Favorite Flop- Page 2

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 1:37pm

Nick and Nora

[NoName3]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:14pm

Mary Martin's Peter Pan was a limited engagement on Broadway. It had already made all its money back from the sale of the TV rights to NBC while it was still playing pre-Broadway runs in San Francisco and LA.

Updated On: 11/24/14 at 02:14 PM

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:26pm

Jekyll & Hyde (2013 Revival)
Bonnie and Clyde
Catch Me if You Can
Mack & Mabel
Ghost
It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman
Caroline, or Change
First Date

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:29pm

Oh, I didn't know that. NoName3, thanks for the information.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 4:36pm

Leap of Faith (LA version)

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 4:40pm

Carrie (Both versions)
Women on the Verge
Big Fish
Scandalous
Side Show (Original)
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Revival)
9 to 5
Reefer Madness
Merrily We Roll Along
Anyone Can Whistle
[title of show]

[Alix]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 4:43pm

Taboo

[bfreak]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 4:58pm

Rocky

[TheBoyFromNC]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 5:01pm

Wow, I can't believe I didn't think about [title of show] - it deserved so much better.

And just saying, gleek, but the 2012 Off-Broadway Carrie was a limited engagement. It actually did very well, considering. So only the original version flopped. :)

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 5:07pm

Parade would not be considered a flop, since it was produced by Lincoln Center. Thus you are looking at an entirely different financial model and thus there were no investors to pay off and no recoupment to speak of.

In terms of shows that I actually saw on Broadway, some of my favorites include:

Side Show
The Wild Party
James Joyce's The Dead
Ragtime (both productions)

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 5:52pm

TRIUMPH OF LOVE, a very funny show which would probably have found an audience and a following off-Broadway. A charming and highly varied Stock/Birkenhead score, Susan Egan was fabulous, Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham edgy, silly and adorable, Nancy Opel, Roger Bart and Kevin Chamberlin clowned with gusto. All were well served by Michael Mayer's deft direction.

Opened the same week as SIDE SHOW and outclassed it in every respect.

Variety and The New Yorker loved it. And so did I.


Updated On: 11/24/14 at 05:52 PM

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 11:26pm

I'd confidently put the original Broadway production of Carrie in my list of favorite musicals - the lyrics are a little goofy sometimes but the music behind them is almost entirely exceptional, and it's a huge shame a cast album was never recorded because I'd put it up there with OBCs like Evita and Sweeney Todd as far as production, cast, and energy go.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 1:17am

Leap Of Faith - LA

Ghost

[seeseveryshow2]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 2:53am

So many -

Oh Brother
The Education of Hyman Kaplan
The Happiest Girl in the World
Bravo Giovanni
Do Re Mi
Merrily We Roll Along
Timbuktu
Wildcat
She Loves Me
I Remember Mama
Do I Hear A Waltz
...to name just a few

[macnyc]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:16am

Chaplin

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 7:25am

Which one?

The one that made it to Broadway or the Anthony Newly one that folded on the road?

[Buffalo Bill]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 1:35pm

Smile, Scarlett Pimpernel, La Cage (w/Gary Beach) and dare I say it? 9 to 5.

[macnyc]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 2:47pm

The recent Chaplin. (I had forgotten there was the previous one.)

[newintown]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 3:05pm

"Parade would not be considered a flop, since it was produced by Lincoln Center."

Parade was produced in partnership with Livent, so although it was a non-profit theatre, there was an undisclosed amount of commercial money involved that was lost from the 2-month run of that show.

On another note - I wonder how many of the posts in this thread are based on cast recording alone, with no familiarity with the book of the shows named?

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:06pm

I've seen J/H mentioned a couple of times, including the original. Didn't it run like 1500 performances? Is a show that runs that long considered a flop?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:16pm

Despite running that long it never managed to pay off its full investment, so, yes, it is considered a flop.

[andi1235]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:55pm

I was going to say Leap of Faith, too. I only saw the Broadway version, but I'm so happy I did. :)

[ChanceWayne2]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 1:25pm

As a strange child, a few times a year my parents allowed me to pick the shows. "Hello Dolly", "Fiddler...", "Sound of Music"....NO THANK YOU! Instead I was drawn to the flops. Serve me up some "Flora The Red Menace" (the final curtain suddenly came down before the plot line seemed reconciled to the general audience reaction of WTF just happened?), "Bajour" (here Chita was the supposed star of the evening yet Nancy Dussault won the audience over as soon as she made her entrance. General consensus here...More Dussault, Less Rivera!), "Illya Darling" (I didn't pick this one and the only thing that drew the family was our Greek heritage), "Henry Sweet Henry" (Michael Bennett's set changes had a wonderfully cinematic touch to them. Everything just glided on and offstage as if it was choreographed with complimentary lighting giving it all a magical quality). Questionable shows that may have not made a profit qualifying it as a flop yet were among my favorites: "High Spirits" and "Golden Boy". Later on I went on my own to see many more but none were favorites by any means: "Platinum" (favorite line was Alexis Smith referring to Lisa Mordente (Chita's spawn) as "that little pygmie!), "A Broadway Musical" (not one redeeming quality). However I did enjoy both the original and revised production of "Scarlet Pimpernel" and loved the original "Side Show". Saw all of Sondheim's flops but other than "Follies" wouldn't put any of them on either my least or most favorite list.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 2:11pm

Okay, AEA. Thanks.

I saw J/H years ago, pre-Broadway, and I remember it being only the music (and the Cuccioli and Eder performances) that kept me there after intermission.

The story itself wasn't my favorite. Obviously I really didn't find any of the characters likable, even the ones who got offed. So it was hard to empathize with any of them or draw any connection.

It may not have made its money back, but it ran long enough that obviously there were those who did like it. Just wasn't my favorite.

[Junior Babcock]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 5:16pm

A TIME FOR SINGING
PRETTYBELLE
DARLING OF THE DAY
SMILE
MAIL
GREY GARDENS
STEEL PIER