was up against four other contenders who were probably all just as worthy - if not more so - as he.
But I think the way the show was constructed had a lot to do with it.
His character seemed to ultimately carry the lion's share of the show's heft.
It is, after all, supposed to be about the boy - and HIS story.
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/22/14
#16Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 11:37am
TFMH18 said: "If/Then. Oy."
I had the opposition reaction actually. I was dragged to see this show by a friend and I was not in the mood to see what sounded like Sliding Doors the Musical. Plus, I heard nothing but bad things about it on this forum. Then when I saw it I ended up loving the book and some of the songs. I wasn't sure that final ballad had the impact that they were intending for it to have and that opening number choreography seemed like an afterthought and musical theatre cliche, but it's one of my better theatre experiences given the expectations I had going in.
Playbill_Trash
Stand-by Joined: 3/15/18
#17Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 11:39am
Yea I was thinking recently about how Book of Mormon really put Andrew Rannels and Josh Gad on the map and maybe if they had the clout that they have now when they were nominated if either of them would have won, but I think they still would have cancelled each other out and split the vote with their equally great performances. Which is what I think happened that year to let Norbert Leo Butz win anyway. I was honestly on team Norbert that year though; he did put a lot of work into that show, and like you said, carried a lot of the show. Even though that's technically not what the award is for.
I agree with you though about how imbalanced the show was constructed. I remember Marc Shaiman's and Scott Whittman's interview on theater talk about how they were inspired to make the musical, and oddly enough, it was a lot like the inspiration their fake writing team had to come up with a Marilyn Monroe musical on Smash. They said they were in a book store and were going to find a book for research to write another musical but then saw a coffee table book on the making of the Catch Me If You Can movie. The cover (or a photo inside) was a shot from the movie of Leonardo DiCaprio walking through an airport with his arms linked with a row of stewardesses which reminded Shaiman and Whittman of a kickline and then they said, "Let's write that musical."
If my memory of the Smash pilot serves me well, Christian Borle had a Marilyn Monroe coffee table book in his apartment and then America's Sweetheart - Ellis said, "I always thought she'd make a great musical." 2 scenes later there is a fully choreographed baseball number.
There seems to be a pattern here; one theatrical image does not a full show make.
Also, could I add Smash to this list of Biggest Upsets?
(I would also binge a season 3 of Smash in a heartbeat).
#18Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 11:40am
If a show didn't live up to the version I had invented in my head, I would question that practice before it ruined future shows. Shows can be good or bad on their own accord without me making up what it will be like on top of all of that.
#19Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 11:54am
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "TFMH18 said: "If/Then. Oy."
I had the opposition reaction actually. I was dragged to see this show by a friend and I was not in the mood to see what sounded likeSliding Doorsthe Musical. Plus, I heard nothing but bad things about it on this forum. Then when I saw it I ended up loving the book and some of the songs. I wasn't sure that final ballad had the impact that they were intending for it to have and that opening number choreography seemed like an afterthought and musical theatre cliche, but it's one of my better theatre experiences given the expectations I had going in."
I agree with you, Scotty. I went to the show with mixed expectations based on the reviews but really excited to see Idina for the first time. It ended up being one of my three favorite shows (along with On The Town and Hedwig and the Angry Inch) of that particular NYC trip (I saw 8 shows that trip).
#20Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:00pm
haterobics said: "If a show didn't live up to the version I had invented in my head, I would question that practice before it ruined future shows. Shows can be good or bad on their own accord without me making up what it will be like on top of all of that."
I agree. I almost ruined DEH for myself but listening obsessively to the OBCR and imagining every plot point and how it would fit into the music as well as when I would likely cry. Interestingly, the plot point that occurs right before So Big/So Small had be bawling my eyes out through that entire song. In retrospect, shows where I went in with no/limited knowledge of the show are often the ones that just wow me. I go in with limited expectations other than a great night (or afternoon) of theater.
nolanativeny
Stand-by Joined: 3/29/16
#21Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:00pm
For me, definitely Amelie. I was so looking forward to seeing this, but the show completely failed to capture the charm of the film.
carolinaguy
Broadway Star Joined: 10/13/06
#22Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:01pm
Someone mentioned War Paint - that is mine in recent years. The two leading ladies were marvelous and there were three or four numbers that were magic, but the rest of it just sat there. The authors never figured out how to create compelling drama out of this story. I saw this the same day as Dear Evan Hansen and it was amazing to me that the same person who directed the kinetic Evan also directed this flat misfire.
Going back some, I didn't care for Crazy for You. It got raves and Jodi Benson and Harry Groener were starring and Susan Stroman was supposed to be the next coming and the songs were Gershwin... and I just sat there thinking, "So what?" when I saw it.
I'm sending pictures of the most amazing trees/You'll be obsessed with all my forest expertise
JSquared2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/17
#23Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:19pm
One of the biggest "How could it miss?" shows has to be THE GOODBYE GIRL. Book by Neil Simon, score by Marvin Hamlisch, starring Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. A few great songs and a wonderful performance by Short --- but other than that a complete misfire.
Updated On: 3/19/18 at 12:19 PM
carolinaguy
Broadway Star Joined: 10/13/06
#24Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:36pm
JSquared2 said: "One of the biggest "How could it miss?" shows has to be THE GOODBYE GIRL. Book by Neil Simon, score by Marvin Hamlisch, starring Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. A few great songs and a wonderful Tony winning performance by Short --- but other than that a complete misfire."
Brent Carver won that year for Kiss of the Spider Woman. Short won his Tony for Little Me. But he was wonderful in GG, the only thing that kept it watchable, even during that awful Richard III, or whatever it was, number. Poor Bernadette--her role was so drippy her natural charm was buried under it.
I'm sending pictures of the most amazing trees/You'll be obsessed with all my forest expertise
Updated On: 3/19/18 at 12:36 PM
#25Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:53pmOne of the reasons why The Goodbye Girl didn't ring true for me is that both Peters and Short seemed - even at that time - too old for the roles they were playing.
#26Biggest upsets?
Posted: 3/19/18 at 12:53pmOne of the reasons why The Goodbye Girl didn't ring true for me is that both Peters and Short seemed - even at that time - too old for the roles they were playing.
