Train Wrecks You Wish You Had Seen- Page 2

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 4:44pm

Metro
In My Life
Dracula (musical)
Frankenstein (play)

I'm also feeling fortunate that I saw Lestat twice. :)

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 4:50pm

Dance of the Vampires was only a train wreck in this country,m it is still playing to packed houses in Europe

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 4:52pm

(I LOVED Metro)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 5:44pm

I saw Metro but did not care for it.

[AKDPerformer]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 12:07am

Carrie
Lestat
Dance of the Vampires
Annie 2
Pirate Queen

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 1:39am

Carrie
Brooklyn
Dance of the Vampires
Little Women (trainwreck?...a flop anyway)
Bring Back Birdie

I did have the oppurtunity to see Pirate Queen 3 times including the last performance, Tarzan, and High Fidelity :P

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 6:33am

Not all of these are trainwrecks, but they were flops:
Dracula
Dance of the Vampires
Pirate Queen
Side Show
Evil Dead
Coram Boy

I was a fan of Lestat and saw it 15 times, no I'm not ashamed! I got to see every understudy that ever went on (the infamous final weekend) not to mention Amy Sparrow as Claudia, so I'm pretty fortunate I guess. Interesting how so many people wish they had seen it, maybe it would have lasted longer! haha

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 10:15am

Sideshow was not a trainwreck. Listen to the CD

It was a show about Siamese twins & it was a hard sell from the beginning. It was a great show.

[kooky]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 10:41am

How do you really know that they were train wrecks if you DID NOT see them -
some of the shows on those lists were not - - - you really need your OWN opinion.

How about train-wrecks that you have actually seen and have a first hand opinion about!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 1:05pm

If a show closes out of town or plays 1 performance, odds are it is a turkey

Add to my original list PrettyBelle & Breakfast At Tiffanys

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 6:50pm

As I said not all of the shows on my list are considered "trainwrecks" but they were flops...same goes for a lot of people's lists on here.

Side Show though really good, I DO ACTUALLY have the cast recording, was a flop. A show being a trainwreck is really a subjective opinion, a flop is not. In fact most shows are flops because they just never end up making back their initial investments.

I've seen trainwrecks that are/were still running and still breaking even or making their money back. People consider them good...I think they're crap.

[The_Jackal]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 6:58pm

The idea of Carrie really interests me. I kind of wish I could see that. Also, if you count it as a trainwreck, we had an opportunity to get REALLY cheap seats to Little Women but we turned them down. I got the cast recording and I actually like it, so I kind of wish I had seen that when I had the chance...

[Chason]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 7:33pm

I'd give up a nut (I think) to see CARRIE. Sight-unseen...I still say that I'd probably LOVE it.

[cunegande2]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 9:25pm

High Fidelity
Amour
Lestat
Chess
Anyone Can Whistle

[Kev2222]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 11:06pm

1. "Carrie"--although I tend to think that like many here, I wouldn't have thought it was a trainwreck. What made the show so laughable wasn't the score or script, but the weird, over-the-top, pretentious direction. With a different director, that show would have done a lot better than it did.

2. "Rachael Lily Rosenbloom...and Don't You Ever Forget It!"--Ellen Greene (who took over the lead for Bette Midler) says that this show sent her into therapy for years. Music by Paul Jabara, who penned a lot of disco hits including "It's Raining Men."

3. "Moose Murders"--The script to this one is published. It's so bizarre and badly written, you'll wonder how anyone could have considered producing this at a community theatre, let alone in a Broadway house.

4. "Starmites"--Not really a trainwreck, per se, but a flop nontheless. And a show I've always loved.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/20/07 at 11:20pm

Kev2222, where did Ellen Greene say that? Is there a book or interview where she discusses Rachael Lily Rosenbloom...?

[AKDPerformer]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 2:32am

I always try to differentiate when I slap the term trainwreck or flop on a show.

Trainwrecks are just God awful pieces of crap that shouldn't of ever been conceived in the first place.

On the other hand, flops (in my opinion)such as Sideshow/Parade aren't always awful. They just don't draw much attention which is unfortunate and are sometimes referred to as "artistic failures."

Also, if you ever have the chance to read it get the book called "Not Since Carrie" 40 years of musical flops. It's very interesting and worth the read.

Updated On: 10/21/07 at 02:32 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 7:26am

Biggest trainwreck to run for years & make money for no good reason

Cats

MEOW MEOW MEOW

[biggest CHENO fan]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 11:20am

Brooklyn... because I LOVE Eden.
Lestat
Coram Boy

[americanboy99]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 11:24am

You people are sick.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 11:25am

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 11:29am

That is what I call a trainwreck

[Kev2222]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 1:36pm

"Kev2222, where did Ellen Greene say that? Is there a book or interview where she discusses Rachael Lily Rosenbloom...?"

People swear I'm crazy when I tell them this story.

When I got out of college I ran a high school theatre department and I'd get frequent mailings--sales brochures about this show or that show being available for production--from licensing houses. One was about "Rachael Lily Rosenbloom," which I had never heard of before that. But it contained the Ellen Greene quote. I thought the whole thing was so bizarre that it stuck in my mind.

I realize this seems completely absurd--the show has never appeared in any of the licensing house catalogs. And if they were trying to get people to produce it, why would they include an apparently toungue-in-cheek quote from the star that said the show forced her into therapy? Hardly a good way to sell a show to the secondary markets, is it? But that's what happened.

There must have been others who received that brochure, but I've not found anyone yet.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/21/07 at 2:04pm

By definition, "flops" aren't (necessarily) artistic failures, but financial ones. No matter how great a show is, it is still a flop if it doesn't earn back its initial investment. Most of Sondheim's shows (including ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, FOLLIES, PACIFIC OVERTURES, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, and PASSION), lots of Tony and Pulitzer winning plays, and even some Tony winning Best Musicals (HALLELUJAH BABY!, PASSION, SUNSET BOULEVARD, TITANIC, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE) were flops -- even though some of them were terrific critically acclaimed. They just -- for whatever reason -- didn't find an audience.

Now a "trainwreck" doesn't have an "offical" definition, but it does seem to imply a show that was a complete disaster -- artistically AND financially -- that also had an extremely short run (CARRIE, MOOSE MURDERS, BRING BACK BIRDIE ETC.....) ...... I personally wouldn't call something like the Pulitzer and Tony winning plays ANGELS IN AMERICA or I AM MY OWN WIFE, or the Pulitzer-winning SUNDAY IN THE PARK or the Tony winner MILLIE (or SIDESHOW or CAROLINE) a "trainwreck, although they all certainly were flops....... but maybe that's just me.....

[AKDPerformer]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 1:55am

What I meant by "artistic failure" is that the show itself is actually good, but financially/box office wise it's a flop. The critics love it, but it doesn't turn a profit or audience.

I think there's another oxy-moron type term for it...can't quite remember what it was but I swear i've heard it before...