How Would You Fix Your Favorite Flop?- Page 2

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 12/24/10 at 11:36pm

^Exactly! And to tell you the truth, I didn't even realize that both shows I mentioned were gothic. I unfortunately never got to see Lestat, but I think that overproduction hinders these kinds of shows more than it helps. Although, I must admit, I was in total awe of DotV's spectacle and would have seen it again just to look at it.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:04am

Regarding the OP, slapstick is exactly what not to add to Candide. While Candide is full of witty humor, I think it needs some darker tones to balance it out. I personally loved Mary Zimmerman's production (which played Chicago this fall and is currently in Washington, D.C.), which adapted directly from the original Voltaire text. When I saw it in October, it needed some tightening up (some sequences dragged a bit and it was still pretty far from perfect, although I kind of expected that, being a very early draft of this book). The thing that made this production special to me was that in the end, I felt like Candide had a good understanding of the world and man. Our journey led to somewhere worthwhile, even though all the characters had to rebuild their lives from scratch. This feeling is what I think will make Candide amazing, if the kinks in this production have been worked out in D.C. I had previously only seen the concert production with Kristin Chenoweth and Patti LuPone, and after seeing the Mary Zimmerman production, I don't think I want to see the concert production again. The concert was funny and entertaining with a book that led each beautiful song into the next, but as amazing as Candide's score is (and it's no doubt one of the best scores ever written), it needs a strong book that can keep up with the humor, insight, and, most of all, the emotional power of the score.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 7:06am

Awesome, you might want to check out the version that was performed in Paris two years ago. "Brilliant" doesnt even begin to describe it. Extremely topical in its approach, and yet still reverent to the original material (In France, you dont screw around with one of the literary greats): just the "Six Kings" scene alone was worth the price of admission.

[anthony95401]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 11:32am

Exactly. I LOVED Taboo in London, but they really destroyed all chances of it succeeding here by "fixing" the book. A real shame.

[anthony95401]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 11:38am

One of my favorite flops was "Triumph of Love". I honestly loved it on Broadway (and the regional productions I have seen), and never understood why the critics and many audience members hated it so. I found it fun and charming, with great songs and fantastic performances (Susan Egan, Chris Sieber, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlin, Nancy Opel, Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham). I am curious what others who saw it would do to "fix" it.

[Disneyland Magic Man]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:00pm

To "fix" The Fix, I think one needs to clearly make a point which political family is being satirized and to bring out the rock-opera tone that was present in the original production. The idea of a "rock vaudeville", which is essentially what the show is, in interesting... so hiding it behind less than amazing orchestrations in the new version doesn't help.

That being said, regardless of the version or take, someone just needs the balls to open it at a bigger off-Broadway house and see what happens. With disapproval of Bush and Obama still in the air, a good old-fashioned musical about dirty politics might sit well with audiences. And give the show the NY run it never got.
Updated On: 12/25/10 at 02:00 PM

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:06pm

^ I don't know, The Fix has one of the most unmemorable scores I have ever heard (can't recall a single tune) and it doesn't really make sense that it's that easy to make someone President (I'm sure it's not meant to be taken seriously, but it doesn't present itself as a satire). It tried to be serious which doesn't work. To me, this show is simply unfixable.

[Disneyland Magic Man]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:14pm

With Merrily We Roll Along, I think that they've watered down the end of Frank's story (the beginning of the show) to try and "fix" things. If Frank is happy at the end and the movie is a hit, why go back?

I think the show should open the night before Frank has to speak at Lake Forrest. As he writes the speech... which is full of a bunch of BS that he thinks he's cleverly proud of, things from the past sneak up on him and haunt him. Maybe ghosts or just memories that he's stirred. He should contemplate suicide or maybe get too drunk. Then he looks at a picture from his graduation and behind a scrim we see them all sing The Hills Of Tomorrow, or at least the end of it. Just as Frank either induces himself comatose from the booze or attempts the suicide, the kids come and ask him how he got there and to look back "Merrily We Roll Along".

Then the rest of the show happens with Old Frank being wheeled around in an easy chair forced to look back at his life to see exactly how things went sour a la Scrooge. The most heart-wrenching scene being when Old Frank realizes he's on the rooftop and doesn't want to watch. The biggest zing coming when Young Frank tells Charley he's going to marry Mary and Old Frank breaking down as Young Frank convinces Charlie and Mary that their lives are only just starting "Our Time". The show would close with Frank giving his speech, though now optimistic that he can still fix his own life and that the future is hopeful. He also would dedicate his successes to his two best friends, Charlie and Mary... Who we realize have been sitting in attendance in disguise watching him speak. The three make up and Frank proposes to Mary as the lights go out.

