How did "All Shook Up" fail?

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:08pm

I've been listening to the OCR nonstop for the last few days and can't imagine how it wasn't a success. The arrangements of the familiar songs are stunning and some of the vocals are insane. I saw an early preview and remember the book being very funny with an interesting plot. So how did it fail?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:12pm

All Shook Up is one of the few jukebox musicals that really worked for me. I had a great time and thought it was adorable. But the Palace is a tough theatre to fill, and while the music should have been all they needed, it was a cast of unknowns.

(PS, the plot is an adaptation of Twelfth Night.)

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:15pm

I only saw the Musical Theatre West production from two years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think part of it is that people went "Oh another juke box musical" and just rolled their eyes and stayed away. Honestly, I think it just came at a bad time. Just as the juke boxes were making their presence known but before (some) people started to readily accept them. When a juke box musical opens or is announced there are still people who roll their eyes and complain. But it seems to me that they're a lot quieter these days.

I know the original production opened with Love Me Tender and the production I saw opened with Jailhouse Rock. Even without seeing the original I know that Jailhouse Rock is the better opening. A show like this needs to open with a "bang". Get the people right away.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:20pm

" Honestly, I think it just came at a bad time."

Well, I don't mean to be catty but weren't we trying to recover from Good Vibrations at the time?

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:35pm

Do you guys think that since the success of Jersey Boys and more of an acceptance of Jukebox musicals, if ASU were to open in a smallish theatre now that Cheyenne's somewhat more known and put some AI vets in the cast, it would be a hit? I just can't get over these amazing arrangements and resulting singing.

PS: When I read 12th Night, I thought "hey, this is sort of like ASU"

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:38pm

I left at intermission...and I so wanted to like it as I had attended a workshop with the creators earlier in the day and they had me really excited about it.

I remember adoring the opening number and then quickly wanting to DIE.

(And I adore 12th Night!)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:41pm

I do not understand this either. It is way better than most of the jukebox musicals out there. It had a big cast, a fun story, upbeat music, big sets, and even the Elvis music going for it. I do not understand why it failed either.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:43pm

Eris, when I saw it, "Jailhouse Rock" opened the second act. It seemed by the recording that by opening night, that was moved to the middle of the act and the title number opened act two. I actually liked the way act one opened, because it allowed the show to really take off during the glorious "Heartbreak Hotel."

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/14/10 at 11:52pm

I saw the tour and Jailhouse Rock opened the shbow after a 30 second overture. I remember being really impressed by the jail set when the curtain went up and then the opening number was just fantastic. I will always remember that opening.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:04am

I went in expecting to hate the show as well, but was very pleasantly surprised. I still play the CD all the time because the arrangements are so great. Being in such a big theatre really didn't help things - if they could've gotten one of the mid-size houses like the Hirschfeld, Shubert or Rodgers I think it might've had a better chance.

Does anyone remember why this and the 2005 La Cage revival swapped theatres? Originally La Cage was supposed to open at the Palace (where the original production was) and All Shook Up had the Marquis, but they switched places not too long before La Cage went into rehearsals.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:11am

I had a good time at the show as well, but I can't say I'm surprised or upset that it failed.

I think the biggest thing it had going against it was that it opened at the massive Palace...it was NEVER going to fill it.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:38am

I have to admit that I am in the crowd that has absolutely zero interest in jukebox musicals. In general, they just don't work well, and the book feels forced. This isn't true in all cases, obviously there are a few that really catch on, but I do think that a lot of people are like myself and are just turned off by the idea. Perhaps the ones that really do have something to offer are the ones that have succeeded. I think it is a lot harder for a jukebox musical to catch on.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:44am

Munkustrap, I was able to access an old article from Variety, and this is what it said

"The new Elvis Presley musical "All Shook Up" and the upcoming "La Cage aux Folles" revival have switched Broadway theaters.
"La Cage" now will open Dec. 9 at the Marquis. "Shook" preems March 24 at the Palace. Both venues are Nederlander houses.
"It had to do with the load-out and load-in schedules of the shows," said the Nederlanders' Nick Scandalios. "Initially, we thought the timing would be reversed," he added, referring to the closings of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Marquis and "Aida" at the Palace. "Millie" shuttered earlier than expected, on June 20, while "Aida" isn't departing until Sept. 5." (Written by: Robert Hofler June 25 2004)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:48am

Okay, but still, the Marquis would have been too big too.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:51am

It failed because Tyce Diorio was in it...

