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Post by partytentdown on Aug 10, 2018 13:25:00 GMT
I'd love to hear some memories from people who saw some classic flops from before the time of this board and it its predecessor... Perhaps we pick a couple a week?!
Let's start with BAT BOY and DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN.
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Post by Mark on Aug 10, 2018 13:28:56 GMT
One of my favourites was Lend Me a Tenor - that cast!!!
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Post by ali973 on Aug 10, 2018 13:32:51 GMT
Gone With The Wind..I thought it would never end My friend and I were giggling quietly during the finale while cast and some audience were crying.
Imagine This...This show within a show set in the Warsaw ghetto wasn't bad at all. But, what a novel idea of a musical about this topic to open during the holiday season! The box office lady is probably one of the best and funniest box office employees I've ever had to deal with. I was wearing a baseball hat and a backpack. "Are you a student?" "No.." "umm...it's fine. You're a student. Here's a ticket that costs ten pounds." There were easily 12 people in the audience. And as LuPone says, no one had the sense to sit in the same row.
Viva Forever. Must we really go there? It could have been an okay show if they did a better job with the song selection. Some of the songs didn't even sound recognizable.
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Post by Jon on Aug 10, 2018 13:37:36 GMT
I managed to see Betty Blue Eyes for free because I was a member of a scheme at the Donmar and actually was pretty good, Stephen Ward was alright and quite liked Drowsy Chaperone.
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Post by ellie1981 on Aug 10, 2018 13:41:24 GMT
I never got the disdain for I Can’t Sing. I understood how and why it flopped, but I went with all the girls from work and we had a fantastic time. One of them ended up going back four or five times with various other friends and family.
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Post by ali973 on Aug 10, 2018 13:49:02 GMT
I forgot I saw Betty Blue Eyes, I Can't Sing and Stephen Ward. Ward was tough to sit through. And wasn't ALW crazy about its leading lady as always?
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Post by westended on Aug 10, 2018 13:51:28 GMT
I never got the disdain for I Can’t Sing. I understood how and why it flopped, but I went with all the girls from work and we had a fantastic time. One of them ended up going back four or five times with various other friends and family. Why did it flop? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 13:52:45 GMT
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN I thought this was pretty good and one of the better jukebox musicals, mainly because it had a decent story. Following the success of Mamma Mia! there were a number of jukebox musicals that were written on the basis of "It looks like any idiot can write a musical this way, so this idiot will too". This wasn't one of them. Another flop I loved was Beautiful and Damned, except for the furniture that was Michael Praed in the lead role. The rest of the cast did a fantastic job of bringing the show to life and turned in exciting and vibrant performances, but his performance was more grate than great. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 10, 2018 13:56:26 GMT
What’s the definition of “flop”? Reviews! Length of run? Both?
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Post by partytentdown on Aug 10, 2018 13:58:44 GMT
What’s the definition of “flop”? Reviews! Length of run? Both? I guess a bit of both? My personal barometer is walking in and thinking 'wow, there's hardly anybody here...' |
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Post by Jon on Aug 10, 2018 14:04:44 GMT
I don't think it counts as a flop as it ran just over a year but did anyone see Lord of the Rings?
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Post by graham on Aug 10, 2018 14:09:09 GMT
Imagine This...This show within a show set in the Warsaw ghetto wasn't bad at all. But, what a novel idea of a musical about this topic to open during the holiday season! The box office lady is probably one of the best and funniest box office employees I've ever had to deal with. I was wearing a baseball hat and a backpack. "Are you a student?" "No.." "umm...it's fine. You're a student. Here's a ticket that costs ten pounds." There were easily 12 people in the audience. And as LuPone says, no one had the sense to sit in the same row. The recording of Imagine This is actually pretty good - some great tunes |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 14:10:01 GMT
Drowsy Chaperone - found it very cringe, sad that it's Elaine Paiges last west end role. also holds the record for the emptiest theatre I've been in
Lord of the Rings - stunning, pure theatre and a real event with some beautiful music
Desperately Seeking Susan - this was much better than many jukebox shows and deserved a longer run
Betty Blue Eyes - a few good songs and Sarah Lancashire was brilliant ...otherwise all a bit meh
Imagine This - it was ok but tried too hard to be earnest
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Post by graham on Aug 10, 2018 14:13:49 GMT
I don't think it counts as a flop as it ran just over a year but did anyone see Lord of the Rings? Yes! I saw one of the last previews. In terms of recoupment it was a major flop - allegedly £10m lost. When it closed it was earmarked for productions in Germany and NZ and the far east. Then there was talk of an arena tour. I guess the fact that none of these happened is telling! Stunning staging, and some great music from AR Rahman, but it wasn't good enough. Didn't seem to damage Matthew Warchus! Perhaps the Hobbit would be a better subject for a musical (if Tolkein needs to be!) |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 14:25:06 GMT
Gone With The Wind..I thought it would never end My friend and I were giggling quietly during the finale while cast and some audience were crying. Oh I just loved 'Gone With The Wind'. It was HILARIOUS! If Darius struggling to sing, act and walk at different stages wasn't fun enough, watching Jill Paice fighting a losing battle with some of those frocks was the icing on the cake. I also swear I saw Edward Baker-Duly who played Ashley Wilkes eyeing up the exits every time he was on stage, probably working out which door would give him the quickest getaway. Never before has an audience wished that tomorrow really wasn't another day. Fabulous! |
