How Would You Fix Your Favorite Flop? — Page 2

Regarding the OP, slapstick is exactly what not to add to Candide. While Candide is full of witty humor, I think it needs some darker tones to balance it out. I personally loved Mary Zimmerman's production (which played Chicago this fall and is currently in Washington, D.C.), which adapted directly from the original Voltaire text. When I saw it in October, it needed some tightening up (some sequences dragged a bit and it was still pretty far from perfect, although I kind of expected that, being a very early draft of this book). The thing that made this production special to me was that in the end, I felt like Candide had a good understanding of the world and man. Our journey led to somewhere worthwhile, even though all the characters had to rebuild their lives from scratch. This feeling is what I think will make Candide amazing, if the kinks in this production have been worked out in D.C. I had previously only seen the concert production with Kristin Chenoweth and Patti LuPone, and after seeing the Mary Zimmerman production, I don't think I want to see the concert production again. The concert was funny and entertaining with a book that led each beautiful song into the next, but as amazing as Candide's score is (and it's no doubt one of the best scores ever written), it needs a strong book that can keep up with the humor, insight, and, most of all, the emotional power of the score.

Exactly. I LOVED Taboo in London, but they really destroyed all chances of it succeeding here by "fixing" the book. A real shame.

To "fix" The Fix, I think one needs to clearly make a point which political family is being satirized and to bring out the rock-opera tone that was present in the original production. The idea of a "rock vaudeville", which is essentially what the show is, in interesting... so hiding it behind less than amazing orchestrations in the new version doesn't help.

That being said, regardless of the version or take, someone just needs the balls to open it at a bigger off-Broadway house and see what happens. With disapproval of Bush and Obama still in the air, a good old-fashioned musical about dirty politics might sit well with audiences. And give the show the NY run it never got.

Updated On: 12/25/10 at 02:00 PM

With Merrily We Roll Along, I think that they've watered down the end of Frank's story (the beginning of the show) to try and "fix" things. If Frank is happy at the end and the movie is a hit, why go back?

I think the show should open the night before Frank has to speak at Lake Forrest. As he writes the speech... which is full of a bunch of BS that he thinks he's cleverly proud of, things from the past sneak up on him and haunt him. Maybe ghosts or just memories that he's stirred. He should contemplate suicide or maybe get too drunk. Then he looks at a picture from his graduation and behind a scrim we see them all sing The Hills Of Tomorrow, or at least the end of it. Just as Frank either induces himself comatose from the booze or attempts the suicide, the kids come and ask him how he got there and to look back "Merrily We Roll Along".

Then the rest of the show happens with Old Frank being wheeled around in an easy chair forced to look back at his life to see exactly how things went sour a la Scrooge. The most heart-wrenching scene being when Old Frank realizes he's on the rooftop and doesn't want to watch. The biggest zing coming when Young Frank tells Charley he's going to marry Mary and Old Frank breaking down as Young Frank convinces Charlie and Mary that their lives are only just starting "Our Time". The show would close with Frank giving his speech, though now optimistic that he can still fix his own life and that the future is hopeful. He also would dedicate his successes to his two best friends, Charlie and Mary... Who we realize have been sitting in attendance in disguise watching him speak. The three make up and Frank proposes to Mary as the lights go out.

Don't even get me started on how to fix Lestat.

1. The book.

First off, get rid of Linda. Period. She can't handle this material. She's not experienced enough. Fvck dat b!tch. Can't write for sh!t.

Second, do something with those narrations. Either have a seperate Lestat to play the narrations, or make them consistent as an off-stage narration with subtitles, or just get rid of them entirely. Why is it so crucial we have the story from Lestat's POV again? Sure, he's the character role and it's based off the book which was told in Lestat narrative, but why in a musical sense do we need to know that it's his POV? Did we have an "Interview with A Vampire" musical from Louis' POV that we missed out on that this is a follow up to? I didn't think so.

Also, the character development sucks in some places: Lestat, Louis, Marius Nicolas and Armand appear to be very bipolar and frantic without justification. THIS NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED. Marius as well is extremely under-written. Gabrielle could use some justification as well. Claudia is the best written, which is ironic - considering in the films and the books she was a very underdeveloped character.

This is also a typical Linda Woolverton trademark, but for the love of god, STOP TRYING TO MAKE EVERYTHING A MORAL!! She always tries to add these sugarcoateded tidbits at the end of her books and they NEVER work. They are campy.

