New Broadway Book: "Flop Musicals of the Twenty-First Century"

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 3:28pm

https://www.routledge.com/Flop-Musicals-of-the-Twenty-First-Century-How-They-Happened-When-They/Purdy/p/book/9780367173326

 

This looks to be a modern follow-up inspired by NOT SINCE CARRIE and SECOND ACT TROUBLE, focusing on 10 shows from the past 20 years.

Here are the 10 shows:

 

1 Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

2 Lestat

3 Urban Cowboy

4 The Pirate Queen

5 Rocky

6 King Kong

7 Escape to Margaritaville

8 Glory Days

9 Bullets Over Broadway

10 Dance of the Vampires

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 3:35pm

The paperback is $45, with the hardback at $110?  That's a bit much.  I'll keep monitoring Amazon for when the price is lowered to something more reasonable. 

Looks like a great read.  I saw 6 of the shows listed.  "Margaritaville" will always remain #1 for me - the worst show I ever saw.  It was just so stupid.   "Bullets" was fantastic!  Loved it!

Updated On: 6/2/20 at 03:35 PM

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 3:38pm

 Can only say I've seen half of one. I saw Escape to Margaritaville at the Chicago tryout. Two hours before curtain, while waiting for my friend, I grabbed a table and a margarita pitcher for us at a restaurant. She showed up and immediately announced she was pregnant (and therefore, couldn't drink the margaritas.) I was never wasteful person, so I finished the pitcher and went to the show. I posted on instagram about having margaritas before the show, Broadway in Chicago commented on my instagram post, "Someone came prepared!"

Which, now, I realize was a warning.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 4:04pm

I got so excited until I saw the price.

[zainmax]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 4:11pm

It seems to use a slightly different model than NOT SINCE CARRIE.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marchershberg/2020/05/31/new-book-explores-broadway-flops/
 

Academic prices are crazy, tho textbooks were much cheaper in my day!!

Updated On: 6/1/20 at 04:11 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:28pm

So, Jason Robert Brown is represented only by Urban Cowboy?  This is not a comment on the quality of JRB's work. 

And Wildhorn escapes inclusion?  Again, not a comment on the quality of Wildhorn's music.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 6:31pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I got so excited until I saw the price."

 

Same. And it is only 108 pages.

 

[zainmax]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 12:40am

ggersten said: "So, Jason Robert Brown is represented only by Urban Cowboy? This is not a comment on the quality of JRB's work.

And Wildhorn escapes inclusion? Again, not a comment on the quality of Wildhorn's music."

Good point. Wonderland should be in there!!

 Would you include honeymoon in Vegas??

[joevitus]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 4:10am

I want Dance of the Vampires to have been better than it was given credit for. But I'm perfectly willing to accept it probably wasn't.

King Kong--to me--could work. There's nothing inherently wrong with adapting it or having a giant puppet. 

[North2009]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 9:20am

That price.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 10:50am

Oh. Oh I need this. But I can wait at that price. It will hit Amazon eventually. I need this just to see what they say about Dance of the Vampires in the book because.... woof. I spoke about my experience seeing that over in the "Shows That Now Live In Infamy" topic. So all I will comment here only the one thing that I think sums it all up.... Penis. Sponge. Joke.

For reference, here is the amazon listing for those wanting to watch for a sale price: https://www.amazon.com/Flop-Musicals-Twenty-First-Century-Happened/dp/0367173328/

Updated On: 6/2/20 at 10:50 AM

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 3:58pm

Hey there! It's Stephen Purdy here, the author of the book. I'm unbelievably flattered that this interests you guys. I just wanted to to say that I ALSO think the price is far too high and have been told that this price is just an initial price and that the price will come down once the book is released. Lets hope so. Also, there is bad info on Amazon and such about the length. It's much longer than 108 pages (it's around 220 I think.) Finally, the preface explains why the choices were what they were when choosing the shows to discuss. You're absolutely right, there could have been discussion about several of the Wildhorn shows, but expect to see those in future volumes (which we are planning!) Stay well, everyone and lets all pray we are back in the theatre SOON! 

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 4:57pm

Thanks, Steven.  Really looking forward to it.  Yes, Amazon does lower their prices the closer the release date is.  Anything that is pre-ordered, will automatically honor the lowest price when it ships out.  

