It was a show the critics loved. They found it funny and sent love letters to Nancy Walker and Phil SIlvers, while making excuses for the book. It had the luck to open after a series of major disappointments: WILDCAT, CAMELOT, TENDERLOIN, and THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. The critics may have given it less trouble than if it had opened after a few blockbusters.
The stars kept it alive at the box office until some stronger shows came along: CARNIVAL! in the spring of '61 and HOW TO SUCCEED that fall.
It closed after 400 performances (with a loss of about 1/3 of its capital) but yielded an enjoyable cast album on RCA Victor.
The album didn't sell well. Victor deleted it after the show closed, then reissued it in 1965 in a less elaborate package. Again it failed to sell and was deleted again. Victor gave it one more shot on CD in 1994, but that too has gone out-of-print and now commands anywhere from $60 to $100 a copy! It's worth it to hear Nancy Walker and Phil Silvers who work so well together.
As the Encores concert highlighted, the book needs too much work to make the show revivable. It's also too dated now: Juke box trade is virtually non-existent. If an old fashioned musical comedy hit like WONDERFUL TOWN fails to run, an also-ran like DO RE MI would never find a wide audience now.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com