For the most part, they just need to go back to the San Francisco pre-Broadway incarnation Elton thought was "too simple". It explained almost everything, but it was only a few drafts away from being presentable. There was a lot of gray area, but still.

2. The score.

From the Dead. Need I say more? I loved the finale in San Fran, but the beginning doesn't work. It should be used as a motif throughout the show, kinda like "Marilyn Monroe" from Blood Brothers/"Unlimited" from Wicked kinda thing, maybe. The song for me doesn't particularly work. Also, go back to "Nothing Here" from San Fran as opposed to "Beautiful Boy" - that song sucks. Also, Nicolas and Louis should get some better songs - and fvck - why not give Marius one? I feel a lot of the story was told by a poor score at times, which I think the show would work best if it were a play with music...only using songs when necessary and purely as a method of transition.

3. The set.

Projections didn't suit it. Baroque sets, I say. Same fate as "The Woman In White" - there were opportunities for a gorgeous period set - but none were use. However, I get there are 1,234,609 locations in "Lestat", from a period house in France to Egypt (in the San Fran version) but projections don't *quite* cut it. Or, make the set just really simple. I feel like a really minimalist version of Lestat could work just fine.

4. Now that we've fixed all that, where do we go with it?

It's funny you should ask. The show is too recent for a revival right now, so wait fifteen to twenty years when everyone's forgotten and premiere it with the same name, but with revisions. his piece could also benefit from "Grand Hotel" treatment. Take what was "Lestat," and upgrade it with a new title and new focus (maybe concentrating on "Interview With The Vampire", as Louis is a much more sympathetic character). Don't forget - "Grand Hotel" was once "At The Grand", they just waited a very long time (the original premiered as a failed tryout in the 50's and then was produced in 92, if I'm not mistaken) under a completely new name and book, but borrowed a few songs from the old incarnation (which would be a good choice for Lestat - I don't think any of the original creators would want to be involved, but there was such a gold mine in there with "I Want More", "I'll Never Have That Chance", "Sail Me Away", "Embrace It", "Origin Of The Species"...) ...ya dig?

Or if you're an eager beaver, wait a while have a regional premiere (maybe out in San Fran again, for old times sake?) and be brought to life again by community theatre a la "Bat Boy" or "Seussical" (or in the attempted "Pirate Queen" and "Cry-Baby") fashion.

---

Shrek the Musical was kind of a flop (Still not sure why...) And you can't fix that. It was all about advertising. People just don't want to go see somthing that they saw as a kid's movie.......

musicalperson17, it takes a special kind of show for me to convince the director it's ok if the audience doesn't understand all they lyrics being sung. Jekyll & Hyde was one of that shows. I doubt "Murder Murder" will ever be performed that fast again. It also meant losing the stupid umbrellas as the actors couldn't swing them around fast enough.

I saw a production of Mack & Mabel that actually had a very lovely ending - they didn't do the "fake marriage" ending, it ended with Mack back in the studio and leaving it behind, and they lowered a screen and played a 5-minute-or-so highlights reel of the actual Mabel Normand movies while a solo piano played a silent movie version of "Movies Were Movies". It was actually very sweet - the film clips were very funny, but there was a sadness to it, almost like an odd requiem. It didn't make it a happy ending, but it emphasized the great things that came from that unfortunately doomed affair without whitewashing it.

This was an outdoor production in NJ a few years back which actually used a full orchestra and everything. I went for the novelty of finally seeing a fully-staged M&M not expecting much and actually saw a surprisingly satisfying production.

^^Agreed on Story of My Life. I also think [title of show] and Bloody Bloody were near-perfect shows, and should've stayed off-broadway. End of story.

Also, for Anyone Can Whistle, it just needs to be organized better. The book is frazzled and the songs seem misplaced a lot of times. Also, "There's Always A Woman" is such a fun song - but it does need work. Cora and Faye's relationship needs to be developed a lot more.

---

Run Starlight Express exactly as it was originally in London. None of the horrendous rewrites that remove the villain altogether and just rely on 'coincidence' to move the plot along.

“Cut down the cast size to the cast that played at the Mark Taper Forum.”

I saw it and hated it. The music sounds like crap unless there are a lot of voices singing it.

---

If only Hal Prince would take another crack at MERRILY....