Worst Broadway Show of 2017 — Page 3

Loved the Glass Menagerie revival. Thought it did a great job delivering the essence of the text in a hauntingly provocative way, despite changing some of the original play’s settings..

The first act of bandstand was insufferable. I liked the second act more, but it is far from redeemable.

War Paint was disappointing at best. It could’ve been far more interesting if they focused more on how the two giants influenced other women than on their vapid relationships with men. The latter could’ve worked with a mor nuanced approach though.

I found A Doll’s House Part 2 sacrilegious to the original masterpiece. I read A Doll’s House right before seeing the sequel. I was provoked not by what it had to say but how it tried, not to challenge, but to undermine some points the first play made. It felt snarky but not funny.

Jitney. Not a bad play, just not good enough for an August Wilson play. It seemed to me somewhat structurally sluggish.

Amelie. Mediocre and uninspired. A waste of opportunity and talent.

For those of you who have voted for Great Comet (either on this board or as a "write-in" vote or both) -- it opened on Broadway in 2016, and thus not eligible for this list.

Besides that, I'm baffled that anybody would find it the absolute worst of the year.

I say right in the (very brief) text -- twice -- shows that opened on Broadway in 2017.

If you wanted a list of shows that were running on Broadway in 2017, then why exclude Cats or Kinky Boots or Wicked?

Yes many things are baffling to many people. I'm baffled that you're baffled that I Included The Play That Goes Wrong, since (as my review makes clear) I thought it could just as easily have been 20 minutes as two hours. I'm not the only one who thought this, since it has gotten votes in the poll.

To clear up some of your bafflement: I started my worst show poll six years ago to offer the tiniest bit of counterbalance to the theater community's surfeit of undifferentiated boosterism.

But I was talking about Great Comet. In your reply, you don't address my point at all. What did YOU think of Great Comet?

NewYorkTheater said: "Yes many things are baffling to many people.I'm baffled that you're baffled that IIncluded The Play That Goes Wrong, since (as my review makes clear) I thought it could just as easily have been 20 minutes as two hours. I'm not the only one who thought this, since it has gotten votes in the poll.

To clear up some of your bafflement: I started my worst show poll six years ago to offer the tiniest bit of counterbalanceto the theater community's surfeit of undifferentiatedboosterism.

But I was talking about Great Comet. In your reply, you don't address my point at all. What did YOU think of Great Comet?"

Let's be honest then, this is really your bottom 10 list which is fine. You're not the only person who publishes one. But most don't make the release of their list a big production with a poll to find the worst show of the year. They give their opinions and let people respond to it as they wish. Of course, that approach wouldn't drive as much traffic to your site.

Your methodology mixes 2 objectives. If your goal is to publish your bottom 10 list and see what people thought of that, you should give your list and let people share comments and reactions as they see fit. If your goal is genuinely to see by poll what people in general thought was the single worst show of the year, list every show that opened this year and let people vote as they wish, uninfluenced by your choices and your subjective framework. As far as your review of TPTGW making your opinion of that show clear, if one doesn't read your reviews, one wouldn't have known that. And if you survey a large enough group, I'm sure a few would say they hated Dear Evan Hansen. That doesn't mean it should be included in your list.

As far as Great Comet is concerned, I don't see every show that opens. I see shows I think I will enjoy that appear to be well done AND have a subject matter of interest to me and/or cast members of whom I am big fans. Comet fit neither of those 2 latter criteria so I didn't see it.

NewYorkTheater said: "I say right in the (very brief) text -- twice -- shows that opened on Broadway in 2017."

This only affects the minority who click through to your site, though. Most of us just use it as a discussion topic here without clicking.