Broadway Legend Joined: 4/23/04
I know that Tanz Der Vampire was not a flop but it is the closest you will get to a DOTV CD.
and there are like 3 different cd's from tanz der vampire
btw. anyone has the "jeeves takes charge" vinyl from andrew lloyd webber? I mean the 70's version, not the remake "by jeeves"
Wow...I'm shocked
Noone mentioned Anyone Can Whistle or Merrily We Roll Along
These are two of Sondheims best scores, and they ran for 9 and 16 performances respectively.
I have both...and they are BRILLIANT!
I would advise their Immediate purchase.
It did make its money back, and won best musical...but Passion is a very odd musical that deserves a place in the CD cabinet. "I wish I could forget you" haunts me.
Floyd Collins is a great score too, and is a worthy purchase.
Steel Pier.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/23/04
Most of Sondheim's shows are technically considered flops.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/25/04
How about "Dance a little closer" and "Charley and Algernon".
Or "How now Dow Jones" (I did like that score) facing the death of its composer.
Allegro was a big flop, but the music is pretty good.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
The london production of "Gone With the Wind" has great collectors appeal, if that's what you are going for - but it also is hard to find. The Robber Bridegroom with Barry Bostwick and Rhonda Coulet is good too, and includes a few cuts that were cut from the production.
Nick and Nora
Marlene
Jane Eyre
Triumph of Love
Side Show (my personal favorite)
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
Well, there's financial flops, which is about 70-80% of shows, and then there's big stinky flops- shows that run for less than 75 or fewer performances, get absolutely awful reviews, and/or have a truly horrible reputation in the public.
Most Sondheim shows were financial flops, but I think only Merrily and Anyone Can Whistle can really be considered giant stinky failures in any sense.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Jerry Herman's "Dear World" based on "The Madwoman of Chaiiot" (SP?) has some really lovely moments.
Zombie Prom!!!!!!!!!!
Parade
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/23/04
"and then there's big stinky flops- shows that run for less than 75 or fewer performances"
I think shows that have more than 75 performances are still considered "big stinky flops." Taboo had 100 performances and it will go down in history as a famous flop.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/03
"Woop-Up" and "Ankles Away" are so cheezy that they are (in a very perverse way) lots of fun.
Working
Is There Life After High School?
Amour
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Song of Singapore
These have wonderful scores.
Featured Actor Joined: 12/31/69
I love
Is there Life After High School?
there are some good flops out there. I still listen to
Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
Legs Diamond
and
Thou Shalt Not
I have Taboo (which is my favorite recording), Working, Anyone Can Whistle, and Parade is somewhere in the mail coming to my house, so that's on the list, too.
Merrily We Roll Along is one of my favorite Sondheim scores (well, that and everything else he's written ), and it's also very catchy and listenable.
Some of my favorite flop CDs:
Candide
Legs Diamond
Jane Eyre
Seussical
The Wild Party (LaChiusa)
Goldilocks
All American
How Now Dow Jones
Pipe Dream
Allegro
Flower Drum Song (revival)
Skyscraper
Tenderloin
Kwamina
House of Flowers
Anyone Can Whistle
Merrily We Roll Along
The Rothschilds
70, Girls, 70
Flora the Red Menace
The Rink
Rags
Amour
Annie Warbucks
The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
Baby
Big
The Baker's Wife
Flahooley
The Beautiful Game
Bajour
Take Me Along
Plain and Fancy
Walking Happy
The Canterbury Tales
Caroline, or Change
Chess
Fifty Million Frenchmen
The Golden Apple
Heathcliff
Metropolis
High Society
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!
Jimmy
Mack and Mabel
The Grand Tour (Jerry Herman)
Martin Guerre
Miss Liberty
Irma La Douce
Nymph Errant
Oh, Brother!
Over Here!
Me and Juliet
Romance/Romance
Sail Away
Sugar
Starmites
Swinging on a Star
Taboo
Top Banana
Wildcat
Windy City
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (revival)
Zorba
Limited engagements, not flops:
Parade
Marie Christine
bwaybaby2 - You mentioned almost all Off-Broadway shows, but I'm not sure if they were actually flops. Was Smile released on vinyl?
A little clarification:
Tintypes was a flop.
Avenue Q is a hit, not a flop, whether members like it or not.
Song of Singapore, Salad Days, The Mystery of Edwin Drood were not flops.
New York Rock is a concept recording. Was it ever produced?
Lizzie Borden was a limited run at the American Stage Company and Goodspeed.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/11/03
Once everyone got over the hysterical Rosie publicity, Taboo garnered a lot more respect. Although it didn't win any, it was nominated for 4 Tonys. Don't miss the water til the well runs dry.....
I would absolutely recommend the Taboo CD to anyone. The show may have been a financial flop, a critical flop, and a marketing disaster but the score and musical production are top-notch.
Stand-by Joined: 8/26/04
no one's mentioned Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipedream or Sodheim's Bounce, which didn't even get to b-way but has a CD anyway
Leading Actor Joined: 9/4/03
Chess (Bway) and it sucks. The orchestra sounds like tin, Phillip Casnoff (Freddie) can't hit the notes, David Carroll's voice sounds pinched the chorus blows!
I LOVE Chess and this is just the WORST!
i dont know if all of these are flops, but they are at least unknown:
bat boy
elegies
infinite joy (its not really a show, but its william finn stuff, its amazing anyway)
the last session (not a flop, just never been to ny)
john and jen
parade
last 5 years
side show
violet
smile (i just did the show, the score is okay...very campy)
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