[Disneyland Magic Man]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:20pm

RE: The Fix

What production did you see? Yeah, taken seriously the piece doesn't work at all. It's meant to be a fast paced satire. Most of the characters have moments where they break the 4th wall and comment directly on things like in Chicago, which would be the closest thing I could compare the intent of the show to.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 2:44pm

Don't even get me started on how to fix Lestat.

1. The book.

First off, get rid of Linda. Period. She can't handle this material. She's not experienced enough. Fvck dat b!tch. Can't write for sh!t.

Second, do something with those narrations. Either have a seperate Lestat to play the narrations, or make them consistent as an off-stage narration with subtitles, or just get rid of them entirely. Why is it so crucial we have the story from Lestat's POV again? Sure, he's the character role and it's based off the book which was told in Lestat narrative, but why in a musical sense do we need to know that it's his POV? Did we have an "Interview with A Vampire" musical from Louis' POV that we missed out on that this is a follow up to? I didn't think so.

Also, the character development sucks in some places: Lestat, Louis, Marius Nicolas and Armand appear to be very bipolar and frantic without justification. THIS NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED. Marius as well is extremely under-written. Gabrielle could use some justification as well. Claudia is the best written, which is ironic - considering in the films and the books she was a very underdeveloped character.

This is also a typical Linda Woolverton trademark, but for the love of god, STOP TRYING TO MAKE EVERYTHING A MORAL!! She always tries to add these sugarcoateded tidbits at the end of her books and they NEVER work. They are campy.

For the most part, they just need to go back to the San Francisco pre-Broadway incarnation Elton thought was "too simple". It explained almost everything, but it was only a few drafts away from being presentable. There was a lot of gray area, but still.

2. The score.

From the Dead. Need I say more? I loved the finale in San Fran, but the beginning doesn't work. It should be used as a motif throughout the show, kinda like "Marilyn Monroe" from Blood Brothers/"Unlimited" from Wicked kinda thing, maybe. The song for me doesn't particularly work. Also, go back to "Nothing Here" from San Fran as opposed to "Beautiful Boy" - that song sucks. Also, Nicolas and Louis should get some better songs - and fvck - why not give Marius one? I feel a lot of the story was told by a poor score at times, which I think the show would work best if it were a play with music...only using songs when necessary and purely as a method of transition.

3. The set.

Projections didn't suit it. Baroque sets, I say. Same fate as "The Woman In White" - there were opportunities for a gorgeous period set - but none were use. However, I get there are 1,234,609 locations in "Lestat", from a period house in France to Egypt (in the San Fran version) but projections don't *quite* cut it. Or, make the set just really simple. I feel like a really minimalist version of Lestat could work just fine.

4. Now that we've fixed all that, where do we go with it?

It's funny you should ask. The show is too recent for a revival right now, so wait fifteen to twenty years when everyone's forgotten and premiere it with the same name, but with revisions. his piece could also benefit from "Grand Hotel" treatment. Take what was "Lestat," and upgrade it with a new title and new focus (maybe concentrating on "Interview With The Vampire", as Louis is a much more sympathetic character). Don't forget - "Grand Hotel" was once "At The Grand", they just waited a very long time (the original premiered as a failed tryout in the 50's and then was produced in 92, if I'm not mistaken) under a completely new name and book, but borrowed a few songs from the old incarnation (which would be a good choice for Lestat - I don't think any of the original creators would want to be involved, but there was such a gold mine in there with "I Want More", "I'll Never Have That Chance", "Sail Me Away", "Embrace It", "Origin Of The Species"...) ...ya dig?

Or if you're an eager beaver, wait a while have a regional premiere (maybe out in San Fran again, for old times sake?) and be brought to life again by community theatre a la "Bat Boy" or "Seussical" (or in the attempted "Pirate Queen" and "Cry-Baby") fashion.

