Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations- Page 2
Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
luvbrdway
Featured Actor Joined: 10/21/08
MannPhan24601
Broadway Star Joined: 11/4/15
#26Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 6:34pm
Chess was a hit in London but when it came to Broadway,book and music changes were made which caused it to be a flop..It even had a healthy box office advance
#27Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 6:39pm
The new FIDDLER revival pops into mind first and foremost.
Sondheimite
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/14
#28Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 6:51pm
Lazarus.
Broadway World's Fireman.
BroadwayFan12
Broadway Star Joined: 4/17/10
#30Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 7:11pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "The new FIDDLER revival pops into mind first and foremost."
It definitely lived up to my expectations, so it's subjective. I'm sorry you were disappointed. We've yet to see if it will be a commercial success.
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#31Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 7:24pm
Littleshopofcarrie said: "If/Then"
Amen to that. God, I wanted to like that show.
#32Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 7:26pm
Back in the Jurassic Period, publisher Random House used to sell hardback librettos of hit musicals. The books they couldn't sell were donated to libraries (including those at high schools), so my high school library was a pretty good indication of the shows that failed to meet expectations in the 1960s.
Titles I remember:
BAKER STREET
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN
DO I HEAR A WALTZ?
NO STRINGS
FADE OUT, FADE IN*
* FADE OUT, FADE IN was initially a monster hit, outgrossing DOLLY! and FUNNY GIRL; but it closed quickly after its star, Carol Burnett, left prematurely. The Comden and Green libretto is hysterical, but so tailored to Burnett's talents I'm not surprised the show couldn't run without her.
Broadway kid 2
Stand-by Joined: 6/7/14
#33Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 7:58pm
GavestonPS said: "Back in the Jurassic Period, publisher Random House used to sell hardback librettos of hit musicals. The books they couldn't sell were donated to libraries (including those at high schools), so my high school library was a pretty good indication of the shows that failed to meet expectations in the 1960s.
Titles I remember:
BAKER STREET
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN
DO I HEAR A WALTZ?
NO STRINGS
FADE OUT, FADE IN*
* FADE OUT, FADE IN was initially a monster hit, outgrossing DOLLY! and FUNNY GIRL; but it closed quickly after its star, Carol Burnett, left prematurely. The Comden and Green libretto is hysterical, but so tailored to Burnett's talents I'm not surprised the show couldn't run without her.
"
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#34Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:02pm
All except Baker had strong scores and I saw Baker & Superman .Seeing Encores Waltz in July.Superman was a head scratcher. It got really good reviews but, for whatever reason, never caught on.
Poster Emeritus
KathyNYC2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/10
#35Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:03pm
BroadwayFan12 said: "Someone in a Tree2 said: "The new FIDDLER revival pops into mind first and foremost.
It definitely lived up to my expectations, so it's subjective. I'm sorry you were disappointed. We've yet to see if it will be a commercial success.
I would imagine that anything that asks for an opinion is subjective..nothing in this thread or similar threads is fact. Not that it really matters but Fiddler did not live up to my expectations either. But that's fine..different productions appeal to different people...and whether or not it's successful financially or commercially doesn't change that.
"
#36Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:21pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "The new FIDDLER revival pops into mind first and foremost."
The new revival of Fiddler on the Roof was well received by critics.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again. I'm not talking about your own expectations, I'm talking about expectations set by a lot of people that ended up being disappointed with the end results.
#37Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:26pm
Kathy, I know your post wasn't directed at me, but the reason I made the list above because I thought it was a rare bit of objective evidence that expectations exceeded achievement for certain titles.
Re said list: I find the books to NO STRINGS, DO I HEAR A WALTZ! and BAKER STREET nearly unreadable. FADE OUT, FADE IN is a delight on the page--if you know what Carol Burnett used to do. I defer to Mr. Roxy, who actually saw most of the shows, but on the page (and album), SUPERMAN seems an embarrassment of riches: too many characters, too many subplots.
#38Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:45pm
What about "Far From Heaven"? Top notch creative team and cast. But no one really seemed to care and it didn't really go anywhere.
When my goodbye post was removed: “but I had a great dramatic finish!!!!”
#39Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 12/31/15 at 8:49pm
Re FAR FROM HEAVEN: I don't know what the expectations were, but I love the recording and would love to see a production!
The Other One
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
#40Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 8:43am
Not that I mean to single out the Brits, but: 1)Wolf Hall and 2)Coram Boy.
Updated On: 1/2/16 at 08:43 AM
#41Anticipated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 11:05am
Jeffrey Karasarides said: "With several highly anticipated shows coming in the new year, it should be interesting to see how many of them will possibly live up to everyone's expectations."
I think that is half the problem, actually, that people start building up expectations for what they intend to see and then review the show based on their expectations (which are often made from whole cloth based on no information) as opposed to the show put in front of them.
That is seemingly a relatively new way to view the world, it seems. When I ran a website that did book reviews a while back, there was a generational shift in the early 2000s when people stopped reviewing the books, and shifted to "I thought the book was going to be X, but instead it was Y, and I think it would have been better if..." at which point it seemed to stop being a "book" review but became more of an expectational checklist and assessment.
I do get excited to see shows in advance, and hope I enjoy myself, but I stop short of trying to anticipate what I will see or how it will be presented, though.
Jarethan
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
#42Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 6:26pm
The biggest in my experience of following the theatre. I saw most of these and enjoyed them quite a bit, in honesty, though they were disappointments compared to the advanced expectations.
