Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
helloagain
Understudy Joined: 2/22/06
#0Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:19pmI just listened to the score again and I love it. Just was wondering why this show didn't do well?
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#1re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:21pm
Spoiler:
A show that ends in a murder doesn't really strike a chord with theatergoers.
#2re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:30pmSaw it - it just wasn't very good. I didn't even realize Kelli O'Hara was in it until recently!
BSoBW2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/8/04
#3re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:31pm
Nicholas Hytner.
And lack of Tony's.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#4re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:44pm
I'd say it was more the incest/child molestation undertone that did it in.
Actually it was kind of dull. Unremarkable.
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#5re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:48pm
If you see the film that the show is based upon you could then ask yourself something that the creative staff seemed not to have asked themselves.
"What do these people have to sing about?"
And the answer is nothing. This set of characters is as 'tone-deaf' as they come.
The other thing the creatives did not ask was--
"How can we tell this story better?"
They couldn't.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
#6re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 4:53pmIt was boring, 'cept the score and Kelli, imo.
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#7re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:03pmDid it have anything to do with the dark tone so quickly after 9/11? I love the score. And of course, BdJ is phenomenal. John Lithgow is John Lithgow, but BdJ and Kelli are great on the CR.
Who would play you in the movie? "Taye Diggs." --Brian d'Arcy James
WalkOn
Broadway Star Joined: 8/7/06
#8re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:06pmI love Hamlisch's score. He is the last of the "Broadway" sound composers. FOR SUSAN is my favorite.
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart; and you'll never walk alone.
#9re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:14pmit totally sounded like City of Angels trunk songs if you ask me
ShbrtAlley44
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/03
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#11re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:29pmLook, most shows with such dark subject matter have always been alienated from Broadway. It's not just the post 9-11 mentality. Also, people tend to turn their noses at vampire musicals and shows where people wear garbage bags. I, however, am a fan of the latter.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#12re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:31pm
I was at the Chicago Sitzprobe for "Sweet Smell" and it was so obviously hopeless. There were some decent Hamlisch melodies, but Carnelia's lyrics were just plain silly. What really killed if for me was the "greek chorus" of a few actors who ran around the stage whispering little profound phrases like "Welcome to the night, you can crash and burn...". The whole show was supposed to be about this ultra hip cynical urban life style, and the hokey lyrics and presentation derailed it all. It was fun watching Lithgow up there.
There was a beautiful ballad cut from the show "That's How I Say Goodbye" that I hope gets resurrected someday.
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
notabb
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#13re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:52pmI saw the show twice on Broadway. The same thing happened both times. It seemed half the audience loved it ( I also loved it) and the other half hated what they were seeing. They just didn't like the story that was being told. Hearing Brian sing AT THE FOUNTAIN was worth the cost of admission for me. Loved the staging and sets. Only the girlfriends number in the 2nd act seemed out of place. And Lithgow needed something netter then his vaudeville number. It's funny 2 shows at that time had a NYC skyline as a backdrop and I think many of the people who hated SSOS would have been much happier at the other show- Thoroughly Modern Millie
#14re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 5:56pmat the fountain, at the ballet... what's the diff?
jimnysf
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/05
#15re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:06pmI saw the final show and I liked it. Jack Noseworthy was very good. I enjoyed the songs. It wasn't a feel good musical. However, there were no flying saucers or Chandeleirs or flying witches or helicopters or cars onstage.
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
-------
"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu"
from "Can't Stop The Music"
-----
"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
------------
---------
"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#16re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 6:07pm
It be stinky.
Pepe LePew
Warner Brothers Lot
jonartdesigns
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
#18re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 8:27pm
i love the show (from listening to the recording) save for that uncomfortable section of "for susan"
susan: i'm not a little girl anymore
jj: everyone wants me except you!
also john lithgow's voice seems lacking compared to on the drs cd (my first listen had me thinking "he won a tony for THIS")
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#19re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 8:32pmI never thought of Lithgow as a singer...
Who would play you in the movie? "Taye Diggs." --Brian d'Arcy James
jonartdesigns
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
#20re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 9:42pmi know he's not a "singer" per sey.. but his "singing" ability seems to have improved greatly between the recording of this show and drs
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#21re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 9:48pmI only have the CD to go by but, it's one of my favorite scores
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
#22re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/5/06 at 11:57pmIt turns out that a majority of the theatre-going public does not care to nibble on a cookie laced with arsenic.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=972787#3631451
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=963561#3533883
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=955158#3440952
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=954269#3427915
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=955012#3441622
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=954344#3428699
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#23re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/6/06 at 12:09am
I saw it in Chicago and I enjoyed it. I thought Brian was fantastic. John was charming. This incest was creepy.
I love the City song!
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#24re: Why did Sweet Smell of Success Flop
Posted: 10/6/06 at 12:39am
Sweeney did fine and it was dark.
I like most of the score and the pictures in the booklet make the show look really interesting. Oh well. I doubt it would ever be revived. Oh well. I'm suprised it hasn't show up more in regional theaters and stuff.
Videos