calling all FLOP COLLECTORS! i really need you!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 5:44pm

I am currently doing a thesis project on the importance of flop musicals to the art of musical theater...

And I wasn't going to call on this board for help (mostly because I always seem to be shouting questions about some obscure flop on the message board anyway!)... but I decided, what the hell!

I'm using books like Not Since Carrie, Second Act Trouble, The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen, etc., but personal recollections would be great too! (Or even book recommendations!)... I am using a bunch of flops in my project that I won't list here, either because I know people that saw them, I saw them myself, or I already have enough info.

Some of the shows are recent, and some are very not recent!

If anyone saw or knows any of the following, please post absolutely any information!:
Henry Sweet Henry (i know this already has a thread)
Smile (ditto)
Carrie (ditto)
All- American
Annie 2
Baby
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Bring Back Birdie
A Broadway Musical
Charlie and Algernon
Dance a Little Closer
Ballroom
Is There Life After High School?
Buddy
Leader of the Pack
Mail
Working
The First
Starmites
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Big
The Capeman
Dance of the Vampires
Look of Love
Aint Broadway Grand
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Shinbone Alley
Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
Seesaw
Nick and Nora
The Red Shoes
Welcome to the Club
Via Galactica
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Roza
Rockabye Hamlet
Robber Bridegroom
Marilyn: An American Fable
Rachael Lily Rosenbloom and Don't You Ever Forget It
Rags
Grind
Oh, Brother!
One Night Stand
Merrily We Roll Along
Merlin
Legs Diamond
Little Prince and the Aviator
Human Comedy
Dude: The Highway Life

I know a few of the shows already have threads (I've looked at them), but if you have anything to add, I'd be so grateful!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 5:48pm

Do you need recollections of Dracula, Lennon, Good Vibrations, In My Life? PM me if you do...or don't.

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 5:50pm

I am familiar with The Little Prince PM me

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:01pm

I know Baby pretty well.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:10pm

The Abonimable Showman by Howard Kissel is a great source for several of the notable flops, including Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Baker's Wife.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557831726/sr=8-1/qid=1144447708/ref=sr_1_1/104-9958307-4522356?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:18pm

I saw these. I'll give you a brief blurb and then if you need more, let me know.

The Capeman - Story and music were not that interesting. It was a dull show.

Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public - Story was silly, music was forgetable. The show ground to a halt when the actresses playing the prostitutes entered the courtroom. The entrance was blocked in the style of a fashion show and each was modeling their black & white dress.

Nick and Nora - This looked so good on paper. One of the best Broadway casts assembled ever. But Arthur Laurents wrote and directed it which was a big mistake because he couldn't see the flaws in the show. What made Nick & Nora work as a movie is that they worked as a team. This show split them apart and had them competing against each other. When the show began, the furniture magically glided onto the stage and the audience applauded. When the scenery gets applause, you know you're in trouble. Also, the dog got more applause than the actors. The story was weak and the music boring. Christine Baranski had a song completely rewritten in previews. The end of act 1 had the entire cast replaying a portion of the crime using different motives. The repetition almost made me scream. But the cast was superb!!

The Red Shoes - It had a good movie to base it on, but once again, not very good music. Roger Rees was cast in the lead, but proved he just didn't have the chops for a musical. In previews, he was either fired (or quit). I can't remember which.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:27pm

There's a great description on the board about SMILE - Recording vs. Broadway Production here:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=867704#1970278

You might PM BroadwayDoc as well, I think his dad had something to do with the production, plus he's very nice.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:34pm

BRING BACK BIRDIE---The end of Act One had Donald O'Connor sitting on a toilet bowl center stage while a huge latex tongue, protruding from a gigantic cube stage left, bobbed lasciviously up and down in time to the aural thrashings of a punk rock group called FILTH.
The worst.


BooBooKitty
Hell's Kitchen, NY
Updated On: 4/7/06 at 06:34 PM

[zepka102]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 6:38pm

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!


enchanted, i couldn't stop laughing at that! the whole toilet thing just sounds WAY TOO FUNNY!!

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 8:03pm

If you need info on Lennon or In My Life, PM me.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 8:58pm

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! everything so far has been really helpful, i even bought that book about David Merrick from amazon!

