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
