Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

#1

Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:23pm

I'll go first:

Jersey Boys
Legally Blonde
The Drowsy Chaperone (it just seemed like a show that tooted its own horn at the time)

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#2

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:37pm

All of yours (though Legally Blonde remains to be seen), plus Curtains and Tarzan.

#3

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:39pm

"JB"

"Mamma Mia"









'

#4

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:39pm

Honestly - I still can't understand Mamma Mia's success.

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"Oh Link...your pork is ready..." - Edna Turnblad

#5

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:42pm

Curtains, Tarzan, and I was unsure about Wicked when I saw it in previews. I thought it might not catch on. Oops.

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"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

#6

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:44pm

Legally Blonde
Tarzan
The Drowsy Chaperone
Jersey Boys

#7

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:47pm

I thought drowsy would close in a month. Uhh...Why is Mamma Mia still playing?

#8

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:54pm

Uhh...Why is Mamma Mia still playing?

Cause it keeps selling out.

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"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde

#9

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:55pm

I didn't think there was a place for Spring Awakening on broadway.

#10

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:07pm

Jersey Boys. When I saw it in San Diego I was sure Broadway audiences were gonna see right through it. I guess I was wrong.

#11

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:17pm

While it wasn't a huge hit (did it make a profit?) I was pleasantly surprised that Piazza found its audience and, for that kinda show, had a decent run and has gone on to tour.

I've said before how when I went to London in the late 90s I went to see Whistle Down the Wind--knowing *only* about its failed American Hal Prince production, thinking I'd have the chance to see one of those infamous flops that people always talk about--not knowing that the London production was turning into a modest hit (it ultimately ran 1100 performances or so). I was won over by it too--I'm sure my utter lack of expectations for it helped but I was more than pleasantly surprised.

#12

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:17pm

Jersey Boys
Light in the Piazza (I did not expect it to flop, just that it would not extend)

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My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all

#13

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:26pm

It was impossible for Piazza to flop, as it was a not-for-profit production.

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I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.

#14

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:27pm

TARZAN was the worst junk I ever saw. I thought it would be dead a week after it opened (to mostly bad reviews) but a year later it's amazingly still there. I don't get it?

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< Patty Duke (the original Neely O'Hara) & me (March 8, 2010)

#15

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:08pm

It's Disney's name. I know it is unfortunate.

#16

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:11pm

I remember seeing a full page ad in the NY Times for "The Producers" (months before it opened). I asked a friend "What do you think about seeing this show?" When he asked what it was about I described the plot of the 1969 movie. We decided that it it didn't sound like a very good idea for a broadway show.
Who knew?

#17

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:18pm

I remember seeing the Jersey Boys announcement and thinking it would be gone within the month, guess I was wrong haha.

#18

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:19pm

Tarzan
Jersey Boys

#19

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:07pm

I remember long ago hearing that Disney was planning on bringing a stage adaptation of "The Lion King" to Broadway using life size puppets.

I had a good chuckle over that ridiculous idea!

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"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie

#20

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:14pm

Before having seen the show, I thought 'Spelling Bee' sounded like an awful idea.

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I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!

#21

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:18pm

I was SO sure Wicked would not do well. SO sure. I was SO wrong. I don't like being wrong.

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I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.

#22

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:29pm

Jekyll and Hyde. Wow. I mean, wow. I couldn't believe that thing kept running.

#23

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:31pm

Same here with THE PRODUCERS. I instantly said D.O.A. when it was first mentioned that Mel Brooks was thinking of turning it into a musical. I thought it was his last attempt at working his name onto yet another project.

MAMMA MIA! came into the US with such huge hype I knew it was going to be a huge enormous hit.

MOVIN' OUT. With it's horrendous reviews in Chicago, I knew it was doomed. All that tinkering worked as that show ran for quite some time once it arrived on Broadway.

#24

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:36pm

It's the opposite, but before The Pirate Queen even started previews, I thought it was going to be the next big, popular show.

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One time, Patti LuPone punched me in the face...


It was awesome. - theaterkid1015

#25

re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success

Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:40pm

Oh, no...even before it released it's first press release I knew THE PIRATE QUEEN was going to flop big time. Just the plot alone spelled disaster -- there's no audience for crap like that anymore. An idea that is two decades too late.

Hey! At least it's kept a pal of mine employed and she might even finally get a Tony nod next week. FINALLY! After years and years of nothing -- FINALLY! And in a flop show!

Whoo-hoo!