9 to 5 On Broadway, why did it flop?

[BwayDreamer00]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 3:30am

Not sure why but I've somehow fallen in love with 9 to 5. Both the show (which is on Youtube) and the score. But why did it flop? It only ran for four months when it had a triple threat powerhouse leads (Allison Janney, Megan Hilty, Stephanie J Block) and great supporting cast and it was super funny. And yes the ensemble was super big and with those HUGE sets (like omg how big is the Marquis theater backstage???) and there were so many costumes those weekly costs were definetly uber high. And yeah the reviews weren't great but it was a solid show and you would think it would call tourists because of the movie but I guess not. And Dolly Parton? She's a pretty big name?? Anyways did you guys like it? Why didn't it survive?? 

[Soaring29]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 3:37am

It was probably  overshadowed by the other shows that season. 

 

LOVE SHINE LIKE THE SUN!! 

[South Florida]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 3:39am

A few things probably but mostly the story was thirty years old and maybe a little more relevant in the 80's. Also, the only somewhat memorable song was "Get Out and Stay Out".

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 7:44am

As I recall the reason was a negative word of mouth. Word got out quick that it was mediocre and compared with the other shows that year people picked the others. Personally I feel like the problem was that the show seemed to conclude too quickly and easily. Sitting in the audience you felt a bit ripped off by the quick and easy ending... almost deus ex machine... I could have easily sat for another 20 minutes and at least two more musical numbers. People left the theatre as if they had experienced a bad lover who ejaculated prematurely. Am I allowed to say that on this board?

Updated On: 9/2/17 at 07:44 AM

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 8:26am

It's too bad it wasn't more successful, if only for the sake of Dolly Parton. She is one of the most genuine and talented performers of our time. Heck, as the author of hundreds of songs -- including mega-hits like 'I Will Always Love You' and '9 to 5,' she is one of the greatest song writers of our time.

Dolly is one of the few people I always root for to join the EGOT club. She's been nominated for all four, checked the 'G' and 'E' off the list and, in my opinion, was robbed of the Oscar the year her beautiful song "Traveling Thru" from TransAmerica lost to "It's Hard Out There For a Pimp." Oy.

Updated On: 9/2/17 at 08:26 AM

[quizking101]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 8:30am

As much as I love the show (and how I came to love Allison Janney), the show is ultimately a pedestrian adaptation of a beloved film. The songs, while some memorable, ultimately seemed a bit trite and general in tone. It reminded me a lot of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, where it hit most of the comedic notes from the movie, but ultimately filled the rest of the gaps with mediocre material, which then pushed the onus onto name recognition (Title, Dolly, even Janney) to sell it.

[David10086]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 8:49am

I never saw it, but one of the reasons I kept away was I did have the feeling it was 'dated', as the movie was relevant in 1980. 35 years later? Not so much. Plus, the reaction I got from others at the time who did see it was "Skip it". 

I'm sure it seemed like a 'natural transfer' from movie to stage on paper, but in reality - not so much? 

I'm sure the show took a big loss.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 11:36am

I saw it a few times and I quite liked it. The Marquis is frankly always a big problem as the vast majority of shows in there flop, and flop badly. It's a crappy theatre and I'm always shocked when anything lasts more than a few months in there. It definitely suffered from being overshadowed that season by Billy Elliot and Next to Normal and they failed to get a Best Musical nomination. I think the score is actually really wonderful and the show overall was a good time. 

[Tag]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 11:44am

The score is quite good, but as stated above, the book was the weakest link.  A dated, strange story, with a too quick ending that ties everything up just perfectly.  They should have had Dolly in it from the start (but she wasn't added, in video form, until the tour).

But the show should have run longer, it wasn't bad enough to close as soon as it did.  I mean if SJB can't keep a show open with Get Out and Stay Out, there is no hope for the future of musical theatre. :P

[bk]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 2:46pm

Well, it was bad?  It's amazing that every bad flop has these kinds of threads - why didn't it run longer?  It didn't run longer because the producers didn't want to lose any more money and in the Golden Age it would have closed after a week.  Yes, I'm sure some of the young theater geeks LOVED it because they LOVE everything, but the public didn't LOVE it, didn't care, and didn't come.  The attempts at getting audiences by having Dolly in the audience (at every single performance during the LA tryout and in NY at the beginning) and then sticking her on video were absolutely crass and a terrible idea.  It was almost like shouting to the audience "HEY LOOK WE'RE IN TROUBLE!" It did, IMO, the opposite of what they thought it would do.  

They thought they had a brand - a name that would sell tickets - that's what they always thing with these movie things.  But it's done in big regional musical theater houses that have subscriptions because they can rent the set and use lots of non-Equity talent and a couple of contracts.  And it plays just as poorly there.  I don't ever play the "dated" card - that's not why it flopped.  The fact is, I was done with it the minute the "erection" joke happened in the first ten seconds of the show.  That said to me all I needed to know about the creative team and the intentions.  And there you have a differing opinion.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 3:02pm

It didn't run longer because the producers didn't want to lose any more money and in the Golden Age it would have closed after a week.

No, flops tended to run for a few months in the Golden Age as well.

[nsguy45]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 3:48pm

The changes made between Los Angeles and Broadway ruined the show. One of the best songs, The One I Love, was removed and that militant final speech given by Janney at the end of the show was laughably bad. Similarly, Catch Me If You Can was markedly better when it previewed in Seattle than what finally opened on Broadway. 

