flop musicals?- Page 2

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 6:27pm

I simly adore Taboo.
Not just adore.
LOVE Taboo.
I'm SO sad that it closed before I got to see it

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 8:43pm

Favorite Flops

1. Baker St
2. Superman
3. Inner City
4. Jimmy
5. Rockabye Hamlet
6. Follies
7. Look To The Lillies
8. Bajour
9. Amour
10.Hallelujah, Baby

[timote316]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 10:05pm

Most recently, Taboo. Wow.

My favorite flop recording is Mack & Mabel. Great score.

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 11:59pm

WAITING FOR THE MOON has only had a try-out production in Marlton, New Jersey during the Summer of 2005 for about 1 month. I saw the show a couple times and both times the audience LOVED it. Even the critics liked this one. It's far from a flop and may become Frank's biggest show.

[justme2]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 12:28am

I keep reading that FLOP is a monetary term only. It only means the show did not return it's investment. It doesn't necessarily mean the show was bad.

I think FLOP is a rather harsh term for a show that simply didn't return it's investment. I wish there was another term for these shows, to give them more respect.

I'd prefer to save the term for shows like Lennon, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, In My life, etc. Shows that opened and closed quickly, and were panned across the board.

I will admit to loving the Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public cast recording though.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 1:10am

"Flop" and "hit" are terms that Variety coined decades ago regarding the financial status of shows. While the terms may have since come to have other meanings, they really should only refer to whether a show recouped its investment or not and nothing more.

Hal Prince -- director, producer and winner of 20 Tonys in a 50 year career -- has talked about being responsible for many flops and many hits and many "successes" and many "failures." The latter two terms are artistic ones, not financial ones. For him, there are many "flops" that have been great "successes" to him, that were exactly the shows he wanted to present and the fact that they weren't also commercial hits is acceptable to him.

For those whose main concern is creating good, challenging new work that perhaps pushes the artform forward, the primary concern is not always about box office success. Prince has talked about how no one who's ONLY concern was financial success would have even been involved in projects in like Pacific Overtures or Sweeney Todd -- which both were unsurprisingly flops in their initial Broadway runs. Now, more than ever, the American theatre relies on artists and producers and companies who are less concerned with whether the works they create are financially viable or not, than with surefire commercial hits. And ironically, many of the major hits of the future will probably come from the less obvious places than from the same old ideas derived from the predictable movie and other sources of the recent past.

[cserannie]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 1:36am

"which little known or flop musical would be worth owning on CD?"

Sweet smell of success.

[Rumpleteazer]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 1:38am

Ok speaking of flop musicals or in other terms musicals that did not do so well on Broadway ... The Scarlet Pimpernel... i liked it... maybe it falls into my category of regional theatre shows that i like more than broadway ... but the version i saw was amazing. Heck i dont know the history of it, it may not even have been on Broadway all i know is it's a musical and it's out there somewhere and I love it...
Anyone heard of it?? Anyone else think it's good??

another amazing one that opened on 9/11 which is why it immediately flopped is The Spitfire Grill ... that has some incredible songs.

[RumTumTugger22]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 11:34am

I think Pacific Overatures is a flop in general. I mean I love it and I think it's some of sondheims best work, but the broadway audience doesn't seem to grasp it. A lot of the broadway shows that aren't flops have tourist appeal now a days and why would you go see Pacific Overatures when you can see Wicked...


Another Flop that deserves a lot of credit....Parade.

[justme2]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 1:13pm

Thanks Margo for the Flop definition information. I was hoping you would post that in this thread.

[Danielm]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 3:53pm

When I was doing shows we used to call the bad shows "Turkeys", even if they were successful in which case we'd say "This turkey flew!"

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 4:10pm

Even though it won several Tony Awards, Parade is still considered a flop as well...and it is one of my favorite shows of all time.

I also enjoy listening to the recordings of Wildhorn's flops The Scarlet Pimpernel and to a lesser extent The Civil War.

