Worst Broadway Show of the Decade?- Page 5

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 12:02am

I’ve seen just about every musical of the decade. I can’t think of many shows more un-sit-through-able than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Such  possibilities, and that’s what they ended up with??
 

Close runner ups: Amazing Grace and Summer. And that Dirty Dancing tour was unforgivable. 

Updated On: 1/1/20 at 12:02 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 12:21am

China Doll, hands down.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 11:43am

Once.  Nothing else was even close.

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 12:41pm

I went with Spider-man. That was more of a circus than a Broadway show.

[Joe Mayo]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 3:48pm

UsedToBeTheKing said: "No TOOTSIE? That's the worst of the shows I personally got to see (though maybe not fair to call it "worst of the decade", I know I'm probably in the minority). I heard justifications for the book, but I thought the book was worse than the music. The changes they made from screen to stage made absolutely no sense!They took a screenplay that is taught in screenwriting classes and touted as ashining example of storytellingand removed most of the aspects that made it work. CURSED CHILD is a similar case of "story does not work whatsoever," but apparently the sets and staging make up for it. I've yet to see it.

BEETLEJUICE should notbe an option."

Even if you didnt like Tootsie personally, objectively it doesnt belong in a conversation for worst show of the season let alone worst show of the decade.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 7:01pm

Considering the other entries, I find it hard to believe Amelie and Hillary and Clinton are on the list. They're certainly not great but they aren't at the level of incompetence of some of these other shows. 

Unlike the Razzies, I feel like I cannot properly weigh in because I've saved myself from a lot of the worst shows (Wonderland, Amazing Grace, King Kong, Getting the Band Back Together, etc.) If I'm seeing a flop, it's a flop I could potentially enjoy (Doctor Zhivago, American Psycho, Tuck Everlasting, etc.) Of that short list, American Psycho is the only one I dislike and there were still some worthwhile things in it (NOT the original songs). 

Gary was not a complete waste of time but considering the talent involved, it was pretty close. I could have dealt with the bathroom humor if the writing was even half as insightful as it thought it was. I forgot how much I hated The Encounter. Blackbird was also terrible. The Father was so boring. Fool For Love was horrendous. I'm surprised I don't fall asleep or walk out of more plays. Junk is FAR from the worst play I've seen this decade. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/1/20 at 10:28pm

Because I am only able to see 15 - 18 shows a year in NYC, I generally avoid shows which receive bad reviews or generally bad reviews on this board (unless I purchased them in advance because of a star actor or author).  So, you won't see China Doll or Getting the Band Back Together or Amazing Grace or etc. on my list...cuz I didn't see them.

I am taking a different approach: what shows did I dislike the most in the past decade, regardless of awards, rave reviews, etc.

They include:

-- Bullets Over Broadway.  IMO nothing worked in this show, and I got angrier as the performance went on.  The character that was played in the movie by Jennifer Tilly gave (not in a good way as was Jennifer) one of the two or three most annoying performances I have ever seen.  I have assumed that was entirely Woody Allen's fault.  They just ruined a delightful movie, and committed the ultimate sin of making  it a total bore.

-- Spiderman.  I liked the sets, costumes, and the limited flying.  There was one gorgeous visual with women on swings.  Can't remember precisely, but I assume they were weaving a web.  Liked nothing else.

-- Fun Home...liked the album, really disliked the show.  I do not think CITS did this show a favor.  I felt like I was always looking at people's backs.

-- Hadestown...bored out of my mind for the the latter 2/3 of the show.  The only thing I liked about it was Andre de Shields and some of the direction, which was at times beautiful.  I have always truly hated bass voices, so I wanted to scream every time Patrick Page opened his mouth.  FOR ME, it was just unrelentlessly dreary.

-- Catch Me if You Can.  Poor design approach, crummy score.  I thought NLB was too over the top, despite the Tony (in a weak year) and I thought Aaron Tveit had no charisma.  (I still don't think Tveit has much charisma, but enjoyed him much better in Moulin Rouge. 

-- Tootsie.  Great book and terrific performances, undone by a rotten score, lousy choreography (hard to choreograph to lousy music), poor direction and really cheesy sets.  May have been the worst overture I have heard since seeing some stinkers in the late sixties.  I barely remembered it 15 minutes after the performance, beyond reflecting on just how bad the Act 1 closing number was.  I suspect it would be very high on my list of 'worst Act 1 closing numbers ever.'

-- ADH Part 2...IMO an outline for a potentially great play, but produced as a Cliff Notes version of what that great play might have been.  No, not even a Cliff Notes version...there should have been more meat in the script from which to create additional Cliff Notes.  I wonder if Hnath is capable of writing a real, 'full-length' play.

-- Gary...I wanted to leave 10 minutes into the show.  I thought the concept was great, but the execution went for too many cheap laughs.  Plus, I didn't understand a word Julie White said the entire night.  I did like the sets and Kristin Nielsen, but you can only be entertained by the sets for so long, and Neilsen -- who made me laugh more than once -- was not enough to save it.  It is impossible to dislike a Nathan Lane performances and this was no exception.

-- Single White Men.  I thought there was material for a much better show about a father and his sons, one of whom was desperately in need of help, etc..  I never really understood the point of the 2 'commenters', other than to make us feel either uncomfortable or self-congratulatory for 'accepting them' as they are. 

-- Romeo and Juliet.  I simply do not get the appeal of Condola Rashad.  I was unimpressed with her in Trip to Bountiful, ADHP2 (I actually thought she was bad), and R&J.  If neither Romeo or Juliet are particularly good in their roles, it is really hard to get beyond that.

 

Gary and Bullets are tied for the worst for me.  I kept on thinking what other shows I could be seeing instead of them.  My wife enjoyed both of them...mildly.

 

PS -- I loved Enron