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 5:12pm

Zamedy154 said: "It's too bad it wasn't more successful, if only for the sake of Dolly Parton. She is one of the most genuine and talented performers of our time. Heck, as the author of hundreds of songs -- including mega-hits like 'I Will Always Love You' and '9 to 5,' she is one of the greatest song writers of our time.

Dolly is one of the few people I always root for to join the EGOT club. She's been nominated for all four,checked the 'G' and 'E' off the listand, in my opinion, was robbed of the Oscar the year her beautiful song "Traveling Thru" from TransAmerica lost to "It's Hard Out There For a Pimp." Oy."

Robbed of her Oscar. agreed. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 7:18pm

It was fun, with a great cast, but somewhat forgettable. I also remember at the time a lot of people were ****ting on it because they used an LED screen as a backdrop.

[Tag]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 7:42pm

^Yet it had one of the best video designs on Broadway to date.  And a HUGE physical production to accompany it. 

[BobPopa]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 8:59pm

The video usage IMO was one of the worst things about the Broadway production. It did not fit with the time period and style of the show. Besides not being excellent, it was horribly overproduced. The show does much better regionally with the work they have done on the script for the tour, and the reduction in "production"

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 10:00pm

Not a complete fiasco,  just dated and boring.  

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 10:56pm

I found it to be an enjoyable, but almost immediately forgettable, evening on Broadway. The cast was uniformly good and everyone in the show felt like they were enjoying themselves on the stage, but it was such a by-the-numbers adaptation that I never really got a moment of "yes, this is why these characters needed to sing."

 

It was much like Young Frankenstein where they made sure to hit every moment and joke from the movie that you'd expect, but there was nothing new or exciting being brought to the story. I felt no need to revisit either of these shows when I could just watch the movies at home for a lot less. I didn't truly dislike either show, but just had no need to spend time revisiting them, or even giving much of a recommendation when asked about them.

[bk]

Posted: 9/2/17 at 11:09pm

Mister Matt said: "It didn't run longer because the producers didn't want to lose any more money and in the Golden Age it would have closed after a week.

No, flops tended to run for a few months in the Golden Age as well."

Some flops did, but most closed instantly.  You can't name me a one-performance flop from the last decade I don't think.  But go back from the 50s forward and you will find tons of one-night closers, plenty of three-night closers, and PLENTY of one-week closers.  Hundreds.  That's the way it was back then because producers were a different beast.  Today it's all about their egos, investors be damned.

 

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 9/3/17 at 1:49am

I really enjoyed it when I caught it in its pre Broadway run in LA

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/3/17 at 2:22am

Was working for a production company at the time that worked for the show, so I saw it a few times, and really enjoyed it. I can't say why it didn't work, but having no prior knowledge, I really enjoyed it. I do think it would have helped to take a different approach. It didn't need to be a carbon copy of the film because no one really held the film to such a regard. And I think the choreography - the popping and locking of "In The Heights" - didn't work with the rest of the show. It felt a little misguided. And the video screens, etc. The opening was silly. It was kinda messy. But I think a great show is in there. 

Posted: 9/3/17 at 11:00am

AEA AGMA SM said: "I never really got a moment of "yes, this is why these characters needed to sing."
 

I never saw the show, but that is exactly the feeling I got from the cast album. I think the film is very well paced, even with the problems in the final act, and interrupting that pace for a song is a very tricky problem that the creators didn't solve.

 

[BobPopa]

Posted: 9/3/17 at 5:00pm

Oh see quite to the contrary, I think much of the music is the best part of the show, especially the edits since the cast album. "Get Out and Stay Out" is very powerful in context, and "Shine Like The Sun" is a very nice Act I Ender. Of course putting 9 to 5 to start the show is exaclty correct, and Backwards Barbie also fits very well within the show. It's not a perfect score, but it works well within the show...and it's stronger than a lot of scores of recent flop show's (i.e. Finding Neverland and Tuck Everlasting)

[JayG 2]

Posted: 9/3/17 at 5:47pm

bk, there was a one performance musical fiasco in this century. The name escapes me, but it played Circle in the Square, came in from Washington D.C. and featured five or six guys. It was panned and vanished overnight. (Sometimes good taste prevails.)

But you are right, in the Golden Age a lousy or truly mediocre musical that was dismissed by the critics was gone by the weekend or after opening night, I.e. Kelly, The Yearling, A Broadway Musical, Cafe Crown, Portofino, LaStrada, The Fig Leaves are Falling, Frank Merriwell, etc., or some even shuttered during previews, One Night Stand and Breakfast at Tiffany's.  And most of these have far better scores than shows that run for years today in spite of awful reviews. 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 9/3/17 at 5:50pm

This is the type of show that does best on tour, because tour audiences tend to be more forgiving of book flaws that make a show insufrible on Broadway.  We saw it on a New York trip thanks to TKTS and I couldn't get past the plot points that annoyed me.  A year or two later it was part of our Broadway Across American subscription in Houston and I just let the fun take over.  I never thought about the ridiculous plot.  Two highlights:  Diana DeGarmo was a joy as Doralee, and Dolly Parton surprised everyone by joining the cast onstage to sing the title tune during the curtain calls.