Does sucessful equal good

[winston89]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:38pm

I was wondering what you all thought about this. If a show is making money and doing well financially does that automatically mean it's good? I rember having this discussion on the forum when Phantom became the longest running show on broadway. I personally don't think that just becaue a show is makin money doesn't mean it is good. But, there are some who feel that if a show weren't good it wouldn't be making a lot of money. What is your opinion on this?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:41pm

No. Sucessful never equals good (Not to say a sucessful show can't be good, and an unsucessful show can't suck).

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:44pm

Given that Cats made a bushel of money, I can safely say that successful does not necessarily equal good. Having said that, however, there are also snobs who believe that anything that is successful can not be good. Of course, that makes no sense either.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:45pm

I don't wanna sound snarky, but it seems like you've answered your own question. You said you yourself don't think successful equals good, which means of course that it doesn't. As much as we rely on critics and reviews to tell us otherwise, "good" is 100% subjective. I think some shows are good, you think other shows are good, etc. "Successful" just means more people THINK it's good than bad.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:49pm

good is different than nice.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:52pm

especially during sex.

[Julian2]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 12:53pm

OH! CALCUTTA!

[Pippin]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 1:01pm

both the words "good" and "successful" are subjective, and in the eye of the beholder. Sondheim and Prince have always said that the orig. production of Pacific Overtures was a success, when financially it was far from it.

you can't see the world in black and white when it comes to art, to do so undermines the artists and yourself as a subjective audience member.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 1:15pm

Whether a show is "good" or not is completely subjective. When it comes to a show's "success," there are two sides to that. Financial AND Creative success. If a show does not recoup, it was a financial failure, but it certainly could have been a successful show in terms of artistic merit. Whether or not a show is "good" is very similar to whether it was successful in an artistic nature.

[Born To Reign]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 2:18pm

Successful does not equal good, and good does not equal successful (I'm lookin' at YOU, Company!)

On the flipside, "good" is so subjective. I think I show can be "good" if it fulfills what it set out to do. Just because it's a light entertainment does not mean it's "bad."

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 2:26pm

Absolutely not.

Grey Gardens, Company, and 75% of Sondheim shows vs. Cats

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 2:45pm

but isn't it possible to recognize a good without enjoying it/ liking it?

[Weez]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 5:41pm

Definitely. I can't think of examples right now, but there are definitely things out there that are certainly very good but that doesn't mean I like 'em. Oh, 'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel! Really good book, but I f***ing HATED it. XP

[speedjeans]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 5:54pm

Re: "Sucessful never equals good"

How many examples do you want to prove that statement is way over the top?

I could start with 50.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 5:57pm

^ Did you not read what he wrote in the parentheses?

[mominator]

Posted: 7/19/07 at 5:59pm

IMO, Success does not always equals good, but it also does not always equal bad as well.

[friedrichVT]

Posted: 7/20/07 at 12:58am

Just for the record, Cats was the talk of the town when it opened. From the staging to the innovative choregraphy ,and feline movement, nevermind some wonderful performances. It was the Wicked of its day...EVRYONE wanted to see it. Dated yes...Unsuccessful...NO. It may have stayed too long at the fair but it was a hot ticket 4 a while.

[RobbO]

Posted: 2/20/11 at 8:07am

.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 2/20/11 at 10:23am

Good, successful and popular are never the same thing or relevant in my worthless opinion. Otherwise shows like the "Jersey Shore" and so called singers (hock, spit) like Ke$ha would not be where they are.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 2/20/11 at 4:49pm

I think it is impossible to answer this question. People on here would argue that WICKED sucks yet the many people who walk out in tears would say otherwise. Does that mean one of the two is wrong? No, just a difference of taste

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/20/11 at 5:00pm

Was does Robbo come and bump old threads for no reason?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/20/11 at 5:15pm

At least this one people could still theoretically add to the discussion. It's not nearly as useless as bumping those two threads about some Hairspray screening gone wrong.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/21/11 at 10:42am

Successful means that enough people think it's good enough to buy tickets and keep the show running. A show's quality is not merely defined by academics nor is it solely based on one or two criteria.

[winston89]

Posted: 2/21/11 at 11:19am

I just looked at the list of long runners on Playbill. The top four longest running shows (in order) are Phantom, Cats, Les Miserables, and A Chorus Line. Now, the only two shows that I would consider to be pretty god are A Chorus Line and Les Miserables. I can't stand and never got what it was that drew people to Cats. And, I will admit, that Phantom, although a guilty pleasure of mine, is not the best thing ever written nor the best show out there.

However, I think that a show has to have some people who like it in order for it to sell tickets. I mean, if there wasn't a bunch of people who thought that Cats was amazing and that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, it wouldn't have had the longevity that it had.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/21/11 at 11:32am

In financial terms, no. Just because a show is making money and is successful does not make it good. Take Wicked for example. Of course whether or not a show is "good" or not is up to the individual.