Unexpected Flops- Page 3

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 8:09pm

The Woman In White
Aspects of Love
Chess
Song and Dance
Jesus Christ Superstar

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 8:10pm

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.

You are right, all those shows were flops.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 8:11pm

Catch me if you can

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 8:15pm

Most shows listed on this thread are those that posters didn't want to see flop. Very different from "unexpected".

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 8:53pm

Given the odds, Blaxx, perhaps we should talk about "unexpected hits" and assume all other shows were expected to fail.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:01pm

"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.

Thanks Gaveston, I ALWAYS wondered about that. My library seemed to have all of those Random House books, and I was lucky enough to pick up a few at a more recent book discard sale (I guess I was the only checking them out all those years,) including Waltz and Whistle. It seemed bizarre, such fancy books were published for them. I wonder when Random House stopped the practice. (Sadly, they didn't have Follies.)

[JRybka]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:04pm

And unexpected flop from years ago was RAGS. I recall that it was the buzz of the season when it played in Boston. And then it collapsed on Broadway. The music is so stunning and perhaps a bit before it's time. And to a degree, I still believe that if it had been done right Ragtime (the original) could have had a much longer run....(due to the idiot producers)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:06pm

"The 1987 revival of CABARET "

I thought due to the pre and post tour of that production (one reason the sets were cheapened,) that it recouped.

[JRybka]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:08pm

Was that the one with Alison Reed?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:11pm

Yes, and Joel Grey given top billing. It added I Don't Care Much, some "gay" dialogue involving Cliff and and replaced Wake Up with Don't Go but otherwise was virtually a facsimile of the original staging (which is why the live video of it is, IMHO fascinating to watch.) Interesting that around the same time, Fosse recreated (with minor changes) his big hit from the same era, Sweet Charity (which is also fascinating to watch the video to get a glimpse of the original staging.) It too, I don't think recouped, but was very successful on tour.

[mjohnson2]

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

The set was very different for the '87 revival of CABARET

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:15pm

Eric, I don't know for a fact, but my guess is that Random House stopped publishing librettos in the late 1960s. Not only were there several years with tepid hits like HALLELUJAH, BABY! (I'm talking about financial success, not quality), but some of the monster hits (HAIR) went straight to paperback instead. Probably not what Random House had in mind.

All of this is based on my memory, so if somebody really cares, they should do some research.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:20pm

"Allegro" While it was not an Oklahoma, or even Carousel, I thought I read that for its time Allegro was seen as enough of a success (ie I thought it recouped...)

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:22pm

How I remember scooping up those paperbacks of shows in the late 60's from a regular Doubleday-type bookstore at the Mall. My Fair lady with Pygmalion, West Side Story with Romeo and Juliet, and most shocking of all, a paperback of the full libretto and lyrics to OH CALCUTTA, replete with copious b&w photos. At a regular bookstore in a mall! My 13-year-old eyes nearly fell out of my head.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 10:05pm

MrJohnson: "The set was very different for the '87 revival of CABARET"

Explain? It seems virtually the same, and has been described as such by associates of the production. The big missing link was the backdrop with the lights going off to infinity for the limbo area (and hence for every scene,) one of the elements deemed too expensive. But the basic set is there, and moved in and out the same. (Unless you know otherwise?)

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 11:23am

Comparing my unreliable memory of the '87 production to the famous photos of Aronson's original design, I recall the '87 set featuring a constantly looming series of various doors with transoms that surrounded the space, all painted black. I know we never saw the spiral stairs leading to galleries for the limbo set; I don't remember seeing that angled deck unit with the half steps from which Sally emerged to perform her Cabaret numbers; I frankly don't even remember seeing the giant angled mirror that opens the original show.

I do recall the details of Cliff's fragmentary apartment and the "circular" fruit shop design matching the original photos much more closely. Does any of that match other folks recollections of the revival?

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 11:31am

AINT BROADWAY GRAND (Styne and Broadway in general)

Perhaps you mean The Red Shoes?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 12:39pm

Is the video for the 87 Cabaret available somewhere?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 3:21pm

"Perhaps you mean The Red Shoes?" You're right, A8. I stand duly corrected. :)

Just confused which composer wrote which swan song show that year (1993), but Mitch Leigh's AINT BROADWAY GRAND also qualifies.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 8:32pm

The mirror and those steps for the title song ARE in the "video" of the 87 revival. It's not filmed all that well, but I just assumed the spiral staircase from which various characters watched the action was still there--that's such a Hal Prince conceit, and I never heard that it was one of the dropped scenery elements, but I guess it was (!)

Ripped--thru the usual sources :P

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 9:47pm

Shall we add THE HAPPY TIME?

Gower Champion, David Merrick and Robert Goulet. Kander & Ebb on the heels of CABARET. I need to reread Goldman's chapter on the show from THE SEASON, but surely expectations were high!

(BTW, I was given the CD yesterday. What a delightful (and beautifully sung) Kander & Ebb score! It also features David Wayne and a very young "Mike" Rupert.)

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 11:43pm

^^^^^^
I actually just read that passage a few weeks ago. It seemed like a classic case of spectacle and expectations making an intimate and somewhat cynical story into a sappy spectacle. It is a great score though, and one I haven't revisited in ages.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 1:45pm

Carrie had a lot of attention in the UK before it opened that it looked like it would be a hit (to be fair the UK production was a commercial success)

I thought Good Vibrations would hit since everybody loves the music and jukebox musicsls were everywhere.....then people saw the show and yikes.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 7:10pm

Thanks, Mr. Nowack, for refreshing my memory. I recall that Goldman writes that problems with the projections took much need time from fixing the show in LA.

Just listening to the album, one can hear the problem: almost all the songs are sung by the three male leads, yet the show had a cast the size of MY FAIR LADY's. That's a lot of extra people wandering around...

I know this isn't the revisal thread, but I'd love to see somebody rewrite the show as a small-cast musical.