Bad Shows You Missed But Wanted To See

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 9:10am

Having seen many a train wreck in my day, there are a few I wish I had seen. While I had the pleasure - if you want to call it that - of seeing Via Galactica  I did not see its sister show Dude . Just reading about Dude in Second Act Trouble really makes me regret not seeing how bad it was in person..

 

I would also loved to have seen the infamous Moose Murders  Are there any really horrendous shows you wish you had seen?

Updated On: 1/7/16 at 09:10 AM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 11:17am

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]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 11:26am

Spiderman just to see if it really was as awful as it sounded.

[smidge]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 12:34pm

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.

"

 

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 12:44pm

La Strada
Bring Back Birdie
Raggedy Ann
Rags
Into the Light
Jennie
Hot Spot
Dear World
A Joyful Noise
Celebration
Her First Roman
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Molly
Georgy
Legs Diamond
Sarava
Merlin
Platinum
Marlowe
Moose Murders
Me Jack, You Jill
No Hard Feelings

The list goes on and on...how I wish I could have seen all of these and more!

Updated On: 1/7/16 at 12:44 PM

[Crateful]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 12:48pm

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."

[Sauja]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 12:49pm

I most especially wish I could have seen In the Life. It sounded like such a jaw-droppingly terrible show that I still kick myself for not making my way out to it. 

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 12:59pm

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.  

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:07pm

Without A Trace,

 

Many of the shows you mentioned were not bad at all.

 

In fact, some were just plain wonderful.

 

And some of the less than wonderful were a zillion times better than the awful things we endure today which receive critical adulation to the skies.

 

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

 

 

[smidge]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:12pm

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

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:16pm

I'm sure some of them were wonderful, After Eight.  From some of the scores I've heard, the songs are fantastic.  Even though a lot of the shows I listed weren't embraced by audiences and closed fairly quickly, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed them all.

PS: "Starfish, Seagull, Pebble," "Belonging," and "I Don't Like Him" are brilliant songs from La Strada and I'm sorry they aren't remembered and/or performed with more frequency.

[brdway411]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:20pm

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

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:27pm

Without A Trace,

 

I think you would have enjoyed them, too.

 

I share your high regard for the songs you mentioned from La Strada. "Starfish" was presented so hauntingly, and Bernadette Peters imbued "Belonging" with such poetry. I also liked "You're Musical" and "Only More."

 

What a shame we no longer hear songs like that on our musical theatre stages.

 

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:30pm

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....

 

 

 

 

"

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:36pm

 " "Falling Slowly" is one of the most beautifully written and performed songs of this century. "

 

That tells you all you need to know about this century. :)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 1:52pm

Wonderland

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:04pm

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

[Patty3]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:18pm

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. 

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:28pm

Patty3, consider yourself lucky to have seen GEORGY.  I'm sure Dylis Watling was fantastic.  Wish it had been recorded!

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:44pm

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

 

If only it had been recorded!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:55pm

As I've written before, MOOSE MURDERS wasn't really that bad. It just had a terrible but easy-to-remember title. And it had leading ladies (Eve Arden, replaced by Holland Taylor; I saw the latter) known for dry wit mixed in with a cast that was otherwise playing broad farce.

 

And it had a terrible ending that involved someone badly dressed as the titular moose. (Or moose hunter. It made no sense and was hard to tell.)

 

Otherwise, it was quite funny a la THE MOUSETRAP and other comic thrillers. Certainly better than SARAVA! Unless you have unlimited trips in your time machine, don't waste it on MOOSE MURDERS.

 

Updated On: 1/7/16 at 02:55 PM

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:58pm

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]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:59pm

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.

 

The Anarchist to see Patti LuPone and Debra Winger perform a new work by Mamet.  It's been a very rough few years to be a Mamet fan...

 

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 3:04pm

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...

[IronMan]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 3:36pm

I've seen many of the shows listed here (Thou Shalt Not, Bobbi Boland, Big, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, etc...) and their only redeeming value is being able to tell stories about the horror.

I'm still mad that I chose "Chess" over the first preview of "Carrie."  Who knew? 

Updated On: 1/7/16 at 03:36 PM