Unlikely hit musicals?- Page 2

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 10:35am

Conversely, most of those that looked good on paper turned out to be real dogs .

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 10:49am

Another unlikely hit I can think of is Kinky Boots. A musical adaptation of a British independent film that was never a big commodity that was coming into a season where Matilda was expected to be the big frontrunner. Not to mention that it had a star composer (Cyndi Lauper) doing the score, and musicals written by star composers rarely ever succeed (9 to 5, The Capeman, Lestat, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Taboo, Tarzan, Thou Shalt Not, etc.).

Yet Kinky Boots came to Broadway, became a surprise hit, and won six Tony Awards (including Best Musical).

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 11:00am

How about Madame Butterfly doing a mind meld with the Vietnam War?

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 1:46pm

Book of Mormon sounds very unlikely

so does mamma Mia in the days b4 jukeboxes prove they could box office

carousel also sounds like a tough story to turn into a musical

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 1:48pm

Annie Oakley as a musical?

[Broadway kid 2]

Posted: 3/26/16 at 2:16pm

Mr Roxy said: "Annie Oakley as a musical?

 

"

 

[vampire musical]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 1:05am

Mr Roxy said: "Conversely, most of those that looked good on paper turned out to be real dogs .

 

"

So true!  That made me think of Bullets Over Broadway  "A stage musical of a fairly popular Woody Allen movie that's about Broadway.  Mel Brooks had a hit with Producers, why not Woody with Bullets".  Around the time Bullets was raising money, I remember talking with an investor type who turned down another show (that went on to recoup) because she just had to invest in the next big hit musical Bullets Over Broadway.  Granted Woody's past being unearthed by Dylan Farrow doomed that show more than the weak book.