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Post by ali973 on Aug 10, 2018 14:34:08 GMT
I remember her struggling with her costumes too. Though there was a kind of exciting Spanish-sounding number with Darius (Danesh, back then) was yelling at Scarlett. What a turkey this show was.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 14:35:39 GMT
Gone With The Wind..I thought it would never end My friend and I were giggling quietly during the finale while cast and some audience were crying. Oh I just loved 'Gone With The Wind'. It was HILARIOUS! If Darius struggling to sing, act and walk at different stages wasn't fun enough, watching Jill Paice fighting a losing battle with some of those frocks was the icing on the cake. I also swear I saw Edward Baker-Duly who played Ashley Wilkes eyeing up the exits every time he was on stage, probably working out which door would give him the quickest getaway. Never before has an audience wished that tomorrow really wasn't another day. Fabulous! Bless dear Darius he does sometimes find this whole walking and singing/talking thing a bit of a challenge. Delightful for the rest of us though. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 14:40:57 GMT
Oh I just loved 'Gone With The Wind'. It was HILARIOUS! If Darius struggling to sing, act and walk at different stages wasn't fun enough, watching Jill Paice fighting a losing battle with some of those frocks was the icing on the cake. I also swear I saw Edward Baker-Duly who played Ashley Wilkes eyeing up the exits every time he was on stage, probably working out which door would give him the quickest getaway. Never before has an audience wished that tomorrow really wasn't another day. Fabulous! Bless dear Darius he does sometimes find this whole walking and singing/talking thing a bit of a challenge. Delightful for the rest of us though. Oh bless him, thank goodness he's handsome. |
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Post by galinda on Aug 10, 2018 14:45:54 GMT
I really enjoyed a few already mentioned - Betty Blue Eyes, Lend Me a Tenor.
Stephen Ward - I was ill the day I saw that so didn't overly enjoy it but whenever the CD comes on shuffle I like a few of the songs.
How about From Here To Eternity? Any one else like that one? I loved that, went back a few times.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 14:47:32 GMT
I quite enjoyed the Go-Between , a nice sweet small musical but i feel it needed a smaller space like the donmar . Also enjoyed Miss Atomic Bomb which was not reviewed well but was a fun show .
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Post by partytentdown on Aug 10, 2018 14:57:24 GMT
Too Close to the Sun anyone?
Peter Pan el musical?
That Oscar Wilde thing?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 15:06:57 GMT
Here's a quick rundown, using similar criteria to the classic book 'Not Since Carrie' on Broadway flops. Under 250 performances, not a limited run, not been on Broadway, not a revue or compilation show, not a revival. As with that book there are probably a few missed and I've added a few that would have fallen outside that limitation. Some may have been time limited runs but would surely have extended or transferred if successful.
I chose Bernadette as the starting point because that really has to be the nadir of West End musicals in living memory. I can add a list of ones from before if needed!
Over sixty shows and I managed to see over three quarters of them.....
1990
Bernadette
Heaven’s Up
King
Someone Like You
1991
Children of Eden
Hunting of the Snark
Matador
1992
From a Jack to a King
Moby Dick
Radio Times
Valentine’s Day
Which Witch
1993
Leonardo: Portrait of Love
Lust c.1461
Robin, Prince of Sherwood
1994
Out of the Blue
1995
Prisoner Cell Block H
1996
Voyeurz
1997
Always
Fields of Ambrosia
Stepping Out
Maddie
1998
Saucy Jack & the Space Vixens
1999
A Saint She Ain’t
Boyband
Casper – the Musical
Tess of the D’Urbevilles
2000
La Cava
Lautrec
Hard Times
Napoleon
2001
Closer to Heaven (off West End)
Peggy Sue Got Married
2002
None
2003
Money to Burn (off West End)
2004
The Beautiful & the Damned
The Big Life
Murderous Instincts
Oscar Wilde (off West End)
2005
Acorn Antiques
The Far Pavilions
The Man in the Iron Mask
2006
Daddy Cool
2007
Bad Girls – the Musical
Desperately Seeking Susan
2008
Gone With the Wind
The Harder They Come
Imagine This
Marguerite
Never Forget
2009
Too Close to the Sun
2010
All the Fun of the Fair
Flashdance
Love Story
2011
Backbeat
Betty Blue Eyes
Lend me a Tenor
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2012
Loserville
2013
From Here to Eternity
Stephen Ward
Viva Forever
2014
I Can’t Sing
Made in Dagenham
2015
None
2016
The Go Between
Mrs Henderson Presents
2017
The Girls
The Wind in the Willows
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 10, 2018 15:22:43 GMT
Which Witch was truly something special. A complete car crash of a show - and wonderful for being just that. There was a Radio 4 series about big musical flops and the stories about WW were hilarious.
There is, of course, a difference between a bad show (like WW) and a show that was just not able to find an audience but that was still mostly decent - something like Made in Dagenham falls into that category, I would say.
It is a show that was in the wrong house with the wrong marketing campaign but was still fundamentally an ok show - and has gone on to considerable success on the amateur market. Something many shows on the above list will not ever achieve!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 15:27:14 GMT
I'll always have an affection for 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy it but it introduced me to Meow-Meow. The artist I mean, not the street drug. Although . . .
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Post by ali973 on Aug 10, 2018 15:34:41 GMT
@cardinal Pirelli, thank yo for that list. Brings back memories of good/bad/horrible shows I've seen or followed back in the day. That list should have come with a trigger warning.
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