FYI, I don't need info about In My Life, Lennon, Good Vibrations, Dracula, etc. because I had the privilege of seeing each of those multiple times, but thank you guys anyway

[Katurian2]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 9:06pm

hehe- Lestat has an eyewitness here It's only a matter of time

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 9:31pm

My dream is to someday see a great big flop musical!

You're already using the best books on the subject. So aside from having the scripts to a couple of the shows on your list, I can't really help you.

But, there is a fabulous New York Times Sunday piece about Annie 2, that was published after it closed that I am amazed wasn't included in "Second Act Trouble."

And I'm surprised that you haven't included "The Baker's Wife".

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 9:47pm

Thanks for the heads up on the Annie 2 article- I will have to search for it!

And FYI, my project is a survey of 120 flops, so don't worry, The Baker's Wife is on there! I only put the 49 up that I needed more info on, because the whole list would be overwhelming.

Even if it's just a tidbit on ONE of the shows, please feel free to add anything

[rock00]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 11:32pm

FYI, Roger Rees was fired during previews of Red Shoes and replaced with Steve Barton. I seem to remember there were very long stretches of ballet for a musical. Sadly, the first of many "new" musicals with Hugh Panaro that didn't make it. Hey, maybe Hugh's the Ted McGinley of Broadway?

[steveshack]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 1:12am

The one flop I saw that few remember was a rock musical called THE NEWS. I think Jeff Conaway was in it but I could be wrong. I do remember something about it having been a hit in Florida. The set was a newsroom and rock musicians were enveloped in the set, too. I have almost no recollection of anything else except a little old lady was sitting next to me and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her head just bopping and moving to the rock and roll music, so I thought, "Wow, apparently even old ladies will rock out to this." At intermission, I saw that she has palsy and her head rocked that way all the time.

And if that's all I can remember about it, it must not have made a big impression.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 1:25am

i even bought that book about David Merrick from amazon!

Great - It was one of the best reads I've had in a long time, and I work in a bookstore, so I read everything!

If you're still looking for more sources, get ahold of Hot Seat by Frank Rich. It's a collection of all of his theater reviews and columns from 1980 - 1993. Any of the shows you're looking at from that time period will be covered. Also an entertaining read, but well-indexed if you're pressed for time.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 11:45am

It seemed to me that one of the problems with Red Shoes was that the need for serious ballet dancers meant that only one or two people were hired to sing the entire score. And one of them was Rees, who couldn't sing all that way, at least not in a Broadway style.

My clearest memory of Whorehouse Goes Public was the whores dancing oh-so-offensively in Plexiglas boxes. I had never before seen such wretched objectification in a musical. Ugh.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 1:45pm

Frenzy - Sometimes on Michael Rupert's Myspace page he has songs from MAIL on there. His partner Will, also posts sometimes on BroadwayWorld...WChafin, and he's always been very nice and answered all my many questions.



Michael's Myspace page Updated On: 4/8/06 at 01:45 PM

[factorykid2]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 1:58pm

www.ibdb.com

internet broadway database

I am not sure who runs it, but it is pretty good.

I think you are missing the biggest broadway flop of my lifetime which was a revival of "Little Johnny Jones. It played for one night, March 21, 1982.

http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4164

[LouW95]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 2:17pm

One of the legendary flops is a show called "Kelly" produced by David Susskind.
Kelly


Broadhurst Theatre, (2/6/1965 - 2/6/1965)
Preview: Feb 1, 1965 Total Previews: 7
Opening: Feb 6, 1965
Closing: Feb 6, 1965 Total Performances: 1

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/8/06 at 4:48pm

Kelly and Little Johnny Jones are both in my project, so don't worry guys! Believe me, I have tons to say on Kelly!!! (My favorite bit being Eileen Rodgers' quote, said while crying: "I wish I was back in Tenderloin. It was a flop, but at least people were friendly!) As I said before, I only posted the shows I need more info on.

Indeed, I have read Hot Seat cover to cover, and I highly recommend the book to everyone as well. After reading Frank Rich's "Ghost Light", I immediately went out and bought Hot Seat- fabulous! Oh, and ibdb.com has been my best friend for years, haha.

Thanks so much for the Michael Rupert/ Red Shoes/ Best Little Whorehouse info...

Keep it coming! Did anyone see Rockabye Hamlet, One Night Stand, or Merlin???

[TimmyG]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 1:48pm

dude, what about the Frogs? I have stories . . . .