Best Musical Tony Winners That Were Financial Flops

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:45pm

On that springs to mind is Hallelujah Baby

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 07:45 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:47pm

Follies didn't win Best Musical.

Anyway, The Will Rodgers Follies, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Titanic are three more examples.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:48pm

i was just about to say TMM

um...no clue

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:49pm

Did "Passion" recoup?

EDIT: No, it didn't.

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 07:49 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:50pm

Also, Passion, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and Sweeney Todd (original, of course).

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:52pm

I don't think Titanic recouped their initial investment.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:54pm

No, Passion would fit the topic of this thread.
Some that come to mind:
Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Sweeney Todd (didn't recoup during its initial Broadway run)
Sunset Boulevard.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:54pm

Sorry about Follies - It should have

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:54pm

Smaxie: The Original "Sweeney Todd" recouped years after the original closed. Although it didn't during it's initial run, so FoscasBohemianDream is correct.

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 07:54 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:57pm

I know that, but it closed on Broadway almost $1 million in the red. I think the point of Roxy's thread are shows that won Best Musical and closed at a loss.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:59pm

Isn't Passion considered to be the LEAST succesful Tony Award winning show ever? I'm sure I've heard that somewhere.

For the record, I really like that show.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:03pm

Passion had the shortest run of any Best Musical Tony winner.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:38pm

I've been listening to the Passion OBC recording and it is so haunting, I keep thinking of the melodies...

What a show.

[alterego]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:48pm

It would seem that winning the Best Musical Tony is almost the kiss of death for most shows!

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:55pm

Oh, right Smaxie! That was it. I knew there was some kind of embarassing "not very successful" trivia thing about Passion

I love the score for Passion, too. Very haunting. And I INSIST that Fosca is one of the fiercest most fascinating characters to ever grace the Broadway stage.

But, anyway...continue.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:23pm

Did Raisin ever recoup?

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:28pm

I'm not sure it did, but it did have a healthy run so one could speculate it did.
Passion is my favorite musical, and while it wasn't financially successful (as both Lapine and Sondheim surely predicted), it is successful in creating a haunting and brilliant piece of art.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:54pm

Sunset won the tony and holds the record for lost money: 25 million.

[mygfdontliveincanada]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 10:03pm

Sunset did not lose 25 million. The most expensive show produced on Broadway is Wicked and that was only 15-16 million.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 10:04pm

Just because it was produced for less money doesn't mean it didn't lose more than its production value. It was running at a loss for a long time because it was expensive to run.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 11:42pm

Drawing this from a variety of sources, here are the Tony Winning musicals that did NOT recoup as of the end of their Broadway runs:

1968 - HALLELUJAH BABY! (the ONLY time the Tony was given to a
show that had closed)
1974 - RAISIN
1979 - SWEENEY TODD (though as noted, it did eventually recoup)
1986 - THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD
1989 - JEROME ROBBINS BROADWAY
1993 - KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
1994 - PASSION
1995 - SUNSET BLVD
1997 - TITANIC
2002 - THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Variety lists the 2000 "Best Musical" CONTACT (which is NOT a musical!) as a non-profit production.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 11:50pm

How did Sweeney "eventually" recoup? From the tour? How is it possible to recoup AFTER you've closed?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/31/06 at 12:01am

Touring, CD and DVD sales, and income from licensing of the original sets and costumes (and their designs). According to Hal Prince, it took over a decade, but the show finally broke even.

Posted: 3/31/06 at 7:43am

"Sunset did not lose 25 million. The most expensive show produced on Broadway is Wicked and that was only 15-16 million."

Wicked was the most expensive musical?

I feel like I remember a few musicals eclipsing Wicked's cost. Dance of the Vampires, for one.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/1/06 at 11:32am

Oh it is quite possible it lost $25 million collecctively (London, Broadway, Toronto, Vancouver and tour) - all editions lost money.

ALW has gotten away with mediocre shows before but this time the public was not fooled. He should be thoroughly ashamed for taking a belovd classic film and turning it into one painfully bad musical.

To be fair there was a lot of that going around at the time: VICTOR/VICTORA, BIG, STATE FAIR... had it not been for RENT the 95/96 season would have been even worse than the 94/95 season.

It's a shame they didn't let SHOW BOAT enter as Best Musical for 94/95. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if it is necessary to have "Best Musical Revival" and "Best Musical" categories. Since the new books and scores are covered by those awards, why not let the new shows stand against the true classics? I'll bet the producers who count on the Tonys for marketing tools would howl because they know that most of the new shows cannot begin to compete with some of the classics.