Broadway Flops you love that everybody else hates — Page 3

"And? OP is still welcome to their opinion."

Never said OP was not welcome to their opinion. I politely disagreed and pointed out critics liked her performance.

A recent example for me would definitely be Water for Elephants.

Some of my picks - Hands on a Hardbody, American Psycho, Whistle Down the Wind - have already been mentioned, and I think all of these have/had at least a modest group of vocal fans. On the other hand, one huge flop that I did love, but that most people here genuinely seemed to detest, was Lysistrata Jones. I enjoyed the silly story, the bouncy score, and especially the quirky performances. Admittedly it played a little better (perhaps not unexpectedly) at the Gym at Judson, but I also loved it on Broadway.

The one big flop I can't get out of my mind for its audaciousness and tacky brilliance is "Dance of the Vampires", especially its declaration at the end of drinking blood and eating souls. I used to have the playbills of this and "Legs Diamond" proudly displayed together as flop shows I remembered practically every detail about.

Some shows are flops simply because they couldn't sustain an audience willing to pay full price, yet had high percentage of seats sold out. "The Prom" is my favorite recent not so successful show that had fantastic word of mouth. It's probably the only show I went back to see twice after my initial viewing with the same cast attached, finally getting a great seat on my third try and loving it all the more.

"Steel Pier" had mixed reactions, but the cast album is glorious, and it's one of my favorite souvenir programs. I agree with "Big Fish" and "Tuck Everlasting" as shows that deserved better, with "Daffodils" having made me sob, and the ballet of "Tuck" absolutely gorgeous as the lead character ages. Why Carolee Carmello didn't get Tony love or any other nominations for it remains a mystery. I wasn't crazy about "Bad Cinderella", but every moment she was on stage was magical. I should add "Scandalous" as a bad show I loved, and that seemed to have been disliked more than any of the others I've mentioned. Glad she got nominated for that.

Of classic shows before my time, "Darling of the Day" is one I'd love to see get an Encore's revival. But I don't think that show is considered hated, maybe just dated for when it came out because it seemed about a decade past its time, especially with the attitudes of the late 60's making it feel old-fashioned.

Updated On: 4/1/25 at 11:53 AM

I didn't and still don't like Groundhog Day, but that show had a really rotten advertising campaign that did almost nothing to communicate that it was more than just a cash-grab adaptation.

"Love" is a strong word, but Paradise Square is this for me. To crib from its ad campaign, it held the promise of what a good musical could be, even if it wasn't one. I saw it multiple times during its out-of-town in Chicago and once with the final changes on Broadway, and while it never made it there, I always saw the possibilities it held and I respected that. An ambitious show that had some thrilling moments, some real duds, and a producer that suckssssss. At least we'll always have the cast alb- wait, no.

I seriously didn’t understand the intensely negative reaction from some people around Be More Chill. It’s not perfect and it’s a little juvenile but it was original and the score is still pretty stellar.

raddersons said: "I seriously didn’t understand the intensely negative reaction from some people around Be More Chill. It’s not perfect and it’s a little juvenile but it was original and the score is still pretty stellar."

Thanks for the reminder! I agree it wasn't perfect, but I had so much fun that I went back for a second time with my husband.

Lot666 said: "The mentions of Whistle Down the Wind reminded me of another ALW shows that I loved, but didn't last very long: The Woman in White."

...yeah I'm a fan too (though I think it has more problems than Whistle.) I have to wonder if some of that is simply because I love Victorian sensation serialized novels (part of my MA was about them) and Woman in White is the key text in that genre--and of course a lot of my issues with the musical are due to changes from the novel--but I think it has a lot of ambition and good stuff and at the time I was all in with the projected designs in London even if they didn't fully work (funny--at that time it seemed like a clever innovation--I feel very differently now.) Though David Zippel was a very weird choice for that kind of show as a lyricist but we all know ALW's issue with lyricists...

Timon3 said: "Surprised no one on here has showed any love for Bright Star, got great review, has a great blue grass score and a great book, but ultimately made the fatal mistake of opening the same year as Hamilton, Waitress and School of Rock a very strong year."

Totally forgot about "Bright Star". LOVED that show. I was in love with the Martin/Brickell album before the show opened. My only qualm with the show is that they shortened my favorite song on the album, "So Familiar", in the show.

So much of it is due to how we perceive these shows... Pacific Overtures is one of my favourite scores AND shows, but I know that even Prince and everyone involved with the show seemed to expect it to run about as long as it did means in my head I don't think of it as a flop (and also it's not a show I feel that everybody else hates ;) )

Oooooh weeeee. I loved "The Prom" as well.



poisonivy2 said: "Does The Prom count as a flop? I enjoyed it a ton ..."