Critical failure, commercial success?

Does finding Neverland count? It didn't recoup, but it lasted longer than many critically successes.

I'm really having a hard time thinking of others.

Interesting. Thanks!

Was Aladdin favorably reviewed in NYC? As I recall, reviews were meh for the out-of-town tryout, but maybe the show was significantly changed before it reached Broadway.

At least based on word-of-mouth the War Paint buzz in Chicago was lackluster, yet it apparently was a commercial success for The Goodman, presumably due to the box-office draw of two amazingly talented divas.

Are many prominent critics 30-year-old moms of youngish children, people of color or stockbrokers, or do they still tend to be a fairly homogeneous demographic?

Updated On: 10/10/16 at 01:48 PM

Wicked???

was Cats ever critically acclaimed?

also i recall reviews for Les Miz being not great when it opened in the 80's

GreasedLightning said: "Wicked???"

Regarding Wicked, according to the article linked in the OP, Charles Isherwood of Variety quipped he was more “bothered than bewitched.” Newsday pronounced it an “overproduced, overblown, confusingly dark, and laboriously ambitious jumble.” The Daily News dismissed it as “an interminable show with no dramatic logic or emotional center.”

Does it seem like a general trend that critics seem more apt to miss the commercial potential for shows intended to appeal to families, or is it that critics don't concern themselves with commercial potential but only with perceived quality?

Updated On: 10/10/16 at 02:38 PM

Sunny11 said: "BroadwayConcierge said: "Neverland flopped. Sorry, Jorge. "

It ran for 17 months on Broadway ! How can that be called flop? It had an audience"



It didn't make it's investment back. It's a flop.

From what I've heard, the reason Cats ran so long was foreign tourists. If you were vacationing to New York and didn't speak English, would you want to see a show like Falsettos, where you have to understand the libretto to know what's going on, or a show like Cats, which is pretty much just a ballet with poetry being read over the score?

Updated On: 10/10/16 at 03:01 PM

Alex Kulak2 said: "From what I've heard, the reason Cats ran so long was foreign tourists. If you were vacationing to New York and didn't speak English, would you want to see a show like Falsettos, where you have to understand the libretto to know what's going on, or a show like Cats, which is pretty much just a ballet with poetry being read over the score?"



Interesting! Is there an accessible source of information about the demographics of audiences for various shows? For example, I've always wondered what % of Broadway audiences fly in for shows versus living within driving distance. I've also wondered if particular shows that draw more out-of-town crowds are more or less dependent on strong reviews for attracting an audience.

Updated On: 10/10/16 at 03:15 PM

If you want to know what was a critical failure but commercial success, you have only two frames of reference. The first parameter is easy even if you object to the views being espoused: published reviews by legitimate theatre or arts/entertainment critics. The second parameter, however, is even easier if you stick with the golden rule and widely-accepted definition of a flop: the recoupment of a production's initial investment. If not that, how do you suppose we measure commercial success?

Yes, there are plenty of shows that have eventually recouped through licensing and/or touring. Those "returns" are rarely, if ever, publicly announced though. We can only make educated guesses about this. We cannot assume an official announcement will be released like it does for Broadway.

the fact remains that one is a flop, plus one was a critical darling and also a terrific show.

kristinj1 said: "Interesting! Is there an accessible source of information about the demographics of audiences for various shows? For example, I've always wondered what % of Broadway audiences fly in for shows versus living within driving distance. I've also wondered if particular shows that draw more out-of-town crowds are more or less dependent on strong reviews for attracting an audience."

According to the Broadway League, in the 2014-15 season, of the 13.1 million admissions to Broadway shows, 18% were people from outside the United States. working out to about 2.36 million theatregoers. Who's to say those numbers were similar in the eighties or nineties, but if it were, in one year that would be enough people to sell out every performance of Cats that year almost 4 times over.