Disappointing Broadway show(s) of this decade?- Page 2

[theater_tech]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 2:16am

Rainah said: "in terms of reception/length of run, Comet. It truly wasn't the controversy that closed the show, the public just did not embrace it as much as it really deserved and they couldn't find their audience."

Yes, this is true, but it would not have ended that early if the controversy did not happen. Most importantly, it would not have ended the way it had, in a midst of a pointless controversy, to inflate some SJW's egos on twitter, that overshadowed the creative and original piece that it was. And for that, everyone involved in that production (and those who loved it) deserved much better. 

Also, to answer this thread's question:

SPIDERMAN, SPIDERMAN
DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER CAN
SPIN A WEB ANY SIZE
CATCHES THIEVES JUST LIKE FLIES
LOOK OUT, HERE COMES THE SPIDERMAN

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 3:18am

Tuck Everlasting. I think it's such great source material, but I thought the show was a complete miss.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 3:51am

Everything.... 

 

no, just kidding-  well, half kidding, but well we'll get ummm, for runs, definitely Bridges. In  general, the continuing decay of the legit musical theatre sound  and the  continuing rise of  vapid, recycled contemporary musical theatre sound is pretty depressing. But there's still some great talent on Broadway today. Hopefully we'll see some really great material soon. 

[CoolDogeGuy]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 5:10am

For me, it's Groundhog Day, War Paint, and Sister Act.

Groundhog Day seemed a bit boring and it didn't satisfy me enough to where I'd think it was amazing like the other 2017 Best Musical nominees.

Same with War Paint. Patti, Christine, and the company were brilliant, but the score isn't all that great. I thought the storyline and the set design were interesting though. 

And... Sister Act. IT'S HORRIBLE (in my opinion). The only song in the score that was decent was "Raise Your Voice". I was really disappointed when I found out NONE of the songs from the movie (including my favorites, "Hail Holy Queen" and "My God (My Guy)" were in the musical. I think Alan Menken should just stick to Disney musicals in all honesty. And about the love story thing with Deloris and Eddie, it honestly sucks and kind of ruined the whole story.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Runs on the other hand...

- I honestly LOVED American Psycho and when I first listened to the cast recording, I could see why people didn't like it, but I personally loved it. I wish it could've found it's audience, but it, unfortunately, didn't.

- Same thing with Tuck Everlasting, Amelie, and The Wild Party (LaChiusa).

- If the creative team would've kept everything the way it was in the LA Try-Out, then it probably would've done better than it did.

- Here's another if / then... If people didn't make Mandy Patinkin replacing Oak Onaodowan in Great Comet such a big deal and causing this big controversy, then the show would probably still be running or would've still been running by the end of 2017. It is truly an amazing and wonderful show, but life happens.

- HONORABLE MENTION: I know this show wasn't in this decade, but the INTO THE WOODS REVIVAL FROM 2002. That revival was unnecessary and sucked BIG TIME. They should've just kept the original run running.

-----------------------------------------------------

NOW FOR FUTURE RUNS...

- I feel King Kong is going to be one BIG, HUMONGOUS FLOP. I hope that puppet doesn't fall...

- I also feel The Prom might not do well. I think it might be like the next Amelie or something like that now that I've thought about it more and more.

- And finally, SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL. First off, that's the cheesiest name for a musical I have EVER heard in my life. And how does Donna Summer music even fit into a musical? Welp, hope it does well!   

Updated On: 2/3/18 at 05:10 AM

[Broadwaywest]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 11:26am

Gotta be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I saw the production a few weeks after it opened in London and was super psyched. The team  was just fantastic, directed by Sam Mendes and a score by Shaiman and Whitman, starring Douglas Hodge. When it came to intermission, I thought Oh, God...this is terrible, it was bloated and over-long, and the score was kinda generic. And the factory tour did not get better, but got worse, with the only redemption at the end.

Fun Home also was kind of a disappoint to me I hate to say, but I think that was a case of very over-hyped praise, so my expectations were so high. But the show left me kinda cold, with the only emotion I truly felt was for the mother in the day by days number, which I thought was also the best song of the show.

