{"id":2252,"date":"2012-03-06T19:25:51","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T23:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www3.arts.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=2252"},"modified":"2012-03-06T19:25:51","modified_gmt":"2012-03-06T23:25:51","slug":"2012-the-year-of-the-flop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2012\/03\/06\/2012-the-year-of-the-flop\/","title":{"rendered":"2012: The Year of the Flop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadway flops were brought to national attention with Mel Brooks’ film The Producers<\/em>, in which a producer, Max Bialystock, and his accountant Leo Bloom set out to produce the worst Broadway show possible. \u00c2\u00a0The idea is that it is possible to make more money with a flop than with a hit. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, their master plan crumbles quickly when the show, Springtime for Hitler<\/em>, enjoys unexpected success.<\/p>\n

There have been many composers and lyricists who have accomplished Max and Leo’s goal without even trying. \u00c2\u00a0This year, two of these enormous flops are receiving eagerly-anticipated revivals in New York. \u00c2\u00a0There is an entire subset in theatre culture that is obsessed with big flop musicals. \u00c2\u00a0There was even a book written about these shows, called Not Since Carrie <\/em>by Ken Mandelbaum. \u00c2\u00a0The title refers to possibly the most famous flop, and one of the two musicals that is being remounted, Carrie<\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0Yes, that Carrie<\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0It is a musical based on the novel-turned-movie by Stephen King about a troubled telekinetic teen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Carrie <\/em>was first on Broadway in 1988, it ran for a total of 16 previews and 5 performances<\/strong>. \u00c2\u00a0On this blog, I have often\u00c2\u00a0alluded to the innate smallness of the theatre community. \u00c2\u00a0Word of mouth alone seems to have ruined this musical. \u00c2\u00a0It was doomed from its out of town try-out in Stratford, where the public was up in arms that the Royal Shakespeare Company was putting on this show. \u00c2\u00a0Unlike most shows, as Carrie <\/em>moved forward in development and got closer to its Broadway debut, it got worse. \u00c2\u00a0The revisions and directorial choices weakened the show. \u00c2\u00a0Rather than juxtaposing Carrie’s inner angst and outer powers with a relatively normal society, the show put Carrie’s classmates in costumes that resembled Grecian goddesses and workers at a\u00c2\u00a0leather bar. \u00c2\u00a0Carrie’s powers were barely even hinted at, so by the Act One finale, when her hands were literally on fire, members of the audience unfamiliar with the movie or book were perplexed.<\/p>\n

While the show failed commercially, it immediately became a camp classic. \u00c2\u00a0Secretly recorded video and audio circulated the\u00c2\u00a0theatre community, and those who were not at the show wished they could have witnessed the wreck. \u00c2\u00a0Even now, some salvaged clips remain on YouTube for those fans who never thought this day would come. \u00c2\u00a0They day they can finally see Carrie <\/em>for themselves. \u00c2\u00a0Mandelbaum says that the thing that separates Carrie <\/em>from the other flops in his book is that it was so hot and cold as far as quality is concerned. \u00c2\u00a0The mother’s big ballad, “Open Your Heart,” is still held up to be a beautiful piece of music, but there was also a song (which the 2012 review hints may have been cut, or at least pared down) about the pig slaughtering, with genius lyrics like “kill the pig, pig, pig” while oinks resonate through the theatre. \u00c2\u00a0And did I mention the show ended with Carrie ascending an enormous stairway to Heaven?<\/p>\n

MCC’s production of Carrie <\/em>was successful before it even began. \u00c2\u00a0This is the definition of a cult musical. \u00c2\u00a0You go to be able to say you went. \u00c2\u00a0There are those who are avid fans of the pirated cast recording from the 80s, but many audience members just want to see what everyone has been talking about for the past nearly 25 years. \u00c2\u00a0The New York Times<\/em> review praises Marin Mazzie who plays Carrie’s religious fanatic mother, but otherwise gently condemns the musical. \u00c2\u00a0Many positive changes have been made since the 1988 disaster, but it seems that Carrie is just not one of those shows that works. \u00c2\u00a0Regardless of reviews and actual merit, the production has already extended its limited run an extra four weeks. \u00c2\u00a0Everyone wants to see the world’s most famous flop. \u00c2\u00a0I know I would.<\/p>\n

The second revived flop of 2012 is a little more tragic. \u00c2\u00a0Merrily We Roll Along <\/em>was a show written by Broadway God Stephen Sondheim and originally directed by the equally terrific Hal Prince in 1981. \u00c2\u00a0The show followed the professional and personal journeys of three best friends backward from 1980 to 1955. \u00c2\u00a0This show had a bit more success, but about the same amount of chance as Carrie<\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0It ran for 52 previews and 16 performances. \u00c2\u00a0And unlike Carrie<\/em>, Sondheim and Prince made significant improvements to the show during their time on the Great White Way. \u00c2\u00a0However, word had already gotten out and the show was really doomed before it began. \u00c2\u00a0There are tales of walk outs from the first preview, audience members who left completely confused about what story they just watched and who the characters on stage were. \u00c2\u00a0After closing on Broadway, Sondheim continued to make revisions to the show with librettest George Furth. \u00c2\u00a0So when the show opened at New York City Center through its Encores! program this year it was a very different show than that first preview in 1981.<\/p>\n

However, it still fell flat. \u00c2\u00a0This production had everything– a stellar, super exciting, young but not brand new cast; a great concept; talented musicians, directors, artists– but it was still missing something<\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0According to reviews, this seems to be one of those shows that people want to work but it just might not be possible. \u00c2\u00a0Personally, my Merrily <\/em>cast recording is practically worn through I’ve listened to it so many times. \u00c2\u00a0This is a show I want to see succeed. \u00c2\u00a0But I’ve also never seen it in full production. \u00c2\u00a0Critics acknowledge that the music is beautiful. \u00c2\u00a0 It’s Sondheim, for God’s sake. \u00c2\u00a0Unlike the writers of Carrie<\/em>, who were not entirely inexperienced but certainly did not have the breadth of experiences Mr. Sondheim has, Merrily <\/em>has everything going for it, except for the show itself.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there is just a disconnect between what should work and what does. \u00c2\u00a0 That is one of the most terrifying and exciting parts of art- seeing what works. \u00c2\u00a0These are just two examples of when things went terribly bad. \u00c2\u00a0But now they have a whole community willing to embrace them and spend hours online developing fan sites, sharing bootleg footage, and devoting all sorts of time to the shows that didn’t quite make it. \u00c2\u00a0I find flop culture quite fascinating. \u00c2\u00a0I first got into it when dramaturging a show called [title of show]<\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0One of the characters, and the writer himself, has a collection of Broadway flop Playbills. \u00c2\u00a0There is a song that names probably fifty flops, and it was my job to look up each title and find as much information as possible. \u00c2\u00a0It’s an interesting phenomenon, especially in this age of super commercial, decade-long running shows, that there are still these fleeting pieces of theatre that run under 50 performances and are never heard from again. \u00c2\u00a0Carrie <\/em>and Merrily <\/em>are the lucky ones, but when will the world hear from Buck White <\/em>again? \u00c2\u00a0Probably never.<\/p>\n

And then I think…how did we let Cats <\/em>happen for so long?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Broadway flops were brought to national attention with Mel Brooks’ film The Producers, in which a producer, Max Bialystock, and his accountant Leo Bloom set out to produce the worst Broadway show possible. \u00c2\u00a0The idea is that it is possible to make more money with a flop than with a hit. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, their master […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2254,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}