Transfers That Flopped- Page 2

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 3:01am

Sweney Todd didn't do well in its initial London production

[bobs3]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 3:31am

In the 1985, they brought "La Cage aux Folles" to London with George Hearn and Denis Quilley (a British musical comedy star) where it bombed.

[TheHappyPhantom]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 4:27am

I don't remember Drowsy Chaperone flopping. It should have, it's awful. But I think it was a hit.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 6:09am

No, Drowsy Chaperone closed much earlier than expected.

I wonder about definitions. For me a transfer is when the original production is transfered--not a new production with a different director some years later (like with Ragtime).

[bobs3]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 6:12am

Despite having Elaine Paige in the title role and receiving decent reviews THE DROWSY CHAPERONE closed in less than three months.

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:02am

Drowsy was a big flop in London sadly mainly to do with producers and marketing. Hair only lasted 5 months when it was hoped to do a year.

Woman in White was a flop on both sides, it was only due to Palace in London beng controlled by Webber that it survived in London longer. Sister Act too never made money in London.

Anyway I believe the question was London to Broadway flops? Starlight, Chess, Chitty, Bombay Dreams....

[mar6411]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:20am

No it wasn't.

From the original post:

Has there ever been a show from the West End to NYC and vice versa that was expected to be a hit and wasn't?

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:37am

Ah, stand corrected!

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:37am

Ah, stand corrected!

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 8:12am

Hit British farces like No Sex Please, We're British and Run for Your Wife flopped on Broadway.

It might be interesting to consider hit shows from other countries that did not do well in New York.

Here are a few:

France- Nina, The Good Soup, Moonbirds, Patate, Traveller Without Luggage, Mademoiselle Colombe, Poor Bitos, The Enchanted, Pajama Tops, Boeing-Boeing (original Broadway production)
Spain- Song of the Grasshopper
Italy- Rugantino
Poland- Metro
Switzerland- The Physicists

[Skywalker3]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 9:19am

Spring Awakening was a flop in London!
Only 3 months

[DEClarke]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 9:29am

AnythingGoes23, BOMBAY DREAMS was a disaster in NYC. I think a lot of that has to do with the MAJOR changes made to the show before it opened in NYC. They cut the runtime way down and added two characters that were American tourists to the show, The tourist characters explained tidbits about Indian culture to the audience who producers felt like may not get the show.

The US National Tour faired better though. The show only ran about 105 minutes (that includes the 18 minute intermission). Most importantly, the US tourists were cut.

I would love to see the UK version in its 3 hour glory. I love Indian culture and Bollywood films, so naturally this piece is one that I love. I only ever saw the US Tour. I wish a DVD (not the behind-the-scenes one) of the US Tour or preferably of the UK version existed. I'd love to see the show again and again.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 9:42am

Didn't Coram Boy fare much better on the West End than it did on Broadway?

[NotAnotherSN]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 11:21am

On Spring Awakening:

It was actually a huge surprise that it closed so quickly on the West End. Critics loved it but it simply never found an audience. I think there were a lot of preconceived notions about what the show was supposed to be with the music. Either way, it wound up faring pretty well come awards season.

[bdn223]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 11:37am

Although Spring Awakening was technically a flop in the West End , the flop is not akin to that of RENT, The Drowsey Chaparone, and the Hair revival. Spring Awakening played a small venue outside of the West End for a month. Instead of announcing a transfer after receiving excellent reviews with the West End transfer already a lock to happen within a week or two of the out of town tryout, the producers decided to annouce the West End transfer at the closing performance. From my knowledge the out of town tryout was sold out with several people clammoring for ticket, just waiting on the annoucement of a transfer, but by the time of the announcement excitment had cooled because fans had lost hope for a transfer. The producers created maybe one or two weeks of presales opportunity for Spring Awakening causing abismal future sales, so by the time it opened in the West End less than a month later, despite opening to glowing reviews no one knew about the show and it could never regain the momentum in sales during its out of town tryout. That is also why after Spring Awakening won the Olivier for Best Musical over 6 months after closing there was talk of a West End revival because people had no idea what the show was and wanted to see it.

Updated On: 12/30/12 at 11:37 AM

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 11:58am

Wow. I'd forgotten Spring Awakening even went to the West End.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 12:09pm

The Producers didn't flop in the West End, but the UK tour was a bit of a flop (except when Peter Kay was in it).

As has been said Avenue Q did well in London and has had two successful UK tours

Wasn't Movin Out a filler anyway before Wicked came in?

[Jonwo]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 12:38pm

Movin' Out was a limited 16 week run between the closure of Saturday Night Fever and the opening of Wicked but it only did 2 months. It was totally the wrong theatre for the show.

The Producers had a good run of 2 years in London although I can't remember if it recouped or not? I think it did but I wonder would had it lasted a bit longer had they opted for a smaller theatre although at the time, there weren't available.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 2:20pm

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/30/12 at 2:33pm

Rent wasn't really a flop, it ran over a year and half and did well on tour and played another limited engagement in London. It was not the runaway hit that it was in NY but it did OK.....now Rent Remixed on the other hand

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/31/12 at 4:43am

Yeah I was wondering if the poster meant Rent Remixed. I saw the original UK rent in August of 1999 (I think a bit over a year after it opened), and the theatre seemed near full (I was in the balcony, err, mezzanine as you Americans call it), with the typical RentHeads at the front of the orchestra and a pretty enthusiastic reaction. I knew it wasn't a big hit (though did it recoup?) but I wouldn't place it with Spring Awakening, etc.

[shomeika]

Posted: 12/31/12 at 9:48am

Ghost comes to mind...and I feel uneasy about The Bodyguard (psychic prediction).

[The Scorpion]

Posted: 12/31/12 at 9:49am

Festen was a hit in London (though I'm not sure what the audience/critics saw in it) but I believe it flopped in New York.

I don't think Blood Brothers did well Stateside. The original run didn't do that well in London either, but the revival ran for two decades.

From other countries, in recent memory Tanz der Vampire and the most recent Superstar revival flopped on Broadway.

As for Bombay Dreams, I'm not sure it could be considered a hit in London. It ran a year or so IIRC. I don't think it recouped but I could be wrong. Then ALW closed it down and said he wanted to incorporate the changes made for Broadway into the London production (à la Sunset) but it never re-opened again.

Re Aspects, it definitely recouped in London and made a small profit. The Broadway outing was disastrous, though. And yes, Woman in White flopped on both sides of the Atlantic.

In terms of critical, rather than financial, success, the Evita revival was pretty much adored by the London critics but received rather harsh reviews on Broadway. I wonder which production will have made more money. The London one ran for longer but it didn't have the box office power of Ricky Martin.

Updated On: 12/31/12 at 09:49 AM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/31/12 at 11:10am

DEClarke, in Bombay Dreams those two tourists were discussed early on, but never made to the final book. That said, it did flop, though I'm a fan of both versions of the show.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 12/31/12 at 12:42pm

Evita in London ran almost a year but I don't know if it recouped. Bombay Dreams did two years in London but I think it did recoup or was near recouping.