[musicalperson17]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 10:02pm

Jekyll and Hyde:
Though some say it wasn't a flop, by formality it was. Yes it run four 4 years but the show never recouped their entire investment. Most of the music is great. The lyrics need some desperate fixes. For example "to kill outside st. pauls requires a lot of balls" takes away from the attempted dramatic tone of Murder Murder. I don't think a murderous rampage is the time for "witty" lyrics. And on the note of ensemble numbers, they are terrible in general. Facade needs to be shorter and have fewer random ensemble solos. Plus the stupid reprises of the song in different music styles also do not work. The set was another major issue. I don't know if they were trying "stage within a stage" or something like that, but it made awful use of space. I think it added to the awful choreography as well.

[Dreamerlily]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 10:53pm

Shrek the Musical was kind of a flop (Still not sure why...) And you can't fix that. It was all about advertising. People just don't want to go see somthing that they saw as a kid's movie.......

[parislover87]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 10:56pm

I would take Women on the Verge... and direct it like The Women. Never see Ivan... cut the taxi driver, make it a one act with lots of fun zany numbers for the all star female cast it has

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/25/10 at 10:58pm

musicalperson17, it takes a special kind of show for me to convince the director it's ok if the audience doesn't understand all they lyrics being sung. Jekyll & Hyde was one of that shows. I doubt "Murder Murder" will ever be performed that fast again. It also meant losing the stupid umbrellas as the actors couldn't swing them around fast enough.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 12/26/10 at 12:26am

Dreamerlily, I think that the big thing that made Shrek kind of flop was the fact that it was just so expensive, but to say that there is nothing wrong with it is an overly-optimistic show. A lot of the humor felt forced or just obnoxious (but not all of it). There are a couple of songs that I don't like. You are entitled to a positive opinion, but it's not perfect.

I think Anyone Can Whistle would be a great show if they could just clarify who the Cookie Jar people are. Sondheim said that they didn't make it clear enough that it's about rebels who go against the flow, not crazy people. Hapgood kind of has that in his character (as shown in Everybody Says Don't), so it's not that big of a stretch. Rewriting Fay's first entrance would help a bit.

[temms]

Posted: 12/26/10 at 10:48am

I saw a production of Mack & Mabel that actually had a very lovely ending - they didn't do the "fake marriage" ending, it ended with Mack back in the studio and leaving it behind, and they lowered a screen and played a 5-minute-or-so highlights reel of the actual Mabel Normand movies while a solo piano played a silent movie version of "Movies Were Movies". It was actually very sweet - the film clips were very funny, but there was a sadness to it, almost like an odd requiem. It didn't make it a happy ending, but it emphasized the great things that came from that unfortunately doomed affair without whitewashing it.

This was an outdoor production in NJ a few years back which actually used a full orchestra and everything. I went for the novelty of finally seeing a fully-staged M&M not expecting much and actually saw a surprisingly satisfying production.

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 12/26/10 at 12:18pm

i would have put Story of My Life off-broadway.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 12/26/10 at 12:48pm

^^Agreed on Story of My Life. I also think [title of show] and Bloody Bloody were near-perfect shows, and should've stayed off-broadway. End of story.

Also, for Anyone Can Whistle, it just needs to be organized better. The book is frazzled and the songs seem misplaced a lot of times. Also, "There's Always A Woman" is such a fun song - but it does need work. Cora and Faye's relationship needs to be developed a lot more.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 5:17pm

^ Be careful not to say that to Arthur Laurents. He'll suck the gristle out your neck through a Donald Duck straw and live another 93 years.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:27pm

Run Starlight Express exactly as it was originally in London. None of the horrendous rewrites that remove the villain altogether and just rely on 'coincidence' to move the plot along.

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:33pm

I think Evil Dead the musical is genius but the producers had no idea what they were doing and they messed up so many times.

And I would remove obnoxious 80's numbers from Carrie.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:36pm

“Cut down the cast size to the cast that played at the Mark Taper Forum.”

I saw it and hated it. The music sounds like crap unless there are a lot of voices singing it.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:36pm

I think this new incarnation of Carrie will definitely fix it. Oh, and I thought of another one:

Prettybelle - make it a farce!

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 8:39pm

If only Hal Prince would take another crack at MERRILY....

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 9:46pm

I enjoyed Women on the Verge a lot, but I think the book was weak. There were funny parts, but the rest of the book was just meh. I think Yazbek could easily write some better songs for Ivan, because his 2 just stop the show, and don't develop the character(s) at all. Otherwise, he could be easily written out and only be in the show via mention and the telephone recordings.

I wish all of the songs of the show were to the caliber of "Model Behavior" and "Island"