Broadway Flops you love that everybody else hates

I would like to start a new thread about Broadway Flops that you love but everybody else hates. I'll start with Cry-Baby:
 

Let’s be honest: Cry-Baby never got a fair shot. Critics brushed it off like it was some throwaway Grease-lite cash grab, but this musical is way smarter—and way nastier—than most of the crowd-pleasers clogging up Broadway. It’s a razor-sharp middle finger to the sanitized, sock-hop version of the '50s that keeps getting dragged out of the nostalgia bin. Underneath all the pompadours and pastel poodle skirts, Cry-Baby is delightfully deranged. It’s not interested in being tasteful. It wants to be loud, chaotic, and just a little bit gross—and that’s exactly why it works.

The lyrics are where the real genius hides. They’re filthy, fast, and unapologetically absurd. “Girl, Can I Kiss You With Tongue?” is both a ridiculous title and a perfect mission statement for the show—it’s bold, it’s shameless, and it knows exactly what it's mocking. Every rhyme snaps like a switchblade, and there’s actual craft beneath the camp. Musically, it bounces between rockabilly, doo-wop, and old-school Broadway belting with whiplash energy, and somehow, it all holds together. The score is tighter than it has any right to be, the hooks are criminally catchy, and the whole thing barrels forward like it just broke out of juvie.

If Broadway had any guts, Cry-Baby would’ve had a longer run. Instead, it’s one of those cult treasures you find way too late—and wonder why nobody told you it was this much fun.

I think Cry-Baby was a victim of bad timing and just came too soon after Hairspray.

Tarzan. I really enjoyed the stagecraft, imagination, visuals, and the score. Also, Merle Dandridge on stage in anything is a plus 

Updated On: 3/31/25 at 02:47 PM

Big Fish and American Psycho. AP was a great show but ahead of its time (imho). Hope it’s revisited at some point.

Cry-Baby is a fantastic show and way closer in tone to its source material than Hairspray. The late great Adam Schlesinger was a musical genius.

I've always really loved Tuck Everlasting. I think it got dismissed as a kid's show, but it was way more mature and moving than people gave it credit for. If there's a show from the 2010s that's bound for Encores, it should be Tuck.

I've also said it on this board before, but I think Groundhog Day is maybe one of the best IP adaptations ever made, and one of the few that is as good as it's source material, if not an improvement on it.

Updated On: 3/31/25 at 02:58 PM

I emphatically agree with both American Psycho and Groundhog Day, and I also enjoyed Bad Cinderella.

American Psycho is the first one that came to mind for me. I missed the original “Killing Time” from the London recording, and generally think the score needs a couple more bops, but wow what a production. I hope we see that immersive production that’s been rumored for a while.

Definitely still mourning American Psycho.

I'm a big fan of Bloody, Bloody as well.  But I'd have to say my absolute favorite flop (not hated, though) is Scottsboro Boys.   Just perfection.

A favorite Broadway memory of mine is that first preview of “Groundhog Day” (the one where the set broke and they did act two a reading) when Rebecca Faulkenberry started singing “Playing Nancy”. The way the audience laughed at the opening lines and then slowly the smiles all kind of slowly dropped, realizing it was about much more than what it seems (like Nancy). Just brilliant songwriting and all the times I’ve seen it since, I really look forward to that moment with a new audience and seeing how they react. 

Second "Groundhog's Day." Just brilliant writing all around and staging and performances. It was such a solid year for musicals it just got swept under. I had many friends that scoffed at the show for being a "musical about a movie," but it was clearly more than that. Much like how I think "Shrek" is just so much more than a cartoon musical on stage. 

Disney On the Record! Technically a regional/national tour flop, but I love that cast recording so much. I think it works better as a record/cabaret revue than it did trying to be a semi-plotted jukebox musical. 

Unfortunately, Disney Theatricals apparently hates it.

Zeppie2022 said: ""Bandstand". Excellent music IMO which is currently not popular on Broadway. Fantastic dancing which won Tony award and really good performances by Corey Cott, Laura Osnes and Beth Leavel. Storyline probably just did not have a big "target" audience to let it run longer."

I also like the score for Bandstand, but I thought Laura Osnes really didn't work for that show (and it has nothing to do with her anti-vax nonsense). She has a nice singing voice, and it's effective in moments, but her acting was really really bland, especially in the book scenes.