[AADA81]

Posted: 6/2/20 at 9:01pm

Those other two books covered many shows that had my interest and attention.  After seeing this list, I'll wait until it hits the bargain bins.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 2:56am

I thought "Honeymoon in Vegas" - like "Something Rotten" - had a great first 30mins and then it all went downhill from there. I'm surprised it hasn't shown up regionally anywhere as it is a well-known movie title. 

I think the list is quite interesting given that a lot of them had a lot of potential but just didn't work. I'm in the minority but I loved a lot of "Rocky" - the staging was so cool, and the song "Raining" is just so gorgeous. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 1:06pm

Was Thou Shalt Not non-profit or a commercial run? That one continues to fascinate me. With the source material and creatives involved it should have been a bigger success. Maybe that one will be covered in a later volume.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 6:45pm

I devoured this book in less than 24 hours. I had a $10 Amazon gift card on account, which knocked the Kindle ebook down to around $20. This book is definitely worth the read - ten very thorough and interesting case studies full of facts and even some fun anecdotes. I really hope there are more editions to come!

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 8:01pm

Stephen Purdy here: Oh my gosh bwayphreak234 I'M SO glad you liked it. We authors sit in our little cubby with a Diet Coke and a computer and write and it isn't until we get feedback like this that is so important to us. Thank you for reading it--I am truly appreciative!!!! Be well and safe! 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 8:46pm

The price that comes up for me on both Barnes & Noble and Amazon is $150.00, and it says it is only 114 pages. What the hell????? I can get a good seat at an actual Broadway show for less than that. Someday. One day. Maybe.

[nyc623]

Posted: 6/18/20 at 4:49pm

The hardcover book is 108 pages. It’s not a misprint. The online retailers are not mistaken.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/18/20 at 5:01pm

We’ve been duped.

[joevitus]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 2:14pm

No editor seems to have caught--on the first page of the first chapter--that the title of a famous magazine is The New Yorker, not New Yorker (hypothetically, you can say "As was stated in the/a New Yorker article..." but that isn't the sort of sentence structure in which the error appears). Read what I could on the Amazon preview. It seems to be rehashing what a Broadway aficionado would know from other sources, not just transient newspaper articles but other works in book form. Not seeing a lot of new information, nor any real analysis of the shows themselves. Instead it seems a recounting of their troubled production histories. Not sure I see the value in the book.

Also, as it's published by Routledge, an academic press, I don't expect the price to come down much, even in paperback.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 2:36pm

Indeed. In reading the chapter on DOTV, a lot of it seems to be rehashed from my write-ups on the subject, possibly with some new quotes mixed in.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 2:41pm

This may be the laziest book I have ever read, at any price. I got no new info, no insight, lots of errors. 

Updated On: 6/19/20 at 02:41 PM

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 6:25pm

Hey guys, Stephen here, author of the book. Thank you for the feedback--it's truly helpful as we ready future volumes. I agree 100 percent---the price is RIDICULOUS. I fought and fought, but I'm told by the publisher that when books first are released the price is higher with the intention of bringing it down later to "move copies." As for the length also correct---it stinks. Several chapters were pulled at the end in the interest of overall length and content, but yeah, I was also shocked and upset that only 108 some odd pages ended up in the final--although there's a lot of print crammed onto each page. Finally just to clear the air, the book wasn't meant to be a dishy tattle tale type with shocking insights and revelations and ideas about how the shows could have been saved (I point it out in the intro) but rather to just get the stories of the shows chronicled as they are truly fascinating. Also, I purposely avoided the Ken Mandelbaum model, as much as I enjoyed that book. Ken essentially wrote blurbs about most of the shows and didn't really dig into the stories of the show--it was more of a survey type book. In any case, thank you again for constructive feedback--we'd like to do two more books on the same topic writing in-depth about the shows rather than just touching on the fact that the show was a flop---but without commentary or opinions--but we will do the length AND THE PRICE and even the content differently next time-but I need your help. I'd love to hear anyone's feedback personally too--you can email me anytime--my email address is on my website StephenPurdy.com (I don't think I can leave it here?). Anyway, thank you again. I hope the book brings some reader-ly joy at least.