On a Clear Day...in its day, had incredible buzz, charged 20% more than any other show opened, had columnists quoting clever lyrics before it even opened. Lasted as long as it did only because it had a huge advance
Dear World...was expected to be a monster hit. Limped into NYC from Boston. Ran about 4 months. Surprisingly, I loved 80% of it, but the Boston version was much better. Also, one of the worst title songs ever. Maybe a fun song out of context, but awful in the context.
Mack and Mabel...all the element to be a smash hit but the actual story, which was a real downer. Mabel dies of an overdose in a musical with Keystone cops???
Merrily We Roll Along...expectations were so high and the result was so awful that few initially realized how great the score was. Harold Prince's concept didn't work. The cast wore tee shirts explaining who they were, e.g., producer, and you couldn't see them past the fifth or sixth row.
Mr. President...Irving Berlin's last show...huge advance, high expectations. DOA. Only Nanette Fabray survived the critical bashing...and not a very good song in the show.
Ballroom...Michael Bennett's first show after A Chorus Line to make it to B'way.
Some shoes had large advances because of the stars, not the creators, so I don't see them in the same light: Jennie, Breakfast at Tiffany's / Holly Golightly, Illya Darling, Wildcat.
Some created high expectation, not because of the creators or the stars, and I don't count them very seriously either. This would include Baker Street, Smile (Marvin Hamlish gotta lot of mileage out of the A Chorus Line score, which was the weakest part of the show), Merlin.
Finally, some because they were big hits in London, including Starlight Express and Chess, and did not transfer well. I loved both in London and they didn't work here, the former because there was no theatre suitable for what could have been a fun show; the latter because Trevor Nunn took a flawed show and ruined it.
#43Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 6:28pm
The revival of on the town.
My father (AIDS)
My sister (AIDS)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#44Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 6:52pm
Mack and Mabel. It is basically true so what should have been done - have a happy ending?
Agree 're Chorus Line score. Chicago's was 100% better
Disagree re Dear World title song. One of the best things of the score and show.
Illya was ok but Melina was the real reason to see it.
Baker's staging was the best part of it. A better score might have saved it. The actors tried but nothing they could do.
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 1/1/16 at 06:52 PM
#45Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 6:59pm
Re FAR FROM HEAVEN: I don't know what the expectations were, but I love the recording and would love to see a production!
We're getting a production in Chicago starting next month from Porchlight theatre company. THey have a pretty strong reputation in Chicago. I'm planning on seeing it. And we're getting the next musical from Frankel and Korie at the Goodman, War Paint, starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#46Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 7:16pm
Far From Heaven was a fantastic movie; but a dull musical. I can't imagine any production will save it.
Regarding Bonnie and Clyde -- it reflects Broadway as popularity Contest
Broadway Critics hate anything Wildhorne
Broadway Critics love Bartlett Sher even when he delivers a mediocre revival (Fiddler on the Roof)
Sher can do no wrong; Wildhorne can do no right.
#47Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 7:18pm
Gigi
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Updated On: 1/1/16 at 07:18 PM
#48Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 7:30pm
As I'm sure I've posted before, I've seen MACK AND MABEL with a happy ending. The year after it bombed in New York, it was chosen to open the renovated THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS in Miami Beach. Ron Link (choreographer of CABARET, director of APPLAUSE) had an idea of how to rescue it.
First, he cast Tommy Tune in one of the supporting roles and gave him most of the Lisa Kirk numbers. This worked beautifully and Tommy--then only known for his Tony-winning role in SEESAW--was a great audience favorite. More importantly, Link let Mabel's death scene play out and had Mack say something like "What's the good of being in show business if you can't change life?" Then Link replayed the overture and staged a brilliant, all-out dance version of Mack and Mabel's' happily-ever-after lives if only she had lived longer. It was up and fun and colorful and ironic and chilling and sent the audience out humming the score. It wasn't Sondheim, but visually it was damn near close to Loveland.
We sold a lot of tickets for several weeks of previews in Fort Lauderdale and then for a week's run in Miami Beach (at that time a substantial run for a 3,000-seat house). The star was Lucie Arnaz, an excellent Mabel.
AND STILL THE SHOW DIDN'T REALLY WORK. The problem is that Mack and Mabel go their separate ways at the end of Act I. Act II as written, revised for Miami Beach (and revised again for Reprise! LA in the early 2000s) is nothing but a series of contrivances aimed at getting the two leads back in the same room, even while their careers take them farther and farther apart.
For example, there was one scene where Mac ran into Mabel accidentally on a dock. She was sailing to England or somewhere. "What are you doing out here?", Mack asked. "I'm looking for my little red suitcase", replied Mabel. The little red suitcase was never mentioned again. Lucie and the rest of the cast used to joke about what was in the little red suitcase, where did she leave it and why can't she find it again? All questions the audience was asking as well, no doubt, while Lucie sang "Time Heals Everything".
Yes, Mack invents the Keystone Kops and that's one production number. But Mabel actually has the more interesting life, including a scandalous murder which may or may not have involved her. But the show has told us from the beginning that (a) it is about the both of them; and (b) it is told from Mack's point of view (Robert Preston being much the bigger star). If the only problem were the sad ending, you could end the plot before then; but that would leave your star couple apart and the spectators unsatisfied.
It's not that Mabel dies per se. It's that real life didn't give her and Mack a second act to match their first. And the second act they got isn't a Jerry Herman-type show. It's no wonder nobody has been able to make the show work, even though so many of us think it has Herman's best score.
Updated On: 1/1/16 at 07:30 PM#49Anticiated Shows That Failed to Live Up to Expectations
Posted: 1/1/16 at 7:57pm
Broadway Critics love Bartlett Sher even when he delivers a mediocre revival (Fiddler on the Roof)
Just because you thought it was mediocre, doesn't mean everyone agrees with you.
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