Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#1Shows 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)
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
loverly
Understudy Joined: 8/6/06
#2re: 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.
#2re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:39pm
"JB"
"Mamma Mia"
'
cheezedoodle
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/15/05
#3re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:39pmHonestly - I still can't understand Mamma Mia's success.
"Oh Link...your pork is ready..." - Edna Turnblad
#4re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 6:42pmCurtains, Tarzan, and I was unsure about Wicked when I saw it in previews. I thought it might not catch on. Oops.
"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
BroadwaySinger2
Leading Actor Joined: 4/12/07
#5re: 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
purpleprince101
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#6re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:47pmI thought drowsy would close in a month. Uhh...Why is Mamma Mia still playing?
#7re: 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.
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
Heybeenfood
Broadway Star Joined: 5/15/06
#8re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 7:55pmI didn't think there was a place for Spring Awakening on broadway.
#9re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:07pmJersey Boys. When I saw it in San Diego I was sure Broadway audiences were gonna see right through it. I guess I was wrong.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#10re: 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.
#11re: 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)
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
#12re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:26pmIt was impossible for Piazza to flop, as it was a not-for-profit production.
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.
#13re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 8:27pmTARZAN 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?
< Patty Duke (the original Neely O'Hara) & me (March 8, 2010)
#14re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:08pmIt's Disney's name. I know it is unfortunate.
#15re: 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?
jg4892
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/06
#16re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:18pmI remember seeing the Jersey Boys announcement and thinking it would be gone within the month, guess I was wrong haha.
singingbackup
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/06
#17re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 9:19pm
Tarzan
Jersey Boys
#18re: 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!
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
#19re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:14pmBefore having seen the show, I thought 'Spelling Bee' sounded like an awful idea.
I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!
AnnaK<3LMIP
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/20/07
#20re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:18pmI was SO sure Wicked would not do well. SO sure. I was SO wrong. I don't like being wrong.
I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.
Dover
Leading Actor Joined: 4/29/06
#21re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:29pmJekyll and Hyde. Wow. I mean, wow. I couldn't believe that thing kept running.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#22re: 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.
#23re: Shows You Thought Would Flop That Ended Up Being A Success
Posted: 5/9/07 at 11:36pmIt's the opposite, but before The Pirate Queen even started previews, I thought it was going to be the next big, popular show.
One time, Patti LuPone punched me in the face...
It was awesome. - theaterkid1015
It was awesome. - theaterkid1015
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#24re: 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!
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