American Psycho, which I really enjoyed...but totally understood why it didn't catch on. That was very different type of theater I don't think a lot of people were used to. I thought Ben Walker's performance was the best of that year, and it's a really different, but surprising score from Duncan Sheik, which totally fit that late 80's sound. I don't think a lot of people realize, how incredibly rare and difficult it is to recreate that.

 

[JennH]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 11:40am

I think it's hard for me to say considering the pantheon of shows that have opened in this last decade. BUT I tend to base my decisions on disappointing shows on potential, aka shows we all know could have been amazing, it had a great show built right in from the source material, and you wonder how it could possibly be messed up...and it was. The number one spot for that for me goes to "Charlie" 1000%. I will forever be baffled at how the creatives messed thsi one up. I DO understand the rock and a hard place of contending with something that has become such an iconic societal lexicon, but like many shows adapted from iconic source material that came before it, it suffered from the identity crisis of wanting to be it's own thing AND still give the audience what they already know. Clear direction. 

Tuck Everlasting I feel could have also been great, I REALLY liked the idea of a musical T.E., but the big reason I feel it didn't last is because no one really asked for a T.E. musical. The writing certainly wasn't great, it was pretty generic, but I don't think audiences really cared much to have a musical version of T.E. in existence anyway. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 2:23pm

qolbinau said: "I LOVED the A Little Night Music revival - having seen a more 'lavish' production with a full-size orchestra and staging a few years after I terribly, terribly missed the intimacy of seeing the show at the Walter Kerr. We also had two very interesting casts (Zeta-Jones + Lansbury and Bernadette + Stritch). I don't think the casting was as perfect as the Follies revival for some of the supporting roles, and I must admit watching Stritch in the role was one of the most interesting but uncomfortable theatre experiences in my life (dropping lines, singing at a snails pace, not really attempting much character). But overall, I miss it.

I couldn't agree more at the Anastasia criticism. The show felt like it went for a million years but felt like the lead role's character was cardboard thin/shallow. It was just bizarre. I don't blame the actress - she just didn't have the material to work with (in terms of quality at least - what is so strange is she has a lot of stage time and music to sing. But to no effect).

I have seen five or six productions of ALNM.  I think the Trevor Nunn version is so much worse than any other I have seen, never more evident that in the staging of A Weekend In the Country, one of the great Act 1 closers IMO. The Nunn version of Weekend was positively stupid, looked more suited to kids singing Ring-Around-the-Rosy.  Also, the lighting was so muted that I got eye strain during the performance.  

I guess it is a matter of taste.  I have seen Glynis Johns, Jean Simmons, Judi Dench, Sally Anne Howes, Blair Brown, Catherine Zeta Jones, Bernadette Peters, and Hayden Gwynn.  Tony or not, Jones was the most beautiful and far and away the weakest Desiree; other than Lansbury, the Nunn cast was pretty mediocre as a whole.

I did not put it only list, because I did not think of it; but it does belong on the list of biggest disappointments.

[BroadwayMan5]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 3:22pm

Creatively, I was super disappointed in A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder. I saw it after the Tony win and was hoping for so much more (Jefferson Mays was out though so that could have played a factor). 

In terms of run, I was very disappointed that Groundhog Day and Bandstand didn't run longer.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 3:37pm

In shows I did't enjoy- Tuck Everlasting and Amelie. Both were just very boring and the set designs could have been so much more interesting. I also don't really remember much of the score for either and don't feel like I am missing anything.

In shows I wish that caught on-The revival of Side Show. It definitely is one of my favorite shows. 

[BwayDude2]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 3:53pm

BroadwayAndSports said: "DISAPPOINTING SHOWS...

Shuffle Along: So much potential with that cast, but it was a nothingburger.

Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812: Outside of the immersive part, I really didn't think this was a good musical. The story was all over the place and the music was mostly just singing about what they were doing. I was hoping for more based on the hype.



DISAPPOINTING RUNS...

Bandstand: Powerful story but funny and enjoyable, and overall really well-done. Still upset this didn't find an audience.

Groundhog Day: Andy Karl was a stud, really good balance of heavy and funny, but had high running costs.

