Favorite Flop?

[magictodo123]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 7:42am

So I don't know what made me think this, but what was your favorite show that didn't have a long run on Broadway? Maybe its opening night was its closing night. Maybe it ran a month and then closed. I'd love to know your thoughts! 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:30am

Since a flop is considered any show that did not recoup, I will say my favorite is the original "Jekyll & Hyde"

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:32am

Bullets Over Broadway - I never laughed so hard in a theatre in my entire life as I did at the first preview of that show.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:43am

yankeefan7 said: "Since a flop is considered any show that did not recoup, I will say my favorite is the original "Jekyll & Hyde""

Countless now classic and legendary shows didn’t recoup.  A flop is really considered any show that had a noticeably short run. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:45am

American Psycho. The list is long, but that one had the shortest run.

[VivianDarkbloom2]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:19am

Definitely the revival version of “Side Show.” The original has some lovely things in it as well. I’m also a big fan of the score to “Carrie”, and to “Lolita My Love”, which inspired my username.

[samtaro111]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:31am

For sure Bonnie & Clyde the musical. The book was messy, but there were some very good songs. Deserved a longer run than a month. 

-- I mean, who doesn't love Jeremy and Laura.

[Ledaero]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:37am

Merrily We Roll Along. Duh.

[Mark Waltz]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:40am

Just a few I can think of off hand: "Rags", "I Had a Ball", "Bajour", "Dear World", "Mack & Mabel" (all listed in "Not Since Carrie", and a few since: "Steel Pier", "Dance of the Vampires" (a major guilty pleasure....), "Tuck Everlasting", "Never Gonna Dance", and even though it managed over 300 performances (but did not recoup), "The Prom", definitely one that deserved better box office results! (The audiences came; They just weren't paying full price....) 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:48am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Countless now classic and legendary shows didn’t recoup. A flop is really considered any show that had a noticeably short run."

I’d say recoupment is still the best way to quantify hit vs flop since a show with a noticeably short run can still recoup under the right circumstances. It shouldn’t matter if the show is now classic or legendary either. If it didn’t make any money it flopped and that’s okay.

Some of my favorite shows flopped. In recent memory, Doctor Zhivago and the already mentioned Bonnie & Clyde. I saw Dracula, Bonnie & Clyde and the Des McAnuff Jesus Christ Superstar in their tryouts at the La Jolla Playhouse and I enjoyed all of them and wish they had found greater success on Broadway.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:25am

If/Then.


Also, American Idiot because even though it received some positive professional critical reviews and some nominations/awards, I don’t believe it ever recouped. It doesn’t feel like a flop to me, but it meets the definition, I suppose.

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:36am

Chess

 

[steven22]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:48am

BIG FISH, American Psycho

[76Trombones 2]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:50am

Great Comet - I'm still in mourning that it closed.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:15am

Women on the Verge was imperfect, but I really enjoyed it. Saw it twice and almost went a third before it closed. Was sad I didn't.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:18am

Too many to mention. I confess I love almost all of them

Honorable mention

Rockabye Hamlet

Darling Of The Day. - actually met Price afterwards
Gantry - Closed opening night
What Makes Sammy Run
Baker Street
Via Galactica
Golden Rainbow
Gotta Go Disco
Ilya Darling
Big Fish
It's A Bird It's A Plane It's Superman
Inner City


No.longer attend due to insane prices, health issues for both of us and weariness over actors feeling the need to bloviate on politics. We paid to be entertained and not watch and listen to actors get on their soapbox. We had a good run and sadly all good things must end. This post should elicit some heated responses. Enjoy and to all a happy holiday season and happy thanksgiving

By the way we both hated Book of Mormon and loved American Psycho. Many of those from other posters I enjoyed before I married and others we both loved .By the way our wedding song was This is The Moment and we both love Wildhorn

Updated On: 11/20/19 at 11:18 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:34am

MemorableUserName said: "Women on the Verge was imperfect, but I really enjoyed it. Saw it twice and almost went a third before it closed. Was sad I didn't."

With all due respect, WOMEN ON THE VERGE was a limited engagement from the get-go.  It just closed a couple of weeks earlier than the actual closing date already set when the show was first announced.  It was never intended to be an open-end run.   

[msmp]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:41am

War Paint and Great Comet.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:51am

BrodyFosse123 said: "MemorableUserName said: "Women on the Verge was imperfect, but I really enjoyed it. Saw it twice and almost went a third before it closed. Was sad I didn't."

With all due respect,WOMEN ON THE VERGE was a limited engagement from the get-go. It just closed a couple of weeks earlier than the actual closing date already set when the show was first announced. It was never intended to be an open-end run."

With all due respect, it closed three weeks early. You're claiming that a show that couldn't even last through a limited run and shuttered three weeks before (and whose grosses were dismal beforehand) isn't a flop? Okay. I'm quite content to disagree with you.

Updated On: 11/20/19 at 11:51 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:59am

"Countless now classic and legendary shows didn’t recoup.  A flop is really considered any show that had a noticeably short run. "

I believe "Jekyll & Hyde" ran over three years so it was pretty decent run. I would say two other favorite flops were "Bandstand" and "Never Gonna Dance"

[Clyde15]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:09pm

Tuck Everlasting for sure! I love the music and that final ballet was beautiful. I think some better direction and it could have been a hit. It didn’t need to be a big show in a huge house with a large cast.

[The Other One]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:11pm

Mr. Roxy, you actually saw and liked Gantry?  I'm amazed.  I wish it had run longer.  Shaw and Moreno seem like great casting.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:12pm

I agree about Women on the Verge. As I was watching it, I was thinking "This really isn't very good - but I'm having a great time!"  I still love the score.

[jagman1062]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:16pm

There are several, but the two that come to mind are the original SIDE SHOW and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.  I found SIDE SHOW to be interesting in that it focused a world that few of us know about and humanized people often viewed as freaks.  There were some good songs in that show.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE... was a hot mess, but I thought it was entertaining and a reflection of the confusion in the lives that people under duress often experience.  I'm not a major fan of Yazbek's music, but I do enjoy that show's score.  I just listed to it again the other night.

[MVintheheartland]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:49pm

Ledaero said: "Merrily We Roll Along. Duh."

Same here. God, I love the score. Book not so much