Significant Casualties: When Quality Shows End Too Soon - Page 2

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/15/17 at 10:40pm

The Student Gypsy, Darling of the Day, and Georgy were delightful musicals with wonderful scores that closed far too quickly. They were twenty-eight zillion and ten times better than the drab, insufferable, tuneless mega-bores that receive critical praise, tons of undeserved awards, and cause untold misery to theatregoers everywhere.

 

 

 

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/15/17 at 11:15pm

Maybe the most notorious: Merrily We Roll Along."

 

Not really. The original production made some really horrible mistakes. The set was ugly, the costumes ridiculous and the use of young actors a mistake.

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/15/17 at 11:16pm

GavestonPS said: "I saw BRIDGES in LA and even without O'Hara and Pasquale it was an extraordinarily moving evening in the theater. I have no idea why it didn't run, given the star wattage of the original, unless the public was just tired of the story.

But I think SCOTTSBORO BOYS has quite a bit in common with MERRILY: both prove the old adage that while people may come out whistling the tunes, a musical rises or falls because of its book. Both scores are exquisite, but the books don't really work (for different reasons).

 

"

I'm going to disagree with you about Scottsboro.  I thought the whole thing was brilliant.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 4/15/17 at 11:18pm

Yeah the original production of Merrily was a god awful mess (I'd still give my right leg to see that glorious trainwreck live).  Terrible set, direction, choreography, and literally the worst costume designs of all time.  All that being said, I love the score and I don't have a huge problem with the book.  The score, while not Sondheim's greatest, is one of his more tuneful shows and has given us some brilliant songs.  The book can be a little confusing if not directed properly, but it is not particularly bad...... except for the "acid" throwing in the first scene.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 1:00am

Agree with SHUFFLE ALONG and BRIGHT STAR.

I am still hearbroken over BRIGHTSTAR closing so soon and SHUFFLE's Tony loss for choreography. I found HAMILTON's to be annoyingly repetitive and distracting. JMO

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 1:40am

South Fl Marc said: "Maybe the most notorious: Merrily We Roll Along."

 

Not really. The original production made some really horrible mistakes. The set was ugly, the costumes ridiculous and the use of young actors a mistake.

 

 

"

I'm not sure those factors were the reason the production CLOSED, though... 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 4:18am

"I'm not sure those factors were the reason the production CLOSED, though... "

 

You're right. The reason it closed was that it was a bad show, period.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 5:55am

100 percent American Psycho, that show was fantastic and game changing in so many ways. Even worse than it's early closure was its snub for Best Musical and Best Actor at the Tony Awards. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 6:50am

", and literally the worst costume designs of all time."

You've literally seen every costume design in the annals of time?

 

 

[Capeguy]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 7:19am

I did see the original "Merrily..." and as a Sondheim fanatic, I was so disappointed. It just didn't work. I didn't realize how good the music was until the album was released. I think the reason it's still produced (In Boston this year) is the music. Prince made some bad choices in the direction.

Also, "Shuffle..." should have had a chance with Audra's replacement AND there should have been a recording.

[Sushisake]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 7:53am

BroadwayConcierge said: "Honestly, Honeymoon in Vegas.

 

"I have to say - I agree - this show was wonderful. Saw it 4 times

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 9:27am

Also, my favorite Kander & Ebb show:  that rollicking romp, 70, Girls, 70! Laughs, ebullience, and a wonderful score. A theatrical funfest if ever there was one.

So hit it, Lorraine!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 11:31am

After Eight said: "The Student Gypsy, Darling of the Day, and Georgy were delightful musicals with wonderful scores that closed far too quickly. They were twenty-eight zillion and ten times better than the drab, insufferable, tuneless mega-bores that receive critical praise, tons of undeserved awards, and cause untold misery to theatregoers everywhere.

 

 I totally agree re Darling of the Day.  I loved it and was amazed that it didn't run longer than 32 performances, given the fact that it received some very good reviews.  I remember the album having a list of critics who said it was the best musical of the season...one of them, if memory serves me, was Walter Kerr.  I guess Vincent Price in the lead, and a dismissive review from Clive Barnes, and the location of the theatre (all the way up on 54th Street) meant that it never had a chance.  

