Big - I really liked it as did most of the audience. The reviews were mostly pretty positive and it ran for over a year, but could never really get off the ground. There were some stunning sets, great choreography and some really good performances. Not a bad show at all on Broadway, but the tour was revolting.
Seussical - OK show. The CD is better. Once again, the tour was lacking compared to the Broadway production.
Jane Eyre - Loved it! It deserved a much longer run.
Sweet Smell of Success - Not great. A couple of good songs, but a rather dull show. Why did Lithgow win the Tony?
The Civil War - One of the few shows I left at intermission. Good music, but painful to watch.
Thou Shalt Not - A mess. Great songs for a jazzy CD, but bad for a musical theatre score. I'll never forget poor Debra Monk as the stroke victim mute for the entire second act trying to spell out the name of the murderer with Scrabble tiles. It was too funny. That, and the New Orleans Mardi Gras in which only about 10 people attended. Norbert Leo Butz, the turntable, and the Tugboat scene were the only positive aspects of the show.
1776 (revival) - Dull production of a good show placed in the wrong theatre.
Parade - Though it barely ran a few months, it is not a flop in my book, but rather, a triumph. A breathtaking and brilliant show that wreaked havoc on my emotions.
Proposals - I really liked it. One of the most gorgeous sets and lighting designs I'd ever seen.
The Dinner Party - Fun show, great cast, Veanne Cox and Henry Winkler stole the show. Why was she NOT nominated????
Waiting in the Wings - Everything but Lauren Bacall was enjoyable. Not a great show, but Bacall was completely miscast, miscostumed (she refused to work without her private designer), and had trouble remembering her lines.
Whistle Down the Wind (London) - Interesting show, but seemed badly patched together. Great sets and staging, but the score was uneven. The dramatic scenes were too heavy and too long to keep the audience interested in the plot.
All You Need is Love (London) - A good review of McCartney and Lennon songs that tried to hard to tie things together. Had it just been a review, without the attempt of staging some flimsy story (and a reconceived set), the show probably would have been a huge hit. The new song arrangements were brilliant and the cast was wonderful.
Boyband (London) - Awful show attempting to cash in on the boyband phenomenon of the 90s. All the songs were "concert" songs and not worked into the story at all. A shabby set didn't help much either. The one song I enjoyed most, "Have Fun, Go Mad", was the theme song to Hank Azaria's short-lived sitcom "Imagine That" a couple of years ago.
Closer to Heaven (London) - Musical with score by the Pet Shop Boys with a dreadful book and tiresome score and amateur staging. A little Pet Shop Boys goes a long way and after a couple of songs, you felt like you had heard the entire score, but there was no heart and I felt nothing for any of the characters. Two standouts were Billie Trix and the song "Vampires".
Song of Singapore (London) - Brilliant and unique show with a standout performance by Issy Van Randwyck. Definitely deserved more exposure.
The Beautiful Game (London) - Andrew Lloyd Webber's unusual spin on the Romeo and Juliet theme was quite good. Not being sung-through, the CD does not reflect the show well at all. It was staged minimally and beautifully with "Our Kind of Love" receiving the longest ovation during a performance I have ever witnessed. It literally stopped the show.
I also saw The Visit and Bounce, but I don't know if they are considered flops since they haven't been mounted in NY, nor have they been fully abandoned. I saw Light in the Piazza and I hope it does well next season (Victoria Clark deserves the Tony already). I also saw Sunset Boulevard, but I would not categorize it a flop. Yes, it lost tons of money, but ran for two and a half years and won numerous awards. Passion ran less than a year, but is still not regarded a flop.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
