Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
"WTF
Kennedy Center honors Sting and no Last Ship number?????"
You could say the same thing for any of his popular hits that weren't showcased. They always pick and choose. The show got a nice mention. And it's possible the live show did feature a number that just didn't make the TV cut. What we see does not reflect all that happens.
They did perform as part of the Bruno Mars finale. There was no separate Last Ship performance.
"That's how you know it's a flop."
No, Namo, it's not. It may be a flop, but not because of that. That's just the sort of priceless nonsense people have a penchant for spouting on here.
And then there's this:
David Cote "Why You Should See Sting..."
Looks like the curse of the Alvin/Simon lives on.
All the Way?
Hairspray?
Elaine Stritch At Liberty?
The Music Man?
The King and I?
Biloxi Blues?
Brighton Beach Memoirs?
Annie?
Updated On: 12/31/14 at 01:48 AM
The King and I and the Music Man both flopped at the Neil Simon
I think they mean that the Neil Simon has not had a hit MUSICAL since Hairspray. The same could be said about the St. James, which has not had a hit since The Producers.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
"The show is not dull, the audiences are."
Audiences are a lot sharper than you think.
Sharp enough to reject a loser like this one.
And I wonder, if Sting hadn't written this, if tv shows would have plugged it until it was coming out of our ears.
I bet Big Fish, Scandalous, Catch Me If You Can, Hands on a Hardbody, Wonderland, and countless other flops would have loved the (over)exposure this dud received.
Updated On: 12/31/14 at 04:26 AM
Though, like you said, the over-exposure might not be helping. If audiences don't like the songs on TV, they wouldn't be compelled to see the show. And if Wonderland broadcasted any of their inept numbers on TV, it may have actually closed the show faster.
The Kennedy Center Honors might have been really good publicity
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Fantod,
To be honest, as bad as Wonderland was --- and was it ever bad--- it was easier to sit through than The Last Ship.
I kept hoping for them to finally build that ship so that we could escape into the night.
Updated On: 12/31/14 at 04:44 AM
Wow. I didn't think ANYTHING could be worse than that disaster (except maybe The Flick). The Last Ship must be awful.
Updated On: 12/31/14 at 04:46 AM
If you want to believe in cursed theaters look at the Lyric. Zero hits, all flops.
That's what you get for destroying two great theatres.
42nd street? Ragtime?
Both flops. Ragtime lost its entire investment thanks to the lovely human being known as Garth Drabinsky.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/26/07
After Eight, you write, "if the show were as wonderful as people here exclaim, and the audience as enthusiastic as people here claim, then word of mouth would have brought others to see it." If it were that simple then all good shows would be successful, but certainly you believe some flops deserved to run. No?
42nd Street ran for 3.5 years, are you sure it flopped? what did Garth Drabinsky do to Ragtime?
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Chris,
You ask a good question, but it's really a complicated matter. Does something "good" "deserve" to run? It depends on how you conceive of both of these terms.
If someone opens a hot-dog stand, and sells great hot dogs for $50 each, and the public refuses to pay that sum for these hot dogs, causing the owner to go out of business, is the public to "blame?" Did the owner "deserve" success? And if food critics extol hot dogs that are actually lousy, and are judged lousy by the public, should the public be expected to buy them just the same, and be excoriated for not doing so?
As far as shows are concerned, they are being presented to the public for its approval --- and dollars. That's just the way the game is played. If the public doesn't give either, than no, the show doesn't "deserve" to run, no matter what I or anyone else thinks about the show's merits.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/26/07
Thanks After Eight. Your answer makes great sense.
I have to add that I don't believe a lack of audience support means a show isn't wonderful. Was Donnybrook not good? Or the original Waiting for Godot or Candide? I admit I've rarely been mystified by a show's lack of success but I don't assume a show's commerciality is commensurate with its artistic merit.
Oh yes, After Eight, audiences attending theater today are so very sharp. That is why they have kept Mamma Mia running for years. Oh, and Rock of Ages. Let's see, that's right these sharp audiences have turned virtually every junk box musical into a long running hit. Motown? Really? Beautiful? Really? That is why these sharp audiences have been duped into championong junk like Book of Mormon and will pay $400 a ticket. These sharp audiences are why bloated dated musicals like Phantom can run way past their expiration dates. Why shows with men in drag are the screaming height of sophistication. Why every Disney piece of crap like Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and yes the incomprehensible puppet show know as Lion King run and run and run. Why serious drama is just about dead on B'way and most straight plays cannot sustain a long run without some mediocre !!MOVIE STAR!! to titillate these sharp audiences. Yes, audiences are so sharp; they are so intelligent ; they are so sophisticated; they are, in fact, culturally deprived dullards in polyester that have ruined theater with their plebian tastes. If you think they are sharp After Eight, there's a ticket to Moose Murders The Musical using Madonna's catalogue of songs that I would like to sell you. You'll love it!
Please keep in mind that shows like The Last Ship as well as Side Show can really be such a tough sell to the general public.
However, I do feel that Broadway should always have room shows that opens Broadway up to a wider audience that makes it more apart of the mainstream entertainment culture (The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys, The Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots, Beautiful, & Aladdin).
Both Tarzan and The Little Mermaid flopped so you can count those out of long-running hits.
Swing Joined: 3/29/14
If the running costs are as stated a few weeks back then Sting has pulled back around two thirds of the $1m or so they lost in the 10 weeks before he came. Tickets sales post 1/24 are low according to ticketmaster anyway. If you saw the WSJ café video last week he was more or less resigned to it closing and relying on word of mouth to keep it opened.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
"If you think they are sharp After Eight, there's a ticket to Moose Murders The Musical using Madonna's catalogue of songs that I would like to sell you. You'll love it!"
Could be.
I certainly had a better time at the play Moose Murders than I did at The Last Ship. It was beyond awful, yes, but I laughed my head off at its outrageous shenanigans. The Last Ship was just a trial by dire.
I also had a good time at Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, and Beauty and the Beast --- and I don't wear polyester. Nor do I wear jeans when I go to the theatre (or anywhere else for that matter), as do many of our self-proclaimed, sharp "intellectuals."
Hey, After Eight, in your proposed paradigm, how do you account for the long-term success of ONCE?
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