BROADWAY VANITY PROJECTS

[HaveAGoodShow]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 4:42pm

In the last two seasons we have seen big vanity projects on Broadway, most recently from Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. One flopped and the other is still TBD.

It got me wondering: which vanity projects have actually worked and even become hits? Would something like "Just in Time" with Jonathan Groff count, since it was developed around his talents and he had a hand in shaping it?

More broadly, do vanity projects ever truly work? Often the star is both producer and creative driver, which makes me wonder if the team around them hesitates to give honest feedback when something is not clicking.

Curious what you all think, whether success stories, cautionary tales, or your own definition of what even counts as a vanity project.

[MysteriousLady]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 4:46pm

The phrase gets thrown around too much. The women you cite carefully chose/developed star vehicles they thought were appropriate for their talents. I don't think star vehicle= "Vanity Project." It just seems like Vanity Project is a term used when you don't like who the star of a show is. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:22pm

People lean towards "vanity project" when the show is bad or they think it's going to be bad. In reality these are star vehicles. As good or bad as they may be, if we're going to remain in this name driven era of producing people need to be doing more of this. Writing with specific stars in mind as opposed to shoving stars into shows they don't work in. Idina works in Redwood even if the show itself did not work. 

I also find it funny how things change. People used to complain that all the Broadway stars flee to Hollywood and now whenever someone comes back to the stage there's cries of vanity project.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:29pm

Old Friends was simultaneously a tribute to Sondheim, and also a Cameron Mackintosh vanity project… fair or unfair?

[JSquared2]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:35pm

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Old Friends was simultaneously a tribute to Sondheim, and also a Cameron Mackintosh vanity project… fair or unfair?"

 

Huh?  What show isn't a "vanity project" for its producer(s)?  Can you name a show that a producer or producers put together to make themselves look BAD?

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:39pm

JSquared2 said: "Jay Lerner-Z said: "Old Friends was simultaneously a tribute to Sondheim, and also a Cameron Mackintosh vanity project… fair or unfair?"



Huh? What show isn't a "vanity project" for its producer(s)? Can you name a show that a producer or producers put together to make themselveslook BAD?"

Seemingly Queen of Versailles?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:41pm

JSquared2 said: "Jay Lerner-Z said: "Old Friends was simultaneously a tribute to Sondheim, and also a Cameron Mackintosh vanity project… fair or unfair?"



Huh? What show isn't a "vanity project" for its producer(s)? Can you name a show that a producer or producers put together to make themselveslook BAD?"

Springtime for Hitler

 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:47pm

HaveAGoodShow said: "In the last two seasons we have seen big vanity projects on Broadway, most recently from Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. One flopped and the other is still TBD.

It got me wondering: which vanity projects have actually worked and even become hits? Would something like "Just in Time" with Jonathan Groff count, since it was developed around his talents and he had a hand in shaping it?

More broadly, do vanity projects ever truly work? Often the star is both producer and creative driver, which makes me wonder if the team around them hesitates to give honest feedback when something is not clicking.

Curious what you all think, whether success stories, cautionary tales, or your own definition of what even counts as a vanity project."

Those examples are not true vanity projects, although Just in Time comes close. An example of a true vanity project is when a producer writes or co writes a show and then self-produces it. Ken Davenport instantly comes to mind. Getting the Band Back Together anyone? 

[blug]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 5:55pm

In My Life

Legs Diamond

Chaplin

Macbeth with Phillip Anglim

Macbeth with Nicol Williamson

Did Lord of the Dance play Broadway?  Probably not and I'm too lazy to look, but vanity project for sure.

Accomplice had the whiff of vanity.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:02pm

If vanity project just means that the star is the "muscle" behind the musical, then the list is large--I would throw Gypsy into the hat (Ethel Merman was attached at least as early in the creation of the show, than Chenoweth was in Queen of Versailles.)

