Is Burlesque in Trouble? — Page 2

During the second act of Gypsy they have some bad things to say about Burlesque.

I am now of the belief that any of these “based on a movie” musicals these days no matter the quality usually always make it. They may have longer roads but they always make it

It’s just a game about do they stay open.

(Insert joke about Todrick hopefully paying his dancers here)



but no really, as someone who watched his season of celebrity big brother in real time, I still can’t believe he admitted to that on live feeds. 70% of the new songs are his. He left rehearsals to go dance in Bares in the US. This just reeks of a vanity project

tomorrowBIGLITES said: "I am now of the belief that any of these “based on a movie” musicals these days no matter the quality usually always make it. They may have longer roads but they always make it

It’s just a game about do they stay open."

Do you mean make it to New York? I don't think Diner, First Wives Club, Mystic Pizza, Flashdance or Desperately Seeking Susan made it. Sure, there's hacky doo-doo like Back to the Future and Pretty Woman, but those titles are, as the kids used to say, "iconic". Burlesque has an audience of some gay men with low standards but that's probably about it.

I see this a week from tomorrow and I cannot WAIT. The reports I'm getting from my Brit friends (which echo what is being said here just with more use of the 'c' word) are filling me with utter joy. My husband's gonna kill me, but I gave in to his wish of Hercules so he gets to Wagon Wheel Watusi for the night.

I am hearing it a dazzling....numbers are supposed to be thrilling.......

During this process, he’s also been developing & workshopping an original musical titled ‘midnight’. Todrick wants to be a jack of all trades so badly, which is ambitious and all that…but he needs a team of people to ground him as opposed to hyping up all of this. You can try to do everything when you’re making YouTube videos, sure, but not a project of this magnitude.

I’m sure a lot of it is ego driven, but the more hats he wears, the less number of people that have to get paid, lol. 😉

I’ll never forget his (extremely tacky and overdone) house tour he did a few years back, where he acts like he owns Kristin and Idina’s original Wicked costumes…it’s even funnier when he says the Elphaba dress is the “original from San Francisco before it went to Broadway” yet it’s clearly not. He’s been sued for back rent on said house and the furniture inside (both he tried to pass off as owning) while also posting an Amazon wishlist to his fans for toiletries. He’s a nut.

Diane Warren who co-wrote some of the songs in the movie wrote a pretty scathing post on her Instagram about the show today, especially about cutting " You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" from the score, which won the golden globe that year for best song

Updated On: 7/11/25 at 02:55 PM

“So it appears that Burlesque is no longer an adaptation and more lightly inspired by the movie.

Based on what I’ve been told by multiple attendees, the cast who didn’t move from Manchester with the show have had a very lucky escape.
Cutting ‘You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me’ though? These reviews are going to be very telling.”

Warren’s post

So I had a fun night — let’s get that out of the way first. But let’s also not pretend that Burlesque (in its current preview state) isn’t an absolutely wild mixed bag.

First: Todrick. My god. The man is devouring so much scenery I’m shocked he has any enamel left. Honestly, it’s his show in every way — starring, directing, writing — and you can feel it. Why this wasn’t just turned into a full-on one-man Todrick musical (Todlesque?) is anyone’s guess. Why he’s also directing it is the bigger mystery.

Musically, there’s good and bad. I’m fully with Diane Warren here — cutting the most iconic number from the movie is… bold. Especially when Orfeh slayed it in concert earlier this year. That said, she’s doing the lord’s work with what she’s been given. True pro energy.

Jess Foley is stunning vocally — truly. But there’s a point where “doing the most” becomes “doing too much,” and we found it.

And then there’s George Maguire, an Olivier winner, doing a striptease in lingerie that had me audibly gasp — and not in a good way. If I were still dancing, that might’ve been my “I’m out” moment.

Costume-wise, it seems like only Todrick got the full treatment. The ensemble looked like they raided the back of their own closets (with wigs to match — we couldn’t stop laughing). It’s all very “runway on a budget.”

All of this sounds harsh, and maybe it is. But there is a genuinely entertaining, potentially great show somewhere in this chaos. It was only the third preview, and the audience gave it a boisterous standing ovation — so clearly, someone is eating it up.

There’s a Legally Blonde reference in one of the stronger numbers that actually made me laugh out loud — and also made me think: this is the problem. Too many moments like that, being thrown at the wall. Some of them land, but a lot don’t. It’s a classic case of overreach. Todrick has written some good songs and knows how to work a stage, but here he’s bitten off way more than he can chew.

Anyway. Just chew on that.

Making all about him clearly means they took a sharp turn from the movie. So I’d say that’s a dumb move.

Which producer is calling the shots over there and felt all this was a good idea? They have multiple lead producers but none of them have a hugely impressive track record as lead producers. Is Steve Antin to blame?

I’m not seeing this until next month so hoping it can hang on until then, before completely imploding.