Disappointments

[My Oh My]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 1:36pm

What are the shows you consider your biggest disappointments to date?

A show that you were really looking forward to and left wondering what you just saw. A show that received a ridiculous amount of hype and did not live up to it in the least. And so on.

Here's mine:

Wicked
Spelling Bee

I know Wicked tends to get bashed on a lot but I assure you I'm being fair. I was greatly anticipating it and tried to avoid reading reviews or posts related to it. Saw the show in L.A. in the summer of 2007 and didn't care for it at all. I had great seats too, so it's not like factors beyond my control prevented me from enjoying it. I thought it was an embarrassment. The only good thing were the performances of the two ladies--Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty. It's a mystery to me what people see in it.

I had heard good things about Spelling Bee but not a lot of hype. I'm not overly difficult to please so I expected to like this since it's lighthearted fare. I think the audience is meant to care for the characters but I just didn't. I saw most of the OBC and they gave good performances, but I just couldn't get myself to like it. Too much of it seemed like a rip-off of A Chorus Line, only it's a competition and kids instead of dancers. And I love ACL so I don't know what went wrong there.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 1:51pm

next to normal

I had heard such great things about it that I went in expecting something so phenomeanal but I was actually bored and questioning about Act 2. Not a bad show, but the word of mouth was huge on this one and I took into it too much!

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 3:27pm

Wow, there's a lot actually. But the only one I can REALLY think of is probably Promises, Promises. I still liked it but I was quite disappointed because I wanted it to be funnier (in the first act). I like a show where I can laugh my ass off, quite frankly, and the only time that really happened was in the couch scene and all of the scenes (all 2 of them?) with Katie Finneran.

I was also disappointed when I went to RENT the first time, and I think it was simply because it wasn't what I expected. I went back though when Anthony and Adam were in it, so I think it was really because I didn't understand the whole thing.

[Bwaynerd]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 4:38pm

finian's
grinch

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 4:41pm

Interesting question. Off the top of my head, I'd have to say LITTLE WOMEN. I remember it was the show I was most looking forward to in the '04-'05 season and it was so horrendously bad I had to really stop myself from demanding my money back. Plus I've said before that if I live a thousand years I will never see a more irritating performance than Amy McAlexander gave as Amy. If I had a gun I seriously would have thought of using it on myself to avoid having to hear her voice for one more second.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 5:11pm

Billy Elliot, I really don't see what people found appealing about this show at all. If a musical isn't going to improve upon the movie it was based then there really is no reason for making it into a musical.

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 5:15pm

Jordan - Wow, I'm glad I missed that one! :)

[singingbackup]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 5:42pm

Next To Normal
Passing Strange
Hair (in Central Park)
We Will Rock You
Legally Blonde
Lestat

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 6:11pm

Eh...9 to 5. I was expecting it at least to be an enjoyable time. I thought it was so horrendous.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 6:31pm

Red/Next Fall. After hearing how both of these were great for the most part I was expecting a lot more, especially Red. I struggled to make it threw both of them.

[BroadwayBound17]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 6:54pm

Chicago. Chicago. Chicago.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 7:08pm

Spamalot
Avenue Q
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

I wouldn't call these disappointments so much as confusion (as in, "Why is everyone laughing?"), but there was disappointment too.

[Hannahbelle]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 8:06pm

The Producers. It was too big and it wasn't funny. I saw it the day before I saw The Full Monty- a show that I thought was funnier and had much more heart.

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 8:40pm

I totally agree with Billy Elliot! I had such high expectations especially because of all the Tony Awards...but, wow! was I disappointed.

Legally Blonde was also a disappointment, however, I really didn't have very high expectations.....so let's call it a draw.

Also, the Addams Family. I had super high expectations...especially with that talented cast but it let me down.

Finally, Jersey Boys. I just didn't get it. Everyone in the theatre was going wild but it left me cold. Updated On: 7/3/10 at 08:40 PM

[Q]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 8:49pm

Our family finally decided to go see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA when it opened the Buell in Denver. It was well into all the 'best thing ever' territory by then, which was only heightened by the inauguration of this new big theater.

Afterwards, we all discovered that we would have left at intermission, but we didn't want to ruin the experience for anyone else.

Far and away the most distance I have had from the general opinion of a piece.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 9:43pm

Wicked
Young Frankenstein- I knew about the mixed reviews, that's being generous, but was still disappointed by lack of memorable songs and that nothing stood out from it just being an adaptation of the film.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels- I try and think it was just seeing a subpar company on National Tour and that NLB, Sherie, and Lithgow would have been much more interesting.

[Q]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:01pm

Strummer - did you see DIRTY in LA? That's exactly how we felt, and left at intermission.

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:19pm

Finian's was another disappointment for me. It wasn't the talent, it was the actual show itself. It was not funny to me almost at all. I was excited because I thought Chris Fitzgerald would have been hilarious. I think he would have been, had the content been funnier. I think I was trying to make it funnier than it was.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:30pm

Cats, to some extent.

I was actually surprised by Wicked when I (finally) saw it. Cheap front row tickets on my day off FTW!.

[MeggilyWeggily08]

Posted: 7/3/10 at 10:39pm

Chicago and Phantom. I expected to be like swept up in this magic during Phantom, the way people talked about it, and was just...bored...out of my skull.

[Scott Briefer]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 12:09am

In no particular order...

Spring Awakening
Billy Elliott
Nine (OBC)
The Producers
Mama Mia
Contact

I'll add more, as I think of them.
Updated On: 7/4/10 at 12:09 AM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 12:16am

In the Heights...I saw it fairly late in the game (the whole original cast was still there but they had been running for a while) and I had fallen in love with the cast recording and all my friends had been raving about it for months so when I finally saw it all I could think was...that was it? I love the score, but the show as a whole was a disappointment.

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 8:48am

Light in the Piazza. My expectations were way too high. The set was beautiful, the songs beautiful, but overall the show didn't move me the way I expected it to.

The 1987 West End production of Follies. Another case of too high expectations from years of wishing I'd seen the original production. The changes from the original production resulted in a disappointment I still can't let go of.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 9:07am

Q- If it was the then 2008 National Tour, then yes. The guy playing Freddy came off as a Jack Black wannabe, Lawrence was just dry and had no comedic timing, but the girl who played Christine was by far the worst. Could not act or sing with any sincerity. But the actors who played Muriel and Andre were good, I thought.
Updated On: 7/4/10 at 09:07 AM

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 9:10am

I agree about Light and the Piazza. The music was gorgeous, but I found the book very week and it simply did not have the emotional arc that I expected it would.