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:22pm

I look at the idea of "vanity projects" the same way I do stunt casting. If it allows shows to be produced that otherwise wouldn't, what's the problem?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:27pm

If the material isn't worth producing, then it’s a problem. Is there a Broadway equivalent of Travolta's movie Battlefield Earth?

[two ladies tickets]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:37pm

Jay Lerner-Z said: "If the material isn't worth producing, then it’s a problem. Is there a Broadway equivalent of Travolta's movie Battlefield Earth?"

Yes. Disaster! The Musical by Seth Rudetsky.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 9:21pm

Did Lord of the Dance play Broadway? Probably not and I'm too lazy to look, but vanity project for sure.

Indeed. It had a limited engagement on Broadway in 2015 at the Lyric Theatre: 

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 9:26pm

Michael Flatley also made a vanity project movie. Produced, written by, directed, and starring… himself. "Blackbird". Watch the trailer if you feel like cringeing hard.

Updated On: 9/30/25 at 09:26 PM

[veronicamae]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 9:57pm

two ladies tickets said: "Jay Lerner-Z said: "If the material isn't worth producing, then it’s a problem. Is there a Broadway equivalent of Travolta's movie Battlefield Earth?"

Yes. Disaster! The Musical by Seth Rudetsky."

This musical is incredibly popular in local/regional theatres and colleges. I actually wonder how much of its capitalization it's cheaped away at via licensing...

[inception]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 6:52am

I guess peoplr are calling them vanity projects when they flop & star vehicles when the succeed.

The problem is when they don't get or take any outside advice to improve a show.  Redwood had almost a year between its tryout in San Diego & its opening on Broadway.  They didn't do much work on the show in that time.  Probably because of all the technology used it would have been expensive to make big changes.  It looked cool,  but it would have been better to fix the script/story.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 8:15am

inception said: "I guess peoplrare calling themvanity projects when theyflop & star vehicles when the succeed.

The problem is when they don't get or take any outside advice to improve a show. Redwood had almost a year between its tryout in San Diego & its opening on Broadway. They didn't do much work on the show in that time. Probably because of all the technology used it would have been expensive to make big changes. It looked cool, but it would have been better to fix the script/story."

The technological aspects of the show were the least of the problems - they needed to work on the book and the score. They could have kept the projections and set design intact as those weren't the issues with the show.  

[Kad]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 8:28am

Just because a show was developed for, or even by, a specific performer does not mean it’s a “vanity project.” Musicals have been developed for specific performers since the inception of the form. 
 

A vanity project is typically intended as a showcase of somebody’s perceived multi-hyphenate abilities. It’s somebody writing, directing, designing, producing, and starring. Burlesque became a vanity project for Todrick Hall, who is starring, writing, choreographing, and directing, for instance. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 11:27am

The lesson of this thread seems to be that we all have our own definition of the term "vanity project"! 

For me, the quintessential example is something like Amazing Grace, a show which would never have gotten produced on Broadway through normal channels based on its quality and pedigree, but which had enough wealthy friends and allies behind it to strong-arm its way into the Nederlander for a predictably brief run.

Updated On: 10/1/25 at 11:27 AM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 1:04pm

I do think Just in Time is the "most" vanity project of the recent ones mentioned.  Groff doesn't even really attempt to do a Bobby Darin impression and the script itself is about Jonathan Groff playing Bobby Darin.  And he was certainly a big driver in a lot of its development--I could be mistaken but I think he mentioned flying out to Australia and LA just to get the rights.  But either way, it certainly seems like it's worked out for him!

For what it's worth, I do think Old Friends was a bit of a vanity project for Cam Mack as well.  It could've been a perfectly fine tribute to Sondheim without name dropping Cameron Mackintosh multiple times in the script, and the whole conceit on focusing on the Cam Mack shows doesn't quite work when you have numbers from WSS and Gypsy etc. so it seems less like a creative decision and more of a vanity decision.