good musicals that never made it to Broadway? — Page 2

I saw Witches of Eastwick, Whistle Down the Wind and The Beautiful Game in London. I would agree with the first two wholeheartedly, but ...Beautiful Game was hugely disappointing and had some of the worst lyrics and excessively trite themes ever.

There's also no mistaking that it was a blatantly sub-par facsimile of West Side Story.

I was also very disappointed by the sad attempt to make the soccer match look like a choreographed dance. It's all a shame because the cast was really talented - especially Hannah Waddingham and Josie Walker. I suspect that even "Andy" Webber (that's a direct Schitt'$ Creek reference) knows what a failure ...Beautiful Game was because he recycled "Our Kind of Love" into the title theme for Love Never Dies.

I apologize if it seems like I'm trashing your suggestion - that's definitely not my intent. My intention is more along the lines of Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest - "I'm not mad at you, Christina! I'm mad at the dirt!"

Updated On: 9/17/16 at 01:38 AM

R E B E C C A .....

I wish more than anything that Hunchback made it to Broadway. I didn't get a chance to see the La Jolla or Papermill productions in person, but from the clips I saw, it was a brilliant adaptation of film to stage. The staging looked inventive and creative, the "Bells of Notre Dame" number (tough to pull off, considering that in the movie, the events during that song would only work in film, and couldn't realistically be done in a stage production) was an awesome new take on that song.

It was a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of the story - the creatives threw in a bit of Frollo's backstory that made him seem like a more well-rounded character, and the staging where Arden put on the hunch and Quasimodo clothes at the end of the number was one of the coolest things I think I've seen in a theatrical production, and it was just as impressive on film (would've given anything to see that live on stage, in person.)

Hellfire in particular was adapted brilliantly - the orchestrations with the choir sounded super impressive (Menken made that music sound more vibrant. The ending sequence of the song, with Page singing as that large sounding choir accompanied him in the background, has to be one of the coolest sounding, most finely orchestrated bits of music in the Disney-on-stage canon), and even the positioning of the choir around Frollo as he sang was beyond cool (I was wondering how they'd adapt the choir that materialized in the animated film for the stage realistically, and they pulled it off in an equally successful way.)

Much was said about the chorus having dialouge-y lines and how well that played, much was said about how accessible the show would be do crowds looking for the Disney movie and being a bit taken aback by the new ending and some of the changes made, but I think it would've run successfully if Disney had transferred it!

The Fantasticks, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Ernest in Love, Whoop-Dee-Doo, When Pigs Fly

Updated On: 9/22/16 at 11:24 AM

I'm surprised no one has said Children of Eden yet. I think it's Stephen Schwartz's best score and show. Sure the book is a little... silly in some places, but it works for the most part. There have been so many major concert versions and stagings around the world, but never Broadway. I'd imagine that the cost would be prohibitive since there's a large children's choir involved, though I guess you could just leave them out or minimize their number if necessary.

Radiant Baby

I suspect that even "Andy" Webber (that's a direct Schitt'$ Creek reference) knows what a failure ...Beautiful Game was because he recycled "Our Kind of Love" into the title theme for Love Never Dies.

Actually the song was originally written for Love Never Dies. It was performed by Kiri Te Kanawa under the title "The Heart is Slow to Learn" during its development for the 1998 Andrew Lloyd Webber Royal Albert Hall Celebration. When production stalled, it was revised for The Beautiful Game as Our Kind of Love (my favorite version of the song). After the show closed, the original structure of the song was reinstated with new lyrics for Love Never Dies. Meanwhile, The Beautiful Game underwent book and score revisions, adding four new songs, and produced as The Boys in the Photograph in Toronto in 2009.

At any rate, Andy must have liked the show enough to attend the closing performance of The Beautiful Game. He was sitting a few rows behind me. Hannah Waddingham literally stopped the show with her performance of Our Kind of Love. She finally had to acknowledge the audience for a bow before they would allow the show to continue.

Ordinary Days, I love that score. And Dogfight and bare: a pop opera, as others have said. I doubt Bare could ever have a healthy Broadway run, but Ordinary Days could pull that.

Updated On: 10/6/16 at 11:25 PM

Harmony finally coming to Broadway after years of workshops is a good omen to all long gestating shows and gives hope for revivals and second chances.

But on the other hand, aren't some of these shows ones that could have only worked off-Broadway? Maybe it had a successful off Broadway run, but maybe it wouldn't have been the best idea to bring it to Broadway. Yes, I am well aware that you're always taking a risk, but just saying. Some shows work better in smaller spaces and don't translate well to the Broadway stage

inception said: "bigbelterbaby said: "Harmony finally coming to Broadway after years of workshops is a good omen to all long gestating shows and gives hope for revivals and second chances."

Probably helps when one of the creatives has a net worth of $100 million (according to google)."

whenever I see news articles recently about billionaires donations I groan and think about how if just a few of them supported the arts and donated to the theatre it would benefit our culture and performing artists for years to come.

I do not know if it was 'good' but I really enjoyed it here in New Orleans (before changes were made for the Chicago run)....

WHITE NOISE, a cautionary tale.