I did not see The Student Gypsy, and I disagree re Georgy, although I saw it in Boston, so it may have changed by the time it got to NYC.  I must admit that I still remember two songs very well, although I have not heard the score since 'that night.'  There's a Coming Together and Do You Remember the Day? (don't remember if that is the title, but it is the main lyric), so I guess that counts for something.

I agree with comments that Scottsboro Boys and Shuffle Along should be on the list.  From earlier times, I would also add Drat! The Cat! which I loved when I saw it in previews ($5 for second or third row of the orchestra -- boy, have times changed).  

But, to me, the most terrible casualty was the version of Cyrano that starred Christopher Plummer.  He gave what is to this day one of the 4 or 5 greatest performances I have seen from an actor in a musical.  I still play the CD with relative frequency and it never fails to move me.  Should have been a big hit.

I also saw the show that was titled Cry For Us All and Who To Love while it was in Boston.    I thought it was excellent, with a very good score, an excellent cast, and one of the best set designs that I have ever seen in a show.  I can actually remember 5 or 6 songs from this one, although I did see it twice in Boston, so I had more of an opportunity to ingrain it.  Also, The Grand Tour.  A terrific Jerry Herman score, a great performance by Joel Gray, and a good story.

If we add revivals, there was a revival of The Pajama Game at the Lunt-Fontanne in the 70s.  it was so entertaining and ran about 10 weeks...I saw it twice and would have seen it a third time, had the clock not run out.

If we add plays, Alan Ayckbourn had a lot of shows that should have run longer.  The most entertaining of the lot ran the shortest.  How the Other Half Loves starred Phil Silvers and was hysterically funny.  (For that matter, his revival of A Funny Thing also had much too short a run.  People will say that it was because of his death...not really true...it was dying at the box office, despite his and Larry Blyden's Tony wins.  It was also true that musical revivals did not appeal to audiences those days -- I guess there were enough new musicals a season to keep them happy...also, overall attendance was not what it is today).   

PS -- Among the shows that I missed having seen because they closed so quickly, 70 Girls 70 is at the top of the list.   

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 3:22pm

Bonnie and Clyde

 

American Psycho

and yes

Honeymoon in Vegas.

[@z5]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 4:13pm

It Shoulda Been You 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 5:56pm

South Fl Marc said: "After Eight  "drab, insufferable, tuneless mega-bore"

 

The perfect way to describe the troll, After Eight

 

You are a really obnoxious bore!  ??

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 6:17pm

PThespian said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "I know it wasn't anything spectacular, but The Story of My Life didn't deserve to close after 5 performances.

 
I al aye
"

Agreed. 

Rags comes to mind as does Grind (love the score. Book is kind of meh.)

I'll risk ridicule and say High Fidelity, Bombay Dreams and Baby. 

 

I regret not having seen Rags, as I love the score even more than Ragtime, which I also love.  But Grind was an abysmal bore.  I don't remember thinking the score was good, but it might have been.  The show was just so unrelentingly dreary from beginning to end.  The woman in the lead (supporting) role won a Tony, but it was the worst season for musicals the in my lifetime.  I think that was the season where they did not even give Tony's for lead actor and actress in a musical.  Back to Grind, I consider that to be one of my top 5 worst musicals I ever saw. There was not an entertaining moment in the entire show.  (Other worsts would include Merrily (probably one of only two times I left a show angry; Dr. Jazz (the other time); Copperfield; and either Jimmy or Come Summer). I hated Avenue Q but I knew it wasn't junk...just not my cup of tea.

 

Updated On: 4/16/17 at 06:17 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 6:56pm

Jarethan, I usually thrill to your memories of shows I never got to see. But I have to disagree with your take on GRIND, a show that I really admired at the time, even as I could see its flaws.

For starters, it was a perfect Hal Prince show-- a full social critique of Jim Crow set against the backdrop of pure show-biz in the guise of the segregated burlesque circuit of the 1930's. The conceit of a love story set amidst the second bananas, strippers, and novelty acts going on onstage was great drama for me, made all the more so by it all playing out on one of the most brilliant Broadway sets I've ever seen. To see the entire multi-story world of that old vaudeville theater -- stacks of dressing rooms up spiral stairs, onstage backdrops going up and down manned from visible fly lofts, side wings, front of house spaces-- all on a huge turntable that revolved and revolved constantly showing new nooks and crannies was thrilling on its own. Add a talented cast of 30 starring Ben Vereen, and a score which might not have been memorable, but suited the Julie Styne vibe of the piece to a tee, and I was a very happy camper that night. Wish I had had the money then to return several times before its premature closing.