"

I agree with Bandstand and Groundhog Day. Both had the strongest sense of storytelling on Broadway in 2017. I'm still in shock that Bandstand did not get a Tony Nom for Best Musical. That piece of work was overall stunning. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/3/18 at 6:50pm

The Addams Family
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Follies revival
Promises, Promises revival
Bandstand
Tuck Everlasting
Finding Neverland

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 12:30am

Fun Home. I didn't find it bad exactly, just I wasn't as emotionally invested as the show wanted me to be. I wanted more and Middle Allison as an actress in particular I had issues with. People had really hyped it too, and I thought with the whole concept of the graphic novel, I wanted to understand more why that medium to tell this story. 

And Bridges of Madison County. Take the Score, and the Cast and just put them in a more interesting story. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 12:43pm

For quality, last season's Glass Menagerie.  I loved Fun Home and thought it was brilliantly directed, but still think they should have taken away Sam Gold's Tony after he put that complete mess of a revival on stage.  (On a similar note, this was last decade, but the Terrance Howard-James Earl Jones Cat on a Hot Tin Roof--why must they continue to destroy Tennessee Williams with these horrendous productions?)

For length of run, I'm surprised the 2nd Cabaret revival only ran a year.  Not that I think it was necessarily worthy of running longer, but after spending all that time re-doing Studio 54 again, I figured Roundabout would try to keep it open a little longer.

[annang]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 1:19pm

theater_tech said: "Rainah said: "in terms of reception/length of run, Comet. It truly wasn't the controversy that closed the show, the public just did not embrace it as much as it really deserved and they couldn't find their audience."

Yes, this is true, but it would not have ended that early if the controversy did not happen. Most importantly, it would not have ended the way it had, in a midst of a pointless controversy, to inflate some SJW's egos on twitter,that overshadowed the creative and original piece that it was. And for that, everyone involved in that production (and those who loved it)deserved much better.

The stated reason for the casting choice that caused the controversy was that ticket sales were tanking after Josh Groban left, and so they hoped some stunt casting might help it limp along for a few more months. That’s not the sign of a successful musical that audiences were dying to see for the material itself. Agree or disagree about whether people were right to object to Oak’s dismissal and Mandy’s drop-in casting, but you can’t claim the show was doing great when the producers say the terrible sales were about to cause it to close, and that casting a famous star was a last-ditch effort to keep it open  

 

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 1:51pm

2008: 13,  A Tale of Two Cities, Pal Joey, November, and actually ever major Mamet production since to tell the truth...

2009: A Steady Rain, Bye Bye Birdie, Race, West Side Story

2010: A Life in the Theater, Elling, The Adams Family, and The Miracle Worker

2011: Baby It's You, High, The People in the Picture, and Wonderland 

2012: Street Car and Cat revivals WOOF, Chaplin, Ghost, Magic/Bird, Jesus Christ Super Star, Leap of Faith, Scandalous, The Anarchist, and The Columnist 

2013: Big Fish, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jekyel and Hyde, Orphans, Soul Doctor, The Snow Geese

2014: Bronx Bombers, Holla if Ya Hear Me, Honeymoon in Vegas, Side Show, The Country House, The Velocity of Autumn

2015: Allegience, Amazing Grace, China Doll, Doctor Zhivago, Finding Neverland, A Fish in the Dark, Gigi, It Should Have Been You, Living on Love, Misery, 

2016: Hugie, In Transit, The Cherry Orchard, Tuck Everlasting

2017: Amelie, Marvin's Room, The Glass Menagerie 

Anyone who listed Great Comet has GOT to see more theater. 

[Dave13]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 3:21pm

ACL2006 said: "The Addams Family
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Follies revival
Promises, Promises revival
Bandstand
Tuck Everlasting
Finding Neverland"

 

Finally, I was waiting for someone to say Addams Family   I really wanted that to be great. The only thing that kept it worth watching was Nathan Lane   One he left, it was unbearable   

Finding Neverland, Tuck Everlasting, and Charlie and Chocolate Factory also top my list. 
 

Updated On: 2/4/18 at 03:21 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/4/18 at 9:38pm

THOU SHALT NOT