Misleading Titles- Page 2
Misleading Titles
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#25re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 2:26amMamma Mia can be a misleading title if you are not familiar with Abba and the fact that the musical features Abba music.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
jennafan
Broadway Star Joined: 6/15/06
#26re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 2:34amI hate the title "August: Osage County", because I always read it as Orange County. :|
#29re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:49am
The Phantom of the Opera
I thought it was going to be a play with real opera music...which is not quite...
The Who's Tommy
Not quite familiar with The Who when i was young, I always thought they were missing a question mark at the end of the title.
and not directly related but I used to always interchange Proof with Doubt and vice versa, even thinking they were the same show at one point.
#30re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 7:09amA New Brain, while not exactly misleading, turned out completely different than what I expected.
A little known fact is that in the original screenplay, Pan's Labyrinth was Pan's FLAByrinth. Hmmmmmmm...glad they changed it.
dg22894
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/22/08
#31re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 7:22am
Sunday in the Park with George
Chicago
I had no clue about Rent until the movie
Company
Caroline, or Change
Seussical
Mamma Mia
Company
Fan123
Broadway Star Joined: 8/30/08
#32re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 7:56am
Merrily We Roll Along. It sounds like a jolly show, perhaps Christmas-themed.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
#33re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:08amOnce I mentioned Chicago around my dad a few years ago and he thought I was talking about the band. Apparently he was misled.
www.tinydancer5.tumblr.com
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#34re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:08am
"^ Ha, I found The Full Monty misleading as well, only it was because I've always associated 'Monty' with 'Python.' Turns out it's not quite Spamalot..."
I totally thought that the show was related to Monty Python too. I was like, "Those guys have a musical now?"
I found out about Rent in the 4th grade so I thought Rent meant renting movies from Blockbuster.
When I first heard about Mamma Mia, I thought it was about Italian people.
The first picture I ever saw of Aida was from My Strongest Suit and there was Sherie in the center so I thought SHE was Aida. Not the same thing, I know but still...it was misleading.
How the heck was I supposed to know Big River was about Huckleberry Finn.
Yes, I thought Brooklyn was about the actual borough.
There's a French musical called Gladiateur. Sounds like a musical version of Gladiator, right. *Buzzer sound*. The full title is actually Spartacus le Gladiateur so it's really about Spartacus. But if you saw the cover art, you'd probably get the two confused cuz that could be Maximus on the cover for all we know.
Jelly's Last Jam...actually thought it had something to do with jelly and jam.
Jersey Boys...just thought it was another run of the mill jukebox musical. Didn't know it was the actual story of the 4 Seasons.
A friend of mine actually thought there was a musical version of Juno. I had to tell him, "Different Juno."
I had no idea Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned were related since I only knew them as movies (movies I had never seen at that point, I might add. I have watched Interview on tv) so when they announced a show called Lestat, I thought it was a play with a very odd title. Then I hear it's a vampire musical and, oh, look at that, turns out Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned ARE related.
Little Shop of Horrors...I actually thought it was about a shop that sold scary stuff.
Urinetown...I thought it was about...oh, who am I kidding?
Whistle Down The Wind...I couldn't even understand the title, how the heck was I supposed to get an idea of what the show was about?
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#35re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:26amLaughter on the 23rd Floor. I thought it would be funny.
#36re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:18am
As mentioned: The Drowsy Chaperone
Forbidden Broadway - I thought it might have been the grandparent to Blasted. Stuff Forbidden to show on stage
I once heard someone describe her (Ruthie Henshall) singing as sounding as though she's trying to swallow a whole meatball slightly larger than her windpipe. (The same person compared Michael Ball's singing to sounding as though he's sitting on a washing machine on spin cycle and Colm Wilkinson's to a man with a paralyzed lip trying to eat cottage cheese.) --- Schmerg_The_Impaler
#37re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:52am
I too thought that Gypsy was about Gypsies which is why i declined a ticket that my friend offered to me in middle school with Bernadette Freaking Peters. ugh. dont want to talk about it.
I agree about Mamma Mia and the Drowsy Chaperone as well
<-- Gwen Stewart, SOLoist at the last show of RENT
Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds. Fear or love, baby? Don't say the answer Actions speak louder than words. (Tick, Tick... BOOM!)
Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds. Fear or love, baby? Don't say the answer Actions speak louder than words. (Tick, Tick... BOOM!)
#38re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 12:09pmThere was a touring production of MAMMA MIA! that used the Broadway logo and artwork, and it nearly sold out everywhere except for this one city (I don't remember where, someplace Southern), where it was doing almost zero business. They did a little market research and discovered that nearly all their patrons thought Mamma Mia! was a new Italian restaurant that the theater was advertising.
Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters. ~ Wicked
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
"He's a tramp, but I love him."
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
DryMartini
Stand-by Joined: 3/20/06
#39re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 2:11pm"A Little Night Music" - it's actually a whole lot of night music.
#40re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 1/7/09 at 4:10pm
Brooklyn the Musical.
It should have been Brooklyn the Train Wreck. AND it wasn't even about the borough.
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#41re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 4/20/09 at 8:21pmI saw How Shakespeare Won The West at the Huntington last semester in college...I expected a farce...or at least something better than the debacle I spent an hour and a half sitting through.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#42re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 4/21/09 at 3:47amTHE SOUND OF MUSIC ...sounds very academic and technical.
And you think of all of the things you've seen, and you wish that you could live in between ,and you're back again only different than before...
After the Sky.
-Into the Woods (Jack)
#43re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 4/21/09 at 10:04am
...making Caroline smile.
If people are being lured into the theatre by the thought of a smiling Caroline, boy are THEY in for a shock. O_O
#45re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 4/21/09 at 1:16pm
Whistle Down The Wind...I couldn't even understand the title, how the heck was I supposed to get an idea of what the show was about?
Perhaps by the novel and the film of the same name?
Les Miserables - I waited almost three hours for Les to appear. The title character isn't even in the show! 
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#46re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 4/21/09 at 2:48pmOne of my favorite plays of all time, Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? has absolutely NOTHING to do with Virginia Woolf.
AndAllThatJazz22
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/08
#47re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 6/10/09 at 10:25am
I thought Mamma Mia was about italian people too!
I also thought Company was about a bunch of people working at in office.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.
fgreene1938
Leading Actor Joined: 10/25/06
#49re: Misleading Titles
Posted: 6/10/09 at 10:36am
For me, it was "Shrek", which I inexplicably thought was going to be a piece of musical theater.
And then there's "Next to Normal". At first I thought it was going to be about a relatively sane Broadway musical actress who wins a Tony award and then goes bonkers during her acceptance speech because she....oh, wait a second....
Never mind.
Updated On: 6/10/09 at 10:36 AM
