Broadway Musical Flops

[#1CarrieFan]

Posted: 2/26/13 at 8:21pm

I'm interested in hearing from anyone out there that may have recordings of a few of the flops that we got see. The musicals I'm interested in include:
A Change in the Heir
Chu Chem
Starmites
High Society
The Red Shoes
Footloose
Triumph of Love
Most of these shows had one or two moments of worthiness and I would love to add them to my collection of shows that we saw. I'm particularly interested in Starmites, as when I moved back to the West Coast I lost my Tony Award telecast tapes. That included the priceless comments from Nell Carter when she came on stage following the presentation of the scene from Starmites. I have Betty's solo recordings of two songs from Triumph, but I'm interested in the entire cast recording.

[Gmerchant123]

Posted: 2/26/13 at 8:30pm

I would like to hear Angel the musical! Tell me if you can find that! Please!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/26/13 at 8:42pm

People are selling the following on Amazon.com

Starmites
High Society
Footloose
Triumph of Love

I can't promise they are the exact versions you are looking for!

[newintown]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 9:43am

I used to have a cassette of the OBC recording of Angel, that was only sold through the producer's office, but now I just have a live recording. It's just OK, but the sound quality is pretty good.

This guy on ioffer.com appears to have a lot of unusual recordings...
ioffer

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 9:44am

Oh, I have that recording of ANGEL. I didn't like any of it, though!

[newintown]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 10:04am

I think there are some pretty songs, JC, and hearing Fred Gwynne and Francis Sternhagen sing is a... special experience.

But, yes, there are good reasons why that one flopped.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 10:11am

Fred Gwynne and Frances Sternhagen singing?!!! Now you've peaked my interest!

[newintown]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 10:27am

Well, they hit notes, which is a kind of singing.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/27/13 at 11:09am

I have Angel, but it's not live. I believe they produced the OBCR but never released it. I enjoy the score quite a bit.

Chu Chem does not have one good song. It is an awful score.

Same for A Change in the Heir.

The Red Shoes I've never heard except for the one song BK produced.

The rest are still available I believe.

[#1CarrieFan]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 8:10pm

Thanks to all you guys for providing me information on some of my requests for my Broadway flop file. I know I'm setting myself up for an avalanche of messages... I don't consider myself naive about Broadway from the late 70s til current, but I have no idea what you guys are talking about with Gwynne and Sternhagen in "Angel." I so miss all the time I used to spend at Footlight Records. Those guys tuned me in to so many past musicals but I have no recal of them relling me about "Angel." The other flop musical i forgot to ask you guys about is
Smile." I have recordings of "Disneyland" but I'm interested in the entire OBCR.

[Something_next2norml]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 8:21pm

ets not forget about our good friend Carrie the Musical!

[sally1112]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 9:20pm

I have Footloose.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 3/14/13 at 5:51pm

Oh my god, I've never heard of Chu Chem. The wikipedia page is GOLD!

There was a song called "Re-Orient Yourself"

" At one point on opening night, her successor Henrietta Jacobson turned to the audience and announced, "There was a song here, but you'll be better off without it." The reviews were brutal, with one critic describing it "like blintzes and soy sauce" and suggesting "a better title might be The King and Oy." Co-producers Leigh and Cheryl Crawford immediately cancelled the scheduled Broadway opening at the George Abbott Theatre."
LOL!

[ARTc]

Posted: 3/14/13 at 6:50pm

I want to hear Chu Chem!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 8:33pm

According to Amazon's website the cast album of HIGH SOCIETY is still in print. https://www.amazon.com/High-Society-Original-Recording-Broadway/dp/B00000IISW/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363481281&sr=1-3&keywords=High+Society

What is hard to find is the legitimate (Capitol) CD of the original film soundtrack with Sinatra, Crosby et al.



