Flops that Deserve a Second Chance — Page 2

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And of course, about two thirds of Carrie. I say cut the worst songs and replace them with some sorely needed book scenes that convey what's happening in the story.

You don't just mean a FLOP (financial failurte) but an outright TURKEY. A show that closes after a brief run and loses its entire investment.

Most Broadway turkeys have problematic books, but often the scores are full of delights. (GOLDILOCKS. DEAR WORLD. STEEL PIER.) Most of these would be good candidates for Encores.

Then there are shows that were sadly misunderstood or unappreciated. The original MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG comes to mind, although most of the revisions now in use strengthen the show, I do wish the opening and closing graduation scenes were restored.

Kander and Ebb's THE RINK is one show that could be revived without any changes. Whether audiences would buy it remains to be seen but a recent local production proved that this show has a good, tight and compelling book and some dynamite songs. (The original was not really a turkey: it good good reviews, Tony nominations and lasted 5 months.)

Another show from that season that can work effectively in smaller spaces is BABY. Great score by Shire and Maltby and book that occasionally gets a bit clunky but for the most part works.

But let's face it most Broadway turkeys flopped because no one wanted to see them in the first run.

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woman in white, the music was alw's best since phantom, the musical scenes could be trimmed down or cut and could be made into more of a book musical...

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Baby's score is fantastic.

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^ LMAO

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Seussical

Oh Blaxx, do you ever let any composers with known/popular shows get recognized for their successes? Clearly not.

Oh, love, I give him Evita or JCS but after that...

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Did anyone save the interview Webber gave that was posted on the Whistle Down the Wind tour site? I seem to remember him basically denouncing the entire Woman in White production and talking about his realization that it could never work because the entire show was about a secret and that audiences today with the internet, blogs and gossip columns don't understand what a secret is anymore. It was pretty funny.

Mack & Mabel

Also, The Rocky Horror Show was a major success in London and in LA before it came to Broadway. It also had this little movie adaptation (featuring some actress who never worked again...Susan Sarandon, I think it was?) that, though flopped when released commercially, had some MINOR success with midnight screenings...

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I know no one will agree with me but I'd go with LESTAT.

If they reworked the book (meaning just encompassing the "Interview with the Vampire" story line and leaving Marius and all that out) I think it would have worked much better. The Interview has a true beginning, middle and end, adding "The Vampire Lestat" story line only drug it out. Also get Elton to come back and add/tweak songs, the fact that he "wrote the score in 12 days" but then refused to be involved in the rehearsal process in order to change things didn't help matters either!

Either way I still loved the show despite its problems... and I know I'm in an extreme minority!

Updated On: 7/19/09 at 08:20 PM

The funny thing about Carrie is that it's really not that bad compared to some of the crap that's on Broadway today. "I'm Not Alone" is one of my most favorite songs ever.