What is the worst production you have ever seen on Broadway? What is the worst show? — Page 3

Cats and King Kong. But Cats edges out King Kong because I did love that Ape.

The Velocity of Autumn.

With apologies to Christopher Durang, Sex and Longing was really really tortuous.

I guess I had blocked out some truly awful shows that others have posted about. And I’ve excluded off broadway given the OP — otherwise In Transit and Women on the Verge would surely have been on my list. And a very obscure play from the 80s called Waltz of the Stork.


The Philanthropist truly was awful. The Play that Goes wrong I hated within two minutes. The Rose Tattoo with Marisa Tomei. And from this season, Uncle Vanya.

Updated On: 5/19/24 at 05:13 PM

After all these years, it is still "Moose Murders". My friend and I were given free tickets by a connection at New Dramatists for a late preview.

My friend stood up and bellowed at intermission, "This is an outrage to the theater!" and stormed out. I refused to leave until I saw Act 2, to see if it could get any worse. Oh, it did! Somehow Holland Taylor survived this epic pile of horse ****!

Among those still playing: A Beautiful Noise - cannot wait for it to close so ANY new show can take the Broadhurst

The thing I return to often when thinking about “worst productions” is: what is the show aiming for? I saw the tryouts of both The Devil Wears Prada and Paradise Square in Chicago, and while I had major issues with both, there was a difference in their ambitions. Paradise Square wanted to be a 10/10 show, even if it was only hitting 6/10 for me; alternately, Devil Wears Prada might have been about a 5/10 of show, but it only seemed to be aiming for 5/10. So even though I don’t think Paradise Square and DWP were on their face too different in terms of quality, I regard DWP with such disdain, whereas I saw PS four times in Chicago (and a fifth in NYC… sue me!) and still consider myself an apologist.

Beyond that, Flying Over Sunset baffled me, and the Oklahoma! revival did not translate to tour well at all.

The first answer that comes to mind was the revival of The Gin Game with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson. A dull, twee play, poorly staged and designed, and featuring a Jones who was barely a shadow of his formidable self- who could barely stand and was reciting lines. I left at intermission.

But I have to say, having to sit through fringe festival shows, entire off-Broadway seasons, and bottom-tier semi-professional regional theater for work drastically altered what “bad theater” meant to me. I’ve certainly seen Broadway productions I haven’t liked, but even the worst Broadway show is at least competent. I’ve seen productions that have legitimately given me an existential crisis because of how totally inept they were.

Updated On: 5/18/24 at 06:52 PM

Between "In Transit" and "Suffs"

In 1987, I saw a play by John Pielmeier called Sleight of Hand, about a depressive loser who is an aspiring magician. The playwright was hot at the time because he'd written Agnes of God, which ran for over a year, but this play was the pits. We considered leaving at intermission, but hoped Act Two might be better. It was worse. Really inept, like a sloppy rehearsal.

One of the friends with me knew the lead actor, Harry Groener. We went backstage afterwards, and he said: "You should've called me, I'd have warned you!" Bizarrely, standing just behind us, waiting to get his playbill autograped, was Larry "Bud" Melman of the David Letterman Show.

Sleight of Hand played only nine performances. I'm surprised it lasted that long. The best thing about it was the poster.

inception said: "I guess the nice thing about notbeing able to seeeverything is that by the time I get to NYthe worst of anyseason has closed; or enough people have posted early reports that Iknow what to avoid.

I do wonder about some of the choices people have made...Hamilton...Aladdin? Really?

There is so much more out in the world in the way of truly terrible theatre to be experienced compared to almostanything found on Broadway."

Yes haha. I think what I love about NYC is you can usually expect anything to be professionally performed and presented. No matter how much we might argue about the details or recognise variation in quality especially writing it’s not like other places where you can actually see things that are not even to a professional standard. But I do kind of love that the standards are so high in NYC. It’s the most incredible place for theatre I’ve ever seen globally. Especially musical theatre.

Broadway

Bullets Over Broadway

Saturday Night Fever



Tours/Regional

Legends! with Joan Collins and Linda Evans (Toronto, 2006)

Josephh & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - (Pantages Theater, LA, 2014) starring Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo from an early season of American Idol. It was easily the worst thing I have ever seen - although first time seeing that show

Updated On: 5/19/24 at 10:34 PM

You mean SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER not Saturday Night Live

You mean LEGENDS not PRIVATE LIVES