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Post by scarpia on Oct 9, 2022 9:24:43 GMT
How about Paradise Found at the Chocolare factory? My friends and I walked out at the interval but one friend remained and said only about a quarter of the audience returned. It's no secret I'm a big Hal Prince fan so I was excited to see this, especially with that starry cast. But yes, it was torture.
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528 posts
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Post by drowseychap on Oct 11, 2022 1:00:20 GMT
The goodbye girl ? Saw it twice in London was empty but we loved it …. But then it toured and sold really well both times I went in different city’s theatre was full midweek … marti Webb joined Gary Wilmot for the tour . Also saw stepping out the musical Sharon d Clarke ? Which I enjoyed Lend me a tenor I liked too Lord of the rings I hated
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Post by distantcousin on Oct 11, 2022 9:48:02 GMT
As frankubelik described above, a failed musical can come in many forms, it's not only about money, its also about expectation, hype, length of run etc. The ones I include. refer only to the London productions of the show. The Drowsy Chaperone is a great example. It came to London having won numerous Tony awards, ran for nearly 2 years on Broadway, It had Elaine Paige in the title role and some great talent in all the other roles, and yet closed in 8 weeks. You can't call that a success in any way. The Beautiful Game I would consider a failure because it only lasted a short time compared to most of his other shows, it never transferred to Broadway, lost its entire investment and many people have never heard of it. Romeo and Juliet was just so dull and bland. Other shows like Which Witch or Moby Dick (all of which were at the Piccadilly) were camp and over the top and were enjoyable for a few reasons, but Romeo and Juliet was none of those. Betty Blue Eyes was another that came with great expectations, great cast and people expected it to do far better than it did, given it was a Cam Mack show after all, and people were surprised that it closed so quickly. I always thought BBE would have been a massive hit with Amateur companies around the country, like Witches of Eastwick was, but i don't recall seeing it, or maybe it was never released.
I saw a university theatre society present BBE during the Brighton Fringe (2018 I think it was)
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Post by distantcousin on Oct 11, 2022 9:50:48 GMT
Stage Door Records have re-issued some really interesting material in the 'failed musicals' category, not least the 2 volumes of Lost West End songs from flop shows. I'm another who had the (mis)fortune to see Out of the Blue - my parents booked it for us as a family trip. I have no idea why. It was genuinely interminable. Years later I found the complete 2 CD cast recording in a charity shop, of all places. I bought it and have tried several times to listen to it, but can never get through it, despsite the great cast. Other great West End flops (at least commercially) I have seen include Bernadette (I've spoken many times here about my fondness for it and still often play the concept album), Romeo and Juliet, Acorn Antiques, The Far Pavilions, Behind the Iron Mask, Bat Boy, Peggy Sue Got Married, La Cava, Gone with the Wind, Lord of the Rings, Margueritte, Imagine This, Love Story, From Here to Eternity, Stephen Ward, I Can't Sing, Made in Dagenham, Mrs Henerson Presents and The Go-Between. A few of those I thought were great - especially The Go-Between. Margueritte, Acorn Antiques, Imagine This and Stephen Ward were all pretty good, too. The worst was probably Behind the Iron Mask, although many, like Gone With the Wind and La Cava, were simply very long and dull. One flop I really wish I'd seen is Fields of Ambrosia. I love the cast recording and think the story is extremely interesting. I think the subject matter put people off, but it's no darker than, say, Sweeney Todd, and no-one would have batted an eyelid if it had been a play, rather than a musical. Somebody really ought to revive it and give it a proper chance. Oh, and I SO wish I'd seen Mike Read's Oscar Wilde musical. Did anyone else here enjoy the BBC radio series Fabulous Flops, about ten or so years ago? It looked at the amazing stories behind many of these shows. The story behind Murderous Instincts was particularly entertaining!
Acorn Antiques sold out it's entire run! There was never a plan to extend it beyond Julie Walters' contract.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 11, 2022 9:58:03 GMT
Several years later it toured in a revised version. Has it had much life after that?
I found it overly (Mrs overally) long at the Haymarket but I did enjoy aspects of it and I'd like to see it again if it was shorter
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Post by Peter on Oct 11, 2022 11:01:14 GMT
I think it was released for amateur productions (in that revised form, without the first act) about ten years ago - no idea how popular it has been…
Loved every minute of the London production, though haven’t seen it since as the cast were such an integral part of it for me.
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Post by joem on Oct 11, 2022 11:10:59 GMT
Definite flops:
On The Twentieth Century
According to this thread:
The Far Pavilions Bombay Dreams? From Here To Eternity
Was Love Never Dies a relative flop?
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Post by WireHangers on Oct 11, 2022 12:07:22 GMT
Lord of the Rings is a musical I listen to at least once a month. The music is stunning.
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Post by inthenose on Oct 11, 2022 12:28:47 GMT
Lord of the Rings is a musical I listen to at least once a month. The music is stunning. Absolutely. Gorgeous score. “Lament for Moria”, “Star of Earendil”, some really nice music in there.
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485 posts
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Post by WireHangers on Oct 11, 2022 15:45:47 GMT
Lord of the Rings is a musical I listen to at least once a month. The music is stunning. Absolutely. Gorgeous score. “Lament for Moria”, “Star of Earendil”, some really nice music in there. I listened to Star of Earendil on my way to work the other morning. Got me really pumped up for the day ahead!
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Post by bimse on Oct 11, 2022 17:05:03 GMT
Mystery of Edwin Drood, Savoy Theatre 1987
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Post by inthenose on Oct 11, 2022 17:16:50 GMT
Absolutely. Gorgeous score. “Lament for Moria”, “Star of Earendil”, some really nice music in there. I listened to Star of Earendil on my way to work the other morning. Got me really pumped up for the day ahead! Having the absolutely lovely Rosalie Craig as Arwen is a gift too. I really, really miss this show. Annoyingly, there is a full pro-shot locked up at Kevin Wallace Towers which will never be released due to rights complications with Saul Zaentz, New Line Cinema and the Tolkien Estate. There isn’t even a video bootleg, (except a couple of clips on YouTube - including “Cat and the Moon”) and the audio bootlegs are all terrible quality. “Eärendil-naur, ir men Beri-al ned lú beleg baur!”
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Post by ceebee on Oct 11, 2022 19:26:25 GMT
I listened to Star of Earendil on my way to work the other morning. Got me really pumped up for the day ahead! Having the absolutely lovely Rosalie Craig as Arwen is a gift too. I really, really miss this show. Annoyingly, there is a full pro-shot locked up at Kevin Wallace Towers which will never be released due to rights complications with Saul Zaentz, New Line Cinema and the Tolkien Estate. There isn’t even a video bootleg, (except a couple of clips on YouTube - including “Cat and the Moon”) and the audio bootlegs are all terrible quality. “Eärendil-naur, ir men Beri-al ned lú beleg baur!” I absolutely loved LOTR. I was gutted when it closed - that stage and set, the music, the double interval. They truly don't make shows like that any more.
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Oct 11, 2022 21:01:01 GMT
The goodbye girl ? Saw it twice in London was empty but we loved it …. But then it toured and sold really well both times I went in different city’s theatre was full midweek … marti Webb joined Gary Wilmot for the tour . Also saw stepping out the musical Sharon d Clarke ? Which I enjoyed Lend me a tenor I liked too Lord of the rings I hated I remember Ann Crumb and Gary Willmott being in it, but i cant remember a single other thing about that show. I didnt even buy the cast recording, which was very unusual in those days.
Im shocked that it went out on tour after the London run.
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