Worst Reviews Ever

The one that stands out in my mind, for whatever reason, is Brantley's review of Jekyll and Hyde.

Probably not the worst review ever, but I'll never forget the first time I read it.

Frank Rich's Chess is pretty good, as is his "Merrily We Roll Along", and "Aspects of Love".

The first one that came to mind when I saw this thread was Ben Brantley's review of Leap of Faith:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/theater/reviews/leap-of-faith-with-raul-esparza-at-st-james-theater.html

The great Diana Rigg compiled a collection of the worst ever reviews, published as "No Turn Unstoned" - I haven't read it but I love the title!

https://www.amazon.com/No-Turn-Unstoned-Theatrical-Reviews/dp/1879505037/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472331504&sr=1-3&keywords=Diana+Rigg

I have to say, I quite liked Aida. A lot more than I expected to. And Headley was fantastic. And Sherie Renee Scott.

But, as everyone knows, Miss Saigon is universally acknowledged as the worst show in the world. As this legendary review shows...

http://www.dontbuymiss-saigon.com/excerpts-from-michael-feingolds-review-of-miss-saigon/

Portofino, How to Make a Man, Step on a Crack, The Fun Couple, Hidden Stranger, And Things That Go Bump in the Night...

I generally agreed with Rich's review of Miss Saigon. I thought it was much more even-handed between the good and the flaws.

For a review of an individual performance, you can't get much worse than Dorothy Parker's review of Katharine Hepburn's performance in the 1933 Broadway production of "The Lake": "Miss Hepburn runs the gamut of emotions from A to B."

Frank Rich's review of Edward Albee's The Man Who Had Three Arms:

"'The Man Who Had Three Arms' at the Lyceum, isn't a play - it's a temper tantrum in two acts."

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/06/theater/stage-drama-by-albee-man-who-had-3-arms.html

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Also, from early in the decade, Rich's review of Albee's stage adaptation of Lolita:

"After weeks of delays, Edward Albee's ''Lolita'' finally opened at the Brooks Atkinson last night, and all one can do is wonder why it did. This show is the kind of embarrassment that audiences do not quickly forget or forgive. It's not just that ''Lolita'' is incompetent or boring or that it lays waste to a masterpiece of modern literature: those are pardonable sins that have been known to occur in Broadway theaters. What sets ''Lolita'' apart from ordinary failures is its abject mean-spiritedness. For all this play's babbling about love, it is rank with indiscriminate - and decidely unearned - hate."

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/20/theater/stage-albee-s-adaptation-of-lolita-opens.html

Updated On: 8/28/16 at 09:53 PM

Not a review, but it's relevent:

How hated was/is Frank Wildhorn? In 2004, right before the Broadway premiere of Dracula, the New York Times published an article tearing his work apart in general - and they quoted the critics.

"In recent telephone interviews, three theater critics elaborated on their published invective. Linda Winer, of Newsday, said that Mr. Wildhorn writes ''dunderheaded musicals for people who find Andrew Lloyd Webber too difficult.'' Ben Brantley, of The New York Times, allowed, ''They're fine if you're in the mood to be emotionally knee-jerked.'' And Charles Isherwood of Variety said of Mr. Wildhorn: ''His natural home is in Las Vegas. That might be his most sensible career move. Skip Broadway altogether.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/movies/theater-cue-the-pop-ballad-warn-the-critics.html

Updated On: 8/28/16 at 10:12 PM

Sorry for double post, but I forgot IN MY LIFE!

"Other people's dreams are boring, I know. But please, for the sake of my sanity -- and possibly yours -- let me tell you about this one.

I dreamed I went to a Broadway show that was supposed to be madly eccentric and surreal, featuring a giant lemon, transvestite angel and a hero with Tourette's syndrome. But then, in one of those head-spinning shifts of setting that occur only in nightmares, I found myself trapped inside a musical Hallmark card, a pastel blend of the twinkly teddy bear and sentimental sunrise varieties. And suddenly, as the breath was leaving my body, I realized I was drowning, drowning in a singing sea of syrup.

Hey, wait a minute. That was no nightmare. That was "In My Life," the new musical that opened last night at the Music Box Theater, written, directed and produced by Joseph Brooks, who is also the show's composer and lyricist."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/theater/reviews/where-an-angel-fearlessly-treads.html

Updated On: 8/29/16 at 10:54 AM