Unexpected Flops- Page 2

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 10:02am

Odd Couple, with Lane and Broderick I thought would draw tourists until they tired of it.

I also thought it might be good.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 10:49am

I'm with Snafu. You don't put your money in expecting a show to flop.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 11:20am

The Little Mermaid
Shrek
Taboo
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown


Updated On: 8/25/14 at 11:20 AM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 12:35pm

A Doll's Life
Merrily We Roll Along
Grind

[NoName3]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 2:11pm

Allegro
Mr. President
All American
Jennie
Kean
The Girl Who Came to Supper
The Happiest Girl in the World
Holly Golightly aka Breakfast at Tiffany's
Timbuktu!

Timbuktu! was a sumptuous all black revisal of Kismet designed and directed by Geoffrey Holder with Eartha Kitt fabulous as Lalume and Melba Moore as Marsinah. It was wonderful and I never understood its mixed reviews and short run.

All American was Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' first show after Bye Bye Birdie with book by Mel Brooks and directed by Joshua Logan. Ray Bolger starred as a college professor whose engineering techniques are adopted by the football team, propelling them to a winning streak. The football players had a big locker room production number called Physical Fitness which Logan wanted them to perform in jockstraps. By the time the show opened for try-outs in conservative 1962 Boston, however, they were wearing gym shorts and football pants.



Updated On: 8/25/14 at 02:11 PM

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 2:33pm

Odd Couple - critical disappointment, extended run, not a commercial flop.

[theatregeek02]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 8:09pm

Some shows are expected to do very well and succeed but some, HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME, for example , are just expected to be flops. That would be an example of an expected flop. But some shows with a lot of hype before opening, such as ROCKY or BULLETS, were unexpected to close as soon as they did.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 8/25/14 at 10:13pm

Millie
42nd street
Spider-Man

[buffy27]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 12:35am

Wonderland for sure. It had so much potential. I sat in the first row when I saw it and loved it.

[AKarp2013]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 9:26am

"Wonderland for sure. It had so much potential."

Wonderland did not even have a sliver of potential.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 9:53am

No, WONDERLAND did not have any potential. Wild horn shows have always flopped and this one had the disadvantage of being even more horrendous than most of his shows, though not quite as bad as BONNIE AND CLYDE.

Updated On: 8/28/14 at 09:53 AM

[Nateholder]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 10:31am

Bullets. Yes.


I knew Bridges would be a major flop from the very beginning. I'm pretty sure everybody who wasn't a fan knew it too.
Rocky even more so.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 10:53am

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Legally Blonde
Young Frankenstein
The Little Mermaid
Little Shop of Horrors
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Rocky Horror Show
Ragtime
Jekyll & Hyde
Victor/Victoria
Sunset Boulevard
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Meet Me in St. Louis
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Starlight Express
Mystery of Edwin Drood
Woman of the Year
On the Twentieth Century
Mack and Mabel
Over Here!
Gigi
Follies
Coco
Zorba
How Now Dow Jones
Hallelujah, Baby!
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!
On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever
Fade-Out Fade-In
Little Me
Mr. President
Do Re Mi
Wildcat
Take Me Along
Destry Rides Again
Happy Hunting
Mr. Wonderful
The Golden Apple
Paint Your Wagon
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Lost in the Stars
Miss Liberty
Allegro
Street Scene
St. Louis Woman
Porgy and Bess

[Jon]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 1:18pm

STEEL PIER -a record twelve Tony nominations - no wins. Unfortunately, it was the same season as the CHICAGO revival, and the general consensus was Old Kander & Ebb > new Kander & Ebb.

[NewSynchopation]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 1:49pm

Mister Matt, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS all recouped

[Speed]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 2:06pm

THE ODD COUPLE with Nathan and Matthew was a massive hit.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 8:38pm

"STEEL PIER -a record twelve Tony nominations - no wins."

but it did give us one of the great Broadway songs.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 8:47pm

^^^^^^
And the best overture of the '90s.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 8:49pm

I think the only musical that was expected to flop was "Springtime for Hitler" and it didn't.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 10:23pm

9 to 5

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 3:32pm

Mister Matt, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS all recouped

I know that the Broadway production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels did not fully recoup (the closing press release said they recouped 80% of their investment), and according to the info I had, neither did the others, but I'd be happy to see the verification that they did.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 7:42pm

As I believe I've written elsewhere, when I was a kid in the 1960s, Random House used to publish librettos for hit musicals just as CBS or Columbia would release original recordings. (Ah, for the days when Broadway was the pinnacle of American performance!)

On occasion, Random House would do a large run, but the show would flop, and the company would be left with a large overrun. The extra copies would be donated to school libraries.

So my high school library was a good indication of shows that had failed to live up to expectations.

(At least the above was my understanding why a school in South Florida would have so many copies of failed musicals, but virtually no scripts for successful ones. Publishing houses other than Random may have been involved, but that was the main one. Mine was a fairly new school, so perhaps the donations were part of a "start up" gift.)

Among the published librettos I recall in the school library were:

BAKER STREET
FADE OUT, FADE IN (I wish I'd stolen that one; I doubt anyone else ever read it.)
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN!
TENDERLOIN
THE APPLE TREE
CANDIDE
DO I HEAR A WALTZ?
NO STRINGS
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE
I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE
PAINT YOUR WAGON
PIPE DREAM
HAPPY HUNTING

At least that's how I remember it after 45 years. By contrast, the Fort Lauderdale public library had SIX PLAYS BY RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN (which I read 600 times) and not much else. (In fact, there were a few "failed shows" there as well.)

Note: some of the shows listed above may not have been literal flops. They may have made a profit but simply failed to excite the expected interest from the public. The FADE OUT, FADE IN story is an epic in itself!

(ETA: most of the shows on my list already appeared on Mister Matt's more comprehensive list. I'm merely adding evidence to support to his argument.)

Updated On: 9/9/14 at 07:42 PM

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 8:18pm

A few more:

DO I HEAR A WALTZ?
The 1987 revival of CABARET
GIGI

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 2:31pm

To MJohnson 2

Your bias against Wildhorn disqualifies you from making a statement for consideration. Simply because you or others do not like his music or shows does not mean it is gospel truth. Are Europeans all idiots because they embrace his shows ?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 7:13pm

My mind keeps wandering to the flops that ended a legendary partnership. Shows like:

THE ROTHSCHILDS (Bock & Harnick)
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Sondheim & Prince)
BY JUPITER (Rogers & Hart)
AINT BROADWAY GRAND (Styne and Broadway in general)

What are some others?