Bad Shows You Missed But Wanted To See

Hi Mr Roxy

clever thread discussion idea!!!

Three in that category to see would be:

Legs Diamond-just to see Peter Allen play a gangster!

Sweet Smell of Success-to hear the great score performed live

Big- Just to see how they could screw up a great story so badly

Ive been very fortunate that I often research shows on sites like this and avoid the trainwrecks...

Bad shows I saw:

1) Lestat in previews-pure agony!..left in intermission

2) Contact-still cant believe this was ever billed as a "musical" (and won best musical)...i want my money back

yankeefan7 said: "Spiderman just to see if it really was as awful as it sounded.

It was. I had no idea what was happening on that stage.

"

Spiderman. I was floored. It was just SO AWFUL. Like, everything about it was awful. And at the very end, the harness broke and they basically just announced "The harness broke, it's over, thanks for coming."

I would like to have seen Sweet Smell of Success and Rags.

I saw Big - it was pretty close to the movie, and the score was enjoyable, but it didn't have anything about it that embraced the fact that it was a musical now... (not sure if I'm explaining it right...).

I also saw In the Life. It was the single most boring score I have ever heard. There was one up tempo number and every other song was a similar sounding ballad. Oh! There was a brief operatic aria, too. But the story had real possibilities... it was just too weird for its own good. Christopher J. Hanke was awesome.

And, years later now, I can admit that I saw and actually enjoyed Spiderman - ALL THREE TIMES! I saw one of the first previews, one of the later Version 1 shows, and the final version shortly after opening. It was kind of thrilling to see first-hand the process it was going through, and the effects were amazing. I even liked a couple of songs. Mostly, as a theatre lover, it is cool to be able to say I witnessed it first hand. So bad, it was good.

I'm sorry I missed Bobbi Boland & The Blonde in the Thunderbird.

Just curious which version of Spiderman people are talking about, I saw version 1 and version 2. 1 was way worse than 2.

There's not a song in Hamilton, Fun Home, or Once worth even 1/65,000 of any song in La Strada.

aftereight...i was with you until this last line above

...think you jumped the shark with Once. While just a decent not great musical imo, "Falling Slowly" is one of the most beautifully written and performed songs of this century....

"

Wonderland

VintageSnarker said: "I don't know if they're "bad" because I didn't see them but I'll throw out some flops.

Cry Baby, original Side Show, Lolita My Love, Kelly, La Strada, Georgy, The Baker's Wife, Thou Shalt Not, Dessa Rose, The Pirate Queen

More recently? Scandalous

WOW - I never read anything about Georgy on these boards. I saw it too although didn't have much to compare it to because I was in High School and just started my theater-going career.

Georgy was wonderful --- a cherished theatre going memory.

If only it had been recorded!

VintageSnarker said: "I don't know if they're "bad" because I didn't see them but I'll throw out some flops.

Cry Baby, original Side Show, Lolita My Love, Kelly, La Strada, Georgy, The Baker's Wife, Thou Shalt Not, Dessa Rose, The Pirate Queen

I wish I had seen Thou Shalt Not, too!

You really missed out on something special with the original Side Show - I've never felt an audience that in tune with the cast (not even at Hamilton or Fun Home).

Cry Baby was fun and deserved a better fate, but inevitably suffered in comparison to Hairspray, which really wasn't fair, IMO.

And The Pirate Queen was so bad on so many levels... I will never forget the "squish" sound effect after SJB squatted to give birth. Nor will I forget the laugh from the audience when she "un-squatted" and continued a sword fight!

More recently? Scandalous

"

Consider that another bullet dodged!

PianoMann said: "Two recent shows come to mind:

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown to see the stellar cast perform what has become one of my favorite scores of the last decade.

"

I saw Women on the Verge at the 3rd preview, and while everyone was screaming about how bad it was, I loved every single minute of it! And the score...WOW... especially the title number...