Historically speaking..a nice old time musical comedy flop that may be worth owning is Subways are for Sleeping. There are nice performances on there from Carol Lawrence and Phyllis Newman and it is a chance to hear a lesser known Jule Styne score. The CD also contains some demo recordings and cut songs that are performed by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Of course it is nice to have the show on disc just because of its cult status due to the whole David Merrick/newspaper ad episode.

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering." --Harold Hill from The Music Man

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 5:54pm

Mack & Mabel
Any Wildhorn Show

[wexy]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 6:25pm

I saw 'Nick and Nora' and remember Faith Prince. I saw 'High Society' and just remember the cats on the cover on the Playbill.

I saw the "The Civil War" and my date was dying to leave at intermission.

I thought that "Side Show" was great.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 3:56am

Whether a show is a hit of flop (financially) only matters to the backers.

Fans and Anti-fans love to play that card as club to beat eachother over the head with, and its pointless. You like what you like whether its fiancially successful or not. I have yet to meet any fan who stoppled liking a show because it was a financial failure.

Any worthwhile show will continue to be revived.

A big hit in the 1940s was FOLLOW THE GIRLS. It ran 882 performances and made lots of money. But it was not a good show and now it is justifyably forgotten. I'm sure audiences that saw it had fun, but no one is clamouring for a revival.

A financial flop can be a successful show that has a long theatrical life: PACIFIC OVERTURES has had three Broadway productions and host of regional stagings. It may never appeal to mass audiences, but the people who do like it, like it a lot.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 5:10am

Pacific Overtures has only had two Broadway productions. It did have an '84 revival Off-Broadway at the Promenade, in addition to the '76 original Broadway production and last year's Roundabout revival.

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 5:21am

I have to add "The Life", score by Cy Coleman, to this. It's got some GREAT character songs. Not to mention the jazz/funk/gospel/rock inspired score is a lot of fun to listen to. I just got it the other day -- wish I had gotten it sooner!

~Sam

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 8:40am

Believe it or not, Rodgers and Hammerstein had their share

When I speak to someone about R&H and get them to recite their shows, three titles are "never" EVER mentioned: Allegro, the show that aroused Sondheim, Me and Juliet and Pipe Dream. Perhaps Flower Drum Song. Allegro was kind-of successful, but obviously no one knows about it (or no one I've met). Me and Juliet did well for its time, but it was "of its time" and vanished away. Rodgers and Hammerstein are more remembered for their timeless works. Pipe Dream was THE flop: the only exceptional R&H show that tanked on Broadway. The CD is hysterical

I'd love to see it done with the muppets. Hopefully these shows are revived someday...

Updated On: 1/5/06 at 08:40 AM

[ruprecht]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 12:44pm

"Just because a show flops doesn't mean it is necessarily a bad show"

Absolutely true MEF. My favorite recent flop, Fascinating Rhythm, not only had one of the all time best cast ever assembled but they were singing Gershwin for crissake. It doesn't get any better and should fall under the "and they didn't make a recording of it?!", category.

[children&art]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 1:18pm

i adore "Allegro" and would not consider it a flop, but rather an undiscovered treasure

[Danielm]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 2:00pm

Allegro, while it is a very interesting concept and has a great show goes badly off-track in act II, if Hammerstein would have just followed the character to his death in old age it would have been a wonderful show but it gets into the hospital intrigue and goes out the window.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 6:33pm

re: PACIFIC OVERTURES - sorry, you are right. I was counting teh 1984 revival (which I saw and loved) as Brodway production.

re: ALLEGRO - I Saw an excellent production two years ago and much of it does work but it is a more abstract show, more about theatrical technique than about story and character. One of the best songs (So Far) is sung by a minor character who promptly disappears.

Also, PIPE DREAM is no longer available for performance. There is a rights problem with the Steinbeck estate.