[singtopher]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:57am

Well, folks, I just got back from doing the damn show this evening.

This is my second time doing the show and I can honestly say that everyone in the theatre cast, crew, and audience go home with a smile on their face. Last night was our opening and I had countless folks tell me they could barely sit still in their seats they were having so much fun. It's incredibly rewarding to look out at 500 people jumping, singing, and dancing in the aisles during the curtain call reprise. I saw the show on tour, and had a very similar experience.

Having seen a bootleg of the Broadway production, I can see why it didn't quite take off. The story line and song placement are disjointed. The re-tooled version that went on tour and is now licensed to theaters has a much better ebb and flow to it.

Thank goodness they were able to preserve Steve Oremus's fabulous vocal arrangements on the cast recording. Can't Help Falling in Love and Burning Love give me goosebumps.

Another factor for it's failure is it came out in 2005, the year Spamalot beat out DRS, Piazza, and Spelling Bee for the best musical tony.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 1:25am

"I know the original production opened with Love Me Tender and the production I saw opened with Jailhouse Rock. Even without seeing the original I know that Jailhouse Rock is the better opening. A show like this needs to open with a "bang". Get the people right away."

I did prefer the original opening, but I guess I can see why they moved "Jailhouse Rock" to the beginning; however, I thought most of the changes they made for the tour were absolutely horrible. I remember there being more unnecessary dance breaks during some of the songs that I didn't remember from the original production. I also hated how they turned "Devil in Disguise" into a bigger production number; I liked the original version.

[singtopher]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 1:32am

My only gripe with the new version is "Devil." It always turns into a conceptual nightmare.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 3:40am

I saw it out-of-town in Chicago and it was dreadful. As a woman who sat near me asked "this is horrible, right? I mean, I don't see much theater, so I don't really know, but most other stuff HAS to be better than this, right?"

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 4:12am

I love(d) 'All Shook Up' so much.

The arrangements of Elvis's hits were fantastic, plus they fit very well into the events of the show. I really thought the show was completely adorable and charming, never once taking itself too seriously.

I saw the show twice on Broadway and once on the national tour. I felt the national tour changes were unnecessary, but the show still had it's charm and those gorgeous arrangements.

Honestly, the timing of the show was what really did it in. With 'Good Vibrations' and 'Lennon' opening around the same time as 'All Shook Up', they all kind of just got lumped in together.

However, I am so glad to have seen this show and will always love it.

Updated On: 7/15/10 at 04:12 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 4:31am

ALL SHOOK UP had an incredibly talented cast and was a ton of fun. As everyone has said, Stephen Oremus's orchestrations were to die for. It deserved a much longer life in a smaller theater.

The highlight of the evening (for me) was Sharon Wilkins' rendition of "There's Always Me" in the second act, which stopped the show dead cold the night I saw it. The end of the first act, with the full company performing that killer arrangement of "Can't Help Falling In Love," was also pretty special.

It's nice to see it's being produced so frequently on the regional circuit.

Updated On: 7/15/10 at 04:31 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 8:42am

I really enjoyed it, i was in NY when this was in its last week so got tickets and had a great night. It had a few issues but nothing major. I would say it was in the wrong theatre, it did not need to play somewhere that big.

I adored the act 1 closing.

I also watched Good Vibrations months before, now that was funny lol

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 11:47am

The major thing I remember was the first few scenes in the first act moved SO quickly. They crammed so much into those first two scenes and the rest kind of dragged. The choreography was very pedestrian, but the vocals and orchestrations were uniformly excellent. That whole show just had a somewhat scrappy feel. It could've really sparkled in a smaller theatre.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 11:52am

It was a combination of a book that was OK, but not first-class, no stars, and standard unispired arrangements of old songs. Perfectly fine, for what it was, but what it was was second-tier entertainment.

[danaonotlater]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 12:21pm

From what I understand, they were also not marketed very well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I wish I could have seen it more!