Let's Recreate the Flop Marquee Thread!- Page 2

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 11:29am

Wanna Be A Foster, you are amazing! Thank you.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 11:36am

Aren't some of these just limited engagements?

Oh and the Iceman revival was considered a financial flop? I thought I remebered it going through a replacement cast?

[the_musical]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 12:36pm

so not so much flops but marquees...

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 12:38pm

the_musical, all three of those are indeed flops. Pretty!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 1:03pm

That's the first time I'd ever seen the Jane Eyre and Wild Party marquees. Thanks for those.








Updated On: 10/24/07 at 01:03 PM

[sit&dither]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 1:27pm

WBAF, do you know what's up with the Night Must Fall one? It appears as if a name was taped over?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 3:53pm

Limited runs can be flops, too.

[JRybka]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 4:13pm

This is my favorite thread of all time. I adore looking at the old pictures of Marquees. It is one of the reasons why I bought the Playbill Book that came out a couple years ago. They bring back memories of shows I have seen and also lets me see what it was like back in the day when I was not there.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 11:40pm

I could not agree more, JRybka. Any more?

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 2:38am

The Little Shop of Horrors looks really well done! If only these efforts would inspire others. Of course, I guess since it is here, it failed to attract enough attention.

What happened with it? It's one of the best Musicals around.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 5:40am

sit&dither, I just noticed that on the NIGHT MUST FALL marquee. I have no idea what that was.

Carl Magnum, as ThankstoPhantom said, limited runs, unless they are being mounted by a non-profit, can absolutely be flops.

Just because the producers have only set out a certain time frame for the show to play doesn't mean that they can't lose money.

Examples of recent limited engagements that were hits (made back their investments) are BUTLEY, THE VERTICAL HOUR, FROST/NIXON, A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, JULIUS CAESAR, THE ODD COUPLE, and THREE DAYS OF RAIN.

Recent limited engagements that were flops are DEUCE, TALK RADIO, JOURNEY'S END, and ON GOLDEN POND.

Tkt2Ride, the LITTLE SHOP revival failed primarily because of Jerry Zaks' bloated production. First off, in an attempt to reinvent the role of Audrey -- as Ellen Greene had pretty much put her trademark on it through the original Off-Broadway production and the movie verson -- Zaks completely misguided Kerry Butler and directed her to perform Audrey, for lack of a better description, as though she had a mental disorder. In addition to this, the production values were completely overblown inside the Virginia Theater (now the August Wilson), and most critics felt that the small, downtown nature that gave the original production its charm was lost on Broadway.

Updated On: 10/25/07 at 05:40 AM

[The Boy From Ohio]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 9:14am

Thanks for the great pics. More please. :)

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 8:17pm

Bump!!!!!

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 8:22pm

It pains me to see All Shook Up being a flop even all these years later. =(

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 8:25pm

I think a great idea for a coffee table book - flop poster art.

It would have a limited market however.

[nicholscreek]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 8:57pm

Wow - I had no idea that Jekyll and Hyde did not recoup. I thought it ran for years.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 9:05pm

It did - run for years

It did lose money

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 9:28pm

Plus I think Little Shop is done by every high school and college in the country. I don't think many people felt the need to "re-see" it on Broadway.

And I really think the old Virginia marquee was the classiest on Broadway.

[amoni]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 9:40pm

"WBAF, do you know what's up with the Night Must Fall one? It appears as if a name was taped over?"

Exactly. The show opened at the Lyceum and then moved over to The Helen Hayes. When the amazing Judy Parfitt left the show, the producers didn't want to spend money on a new marquee so they insisted on the black tape. It looked ridiculous and was embarrassing.

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 11:02pm

[BwayMania]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 11:18pm

Can someone clarify what a flop is? I can see shows like Lestat and In My Life, & Tom Sawyer being called flops, maybe even ones like All Shook Up. However, while they didn't run for a few years, weren't shows like Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, and Wedding Singer successful enough to NOT be flops?

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 11:33pm

Any show that did not recoup its initial investment is a flop. That even means some of the greatest shows such as Sweeney Todd (the original) and Into the Woods are considered flops.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 10/25/07 at 11:50pm

It makes me sad to see all these great plays, written by playwrights I love, starring actors I admire flopping...

Oh, and here's another (from the show's pre-broadway run)

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/8/08 at 1:40pm

Bump

[jenna2]

Posted: 5/8/08 at 1:52pm