[markypoo]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 8:25pm

Jarethan:  Just a few comments re. the '72 revival of Forum with Silvers.  I was incredibly blessed when we in Chicago got this as its pre-B'way tryout in March or so of that year.  My Mother (now 95-1/2) and I went to see it and afterward she described it as flawless; which was spot-on.  It played the Loop in a grind house called the McVicker's which had definitely seen better days, but Phil's performance was one I'll never forget and is a reason for my being a show fan after all this time.  Fabulous.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 8:39pm

 

Jarethan wrote:

" I totally agree re Darling of the Day. ... I guess Vincent Price in the lead, and a dismissive review from Clive Barnes, and the location of the theatre (all the way up on 54th Street) meant that it never had a chance. "

Actually, Clive Barnes did not give it a dismissive review. He decided to review an off-Broadway show rather than attend Darling of the Day's opening. It was the Times's second-string critic who reviewed Darling, and gave it a bad review. Barnes saw it later and wrote a very positive review of it in the Times. But the damage had already been done.

"I disagree re Georgy, although I saw it in Boston, so it may have changed by the time it got to NYC.  I must admit that I still remember two songs very well, although I have not heard the score since 'that night.'  There's a Coming Together and Do You Remember the Day? (don't remember if that is the title, but it is the main lyric)" 

The second song you are referring to may be Sweet Memory. I too remember the score after all these years. My favorites were So What?, Make It Happen Now, and Something Special. I found the whole show to be something special. The score was penny bright, fresh, winning and winsome. The lyrics were deft and apt. The show captivated me utterly; I adored it, and still treasure its sweet memory.

 

As for Grind, I agree with you wholeheartedly. It was ghastly.
 

Updated On: 4/16/17 at 08:39 PM

[stevie3]

Posted: 4/16/17 at 10:20pm

Honestly speaking from experience. I have been in the industry for 33 years, seen over 200 shows and I hear what all of you are saying about the shows that you liked very much that closed too soon and I agree with you but without a doubt the one that was pure genius and entertaining was Honeymoon In Vegas.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 4:19pm

For AfterEight and anyone else who misses 70, Girls, 70, just thought i'd let you know that a concert version of it will be performed at 54 Below on April 17:

https://54below.com/events/70-girl-70-concert/

I'm not involved in the production in any way - it was just announced in an email that i received approx. weekly from 54 Below announcing upcoming events.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 8:11am

^

 

Thank you, Adam,  for the heads up. I hope others had the good fortune to attend what was unquestionably one of the happiest theatrical evenings I've experienced in decades. It filled me with elation, ecstasy, euphoria.  I was not merely on on cloud 9, but on cloud 9,999. That's a very nice cloud to be on. I wish I could visit it more often!

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:36am

I agre,mama. I really loved Scottsboro Boys. A difficult and emotional story to watch. Bu the way it was presented, while controversial, was indeed brilliant.   I really found no chinks in the armor, including the book.

I also agree with Shuffle Along.  For whatever reason they pulled the plug on it, and it may have been their decision, or questionably handled.  But still a missed adventure for those who didn't see it.  And I agree that the Tony should have been Savion's.  Hamilton movement and dance was terrific, but that seen in Shuffle Along blew the roof off the Music Box.

Lastly, American Psycho.  So provocative.  And so well staged.  And Walker really was great.  That theater was pulsating.

 

 

dramamama611 said: "GavestonPS said: "I saw BRIDGES in LA and even without O'Hara and Pasquale it was an extraordinarily moving evening in the theater. I have no idea why it didn't run, given the star wattage of the original, unless the public was just tired of the story.

But I think SCOTTSBORO BOYS has quite a bit in common with MERRILY: both prove the old adage that while people may come out whistling the tunes, a musical rises or falls because of its book. Both scores are exquisite, but the books don't really work (for different reasons).

 

"

I'm going to disagree with you about Scottsboro.  I thought the whole thing was brilliant.

 

"

 

[wonkit]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:43am

I would vote for SCOTTSBORO BOYS, too. I thought everything about the production was spot on, and the talent onstage was pretty extraordinary. The ignoramus protestors outside the theater may have scared some people away; the night I attended they were very much in evidence.