Pre-Broadway sell outs that flopped on Broadway — Page 2

FANtomFollies said: "A flop is any show that fails to recoup its investment and make a profit."

The media reports around the closing announcement of American Idiot indicated that it was close to recouping but it was unclear if that would happen before the last performance. It had a very solid start, some lean winter months, and a strong finish. If anyone knows of a trustworthy source that could settle the matter of recoupment, I'd be very interested.

BroadwayNYC2 said: "“ I use the accepted Ken Mandelbaum standard of a flop as < 250 performances. ”



this has never remotely been accepted just because he mentions it in one book. I swear, some of y’all just type things in this board."

Exactly.

RippedMan said: "For what it's worth, Beetlejuice flopped on Broadway - by those terms - but is a giant hit on the road. It's already got a second Chicago stop planned due to demand."

Jagged Little Pill has also done well on the road. Sadly, COVID killed the Broadway production.

As a fan of Alice Faye, I was thrilled when she was signed to do the revival of GOOD NEWS. It toured successfully for almost a year but ran for only 16 performances on Broadway (12/23/74 to 1/4/75).

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS with Debby Boone had a well-received 18 month tour prior to opening on Broadway where it had a 5 performance run (7/8/82 to 7/11/82).

Updated On: 11/12/23 at 04:39 PM

Here Lies Love was sold out at the Public Theatre back in 2013 when it was off-Bway.
K-POP was sold out at Ars Nova back in 2017 when it was off-Bway.

Both did not do well on Broadway.

Not Since Carrie is required reading for any theater fan. It is essentially the bible for flop lovers. It's not just something some guy wrote in a book. As someone said, American Idiot ran a year but did not profit so that's a bad measurement too.



Ken's book is thoroughly researched and his definition is not only well put together with a great deal of care, it is also used as the end-all in most theater circles.

FantomFollies wrote: "It's becoming obvious many people on this forum don't know what a flop is. A flop is any show that fails to recoup its investment and make a profit. It doesn't matter if it runs for a long time or is praised by critics or audiences. If it doesn't recoup, it is a flop."

I couldn't agree more. For example, the revival of 42nd STREET ran over 3 1/2 years and clocked in with 31 previews and 1,524 performances. Yet, it was so costly to run that, if I'm not mistaken, it closed without recouping its initial investment. I loved the show and saw it several times. It was a lavish production and you saw every penny spent on the stage. It also had an orchestra pit with over twenty musicians. A financial flop. yes, but it far surpassed the original 1980 production IMO which was a financial hit and ran twice as long as the revival.