STARMITES is available through the marketplace. riginal-Cast-Members/dp/B00000GBYT/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480181&sr=1-1&keywords=STARMITES>https://www.amazon.com/Starmites-199riginal-Cast-Members/dp/B00000GBYT/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480181&sr=1-1&keywords=STARMITES



TRIUMPH OF LOVE is still in print. riginal-Broadway/dp/B00000DDO6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480245&sr=1-1&keywords=Triumph+of+Love>https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Love-199riginal-Broadway/dp/B00000DDO6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480245&sr=1-1&keywords=Triumph+of+Love



FOOTLOOSE has flitted in and out of print. The current edition sells for an obscene $37. Used copies start at under $2.50. (It does show up a lot in used CD stores.) riginal-Broadway/dp/B00000I8SN/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480341&sr=1-1&keywords=FOOTLOOSE+Broadway+cast>https://www.amazon.com/Footloose-Musical-199riginal-Broadway/dp/B00000I8SN/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1363480341&sr=1-1&keywords=FOOTLOOSE+Broadway+cast



ANGEL was never released on CD and was a limited edition LP pressing. I got a DL but it sounds like an LP transfer. riginal-Broadway-Cast/2951>https://castalbums.org/recordings/Angel-197riginal-Broadway-Cast/2951



I don't thing RED SHOES or CHU CHEM ever got recorded commercially. There are bootleg audios floating around.

CHU CHEM - https://castalbums.org/recordings/Chu-Chem-1989-Broadway-Cast/9268


RED SHOES - https://castalbums.org/recordings/The-Red-Shoes-1993-Broadway-Cast/14247

These look as if they are tapes an audience member made and dubbed onto CD. Don't pay top dollar for these items as the sound is usually horrible (Sound board tapes are better but still leave a lot to be desired.) Sometimes this is the only way to hear (sort of) a rare flop score.

Updated On: 3/16/13 at 08:33 PM

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/17/13 at 10:36am

HIGH SOCIETY is streaming on Spotify... http://open.spotify.com/album/1jzX2hXf306CUsAmJQo5EB

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/17/13 at 2:29pm

Can you tell me what Spotify is or does? I tried to join but got a pop-up telling me it's not available in my area. Is it file sharing/swapping like Soulseek?

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/18/13 at 10:32am

Spotify is not a peer-to-peer illegal filesharing program. It is a fully-licensed music streaming application for web and mobile devices, though it's licensing limits it to a certain number of territories. Wikipedia currently lists the service as being available in: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

I take it you are from somewhere else?

[thommg]

Posted: 3/18/13 at 10:51am

Footloose was reissued by Ghostlight in 2011. You can still get copies for around $14. The cover is different from the original issue.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 1:00pm

I take it you are from somewhere else?

Yes..I'm in Ontario (Canada) and I guess out of range for spotify.

BY music streaming I am guessing that means you select a title from their library and then listen? Like watching TV shows on "on demand" from Cable.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 1:06pm

"At one point on opening night, her successor Henrietta Jacobson turned to the audience and announced, 'There was a song here, but you'll be better off without it.'"

That's what I wanted to hear a few times during Lestat.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 1:27pm

I would probably kill to find a copy of BARBARY COAST, but I doubt *anyone* has that.

As for comments back to the audience, my fav is when they were trying out SHINE IT ON in SF, which ultimately became THE ACT when it came to NY. It was interminable, easily three hours long, and a piece of garbage. We're finally getting close: they've done the last number of the "act", and of course the audience is applauding. Liza comes down the edge of the stage and, very Garland, sits with feet dangling over the pit and says, "You've been such a great audience. Know what I'd like to do?" — at which point a guy in the balcony yells, "I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I'D LIKE TO GO HOME!"

The place of course fell apart laughing. She smiled up at him and said, "Just one more song, honey, then we're all outa here."

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 1:31pm

Which theater did SHINE IT ON play?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 1:40pm

I dont remember the name of the theatre, sorry. It was on Market Street (this was in San Francisco, remember), at the other end of the park from City Hall. All the big tours went there and a lot of out of town tryouts, like the infamous BARBARY.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 3:08pm

We need an Encore series for things like Rockabye Hamlet.

I saw the original and have a liverecording transferred from cassette.I also have the 10 song LP.