Badly Titled Shows

#1

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:36pm

Just interested in opinions of shows that have suffered from titles that were nebulous or could stand a new marketing strategy. "Redhead" seems an obvious choice. While the title is relevent to the piece, neither it or the poster indicate what the show is really about.

#2

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:50pm

Urinetown

#3

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:00pm

Thread killer. After you've said "Urinetown", nobody else can say a word.

PS, I love Urinetown! - personal note: I was in NY trying to get in to see Wicked just after it opened. Yeah, right. While I was glumly walking back to my hotel, I saw this black theater with a totally obnoxious name. Well, WTH. I went in, and it was AWESOME!!!! I've seen Wicked many times since, but never enjoyed it as much as Urinetown on Broadway. And I did buy the Urinetown Bottled Water at the refreshment counter. Yum!

#4

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:01pm

Love Never Dies

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Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.

#5

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:23pm

Think MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is an awful title.

JELLY'S LAST JAM makes me think of smuckers.

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Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt

#6

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:35pm

I don't see why Urinetown is a bad title. I think humor is implied in the title. Also, the title sounds like "you're in town", so when you read the title, it adds to the humor.

#7

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:37pm

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dram-coat... too wordy

#8

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:40pm

AwesomeDanny, I believe the posters who listed URINETOWN were including it because the title is actually mocked within the show for being so odd.

#9

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/3/10 at 11:45pm

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.

#10

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 12:38am

Personally, I always thought that "Watching the Children Play in the Park on a Sunday Afternoon When the Thunderstorms Theatrened and the Nannies Ducked for Cover" was really just a very bad name for a musical.

#11

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 2:57pm

Yes, Urinetown is in fact a great title - Little Sally's claims to the contrary. But I sure agree the Love Never Dies is an awful title.

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#12

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:13pm

I never wanted to see Sunday in the Park With George because the title sounded so dumb to me... then I heard what it was about and was intrigued, and now I love it. But by the title alone, I never would have had anything to do with it.

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In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#13

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:27pm

Ragtime- Brought to you by Tampax.

Pippin
Half a Sixpence
Subways are for Sleeping
1776
Bklyn

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#14

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:27pm

"The Drowsy Chaperone"

Funny Show, Iffy Title

#15

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:27pm

An example of combining an ambiguous title with artwork that gives absolutely no idea of what the show is about:



No wonder the show couldn't find an audience

#16

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:44pm

Chu-Chem
Gutenberg! The Musical
Welcome To The Club
3 Guys Naked From The Waist Down
Cry For Us All
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
How Now Dow Jones
Lunch
Now Is The Time For All Good Men
Zanna Don't

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....but the world goes 'round

#17

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 4:10pm

"The Will Rodgers Follies" always bothered me.

It seems like the had a better, longer title in mind, but couldn't afford to pay for all the words...

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#18

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 5:53pm

I loved Urinetown, but it was badly titled. I know people who wouldn't go because of that.

Yeah the story pokes fun at the name, and so did the advertisements for it. I don't think it helped much in drawing a crowd though. Shame.

I also think The Play What I Wrote is a stupid-sounding title, but it suited the show which was quite silly.

#19

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 8:19pm

I am obsessed with the show, but "Sondheim on Sondheim"...really?

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#20

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 8:27pm

I don't know so much as these two are bad so much as wordy and confounding...though to their credit, I remember them well:

Four Baboons Adoring The Sun

Observe The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme

#21

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 9:14pm

I am obsessed with the show, but "Sondheim on Sondheim"...really?
sounds like a filthy porno...I kinda want to see it

#22

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/4/10 at 10:41pm

But Never Jam Today

#23

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/5/10 at 11:43am

Rent

#24

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/5/10 at 12:53pm

Enron...at least for american audiences.

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#25

Badly Titled Shows

Posted: 7/5/10 at 2:37pm

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

I often wondered how many people avoided it because they assumed it was performed in French?

Even most people who like the show cannot promounce the title properly.

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"To love another person is to see the face of God!"