5 Bonkers Broadway BOMBS Too Crazy To Last!
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- čas přidán 13. 04. 2024
- This week, I'm looking at 5 spectacular mega-flops from Broadway history that I can't do full breakdowns of because no scripts OR cast recordings were ever released! No one sets out to write a flop, but with subject matter ranging from The Shroud of Turin to bloody Vietnam War massacres, these 5 musical misfires seemed doomed from the start. So come learn all about the insanity that is Into the Light, The Lieutenant, Got Tu Go Disco, Via Galactica, and Senator Joe.
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I can imagine "The Lieutenant" doing well in a post-MWRA revival world
I actually saw “Into the Light” twice. (I was working at Actors’ Equity then and free preview tickets were available for almost every performance.) The sad thing is even after seeing it twice, I can’t remember a THING about it, except the green laser lights that spun in a cone around the imaginary friend.
I would LOVE to have a Part Two to this!
As an Old Hippie who lived through the disaster of Vietnam, I'd love a breakdown of The Lieutenant; I've never heard of it before.
I saw one of the few performances of the original Anyone Can Whistle, which I still think is a work of genius!
That female producer sounds like she may have gotten inspiration about producing Broadway shows from a certain little Mel Brooks film from 1967. lol
Exactly what I was thinking. Trying to worm money out of elderly to pay for the show was eerily familiar. lol. Back to Sing-Sing prison!
I found the soundtrack for The Lieutenant here on CZcams, but I don't know if it's the full thing. Really has JCSS vibes! I love hearing about flops. This was a fun video!
I'd love to see a full breakdown of Senator Joe and especially The Lieutenant
Might I suggest "Miss Moffatt" featuring a ,ahem, singing Bette Davis in the musical version of "The Corn is Green". The story of how it didn't make it to Broadway is hilarious.
I agree. I read years ago about what a disaster this show was. I'd love to see Broadway by Ghost light tackle this!
I really am intrigued by Senator Joe and The Lieutenant. Both of those sound like really interesting subjects (but I think my gauge for an interesting topic for a show is broken).
I agree I'd love to see a breakdown of them
All of these sound absolutely fascinating, and i would love a deeper dive into any one of them, as well as a part 2, or even more...
Did you see the Lieutenant at Musicas in Mufti last year? It was FANTASTIC.
I would love to hear more about The Lieutenant! And yes, part 2 and 3 and 4 ... keep it going. You do such a great job. Well done!
Another fantastic video discussing shows I’ve never heard of but now I’m lowkey hoping for a Got Tu Go Disco revival 😅
Yes. As a Disco lover I’m curious.
Thanks for taking on these shows, they're all so fascinating! But I must say, I've never ever understood (which is to say I do not agree with) why previews are not counted as performances or the run of the show. I know this isn't something you made up, so I don't blame you! But I always find it misleading (not to mention inaccurate for the laymen, at least) to discuss a show citing only the post opening night run. Previews are absolutely performances, on broadway, of the full show, after tech and dress rehearsals, sold to paying audiences, and very often not much is changing. And the word of mouth from previews often has plenty to do with how many performances it runs after opening. While broadway people may understand "performances" to not include previews, for the public record and knowledge, that distinct is meaningless. I mean, Merrily ran 60 performances on Broadway, not 16 as lore loves to tell us. That's a huge difference in terms of how long it lasted for audiences and funds, and how many audiences actually saw it. And in this case, Via Galactica ran 22, Into the light ran 19, The Lieutenant ran 16, Got to go disco ran 17, and Senator Joe just 3 as you said (totaling 77 not 30 performances). It is interesting though that you discuss Dude has having "run for 5 weeks", which it did, but not if you don't count previews. It ran 16 previews and only 16 "performances", so why does Dude get the more fair summary but not the others? Anyway, thanks for another thoughtful video!
Previews are not officially counted in the Broadway run because, in theory at least, the show is **not** finished until opening night, and may be substantially changed from one preview to the next. These changes usually do happen--a few shows (including Wish You Were Here and Camelot) have continued to make substantial changes even **after** opening night--so incorporating early previews of what might initially have been a very different show into the post-opening night run is a little like incorporating the nine months you were in gestation into your age. It may be technically true, but nobody does it.
Additionally, before about 1960 most Broadway shows didn''t have previews--not a one. Their opening nights on Broadway really were their very first Broadway performances. Instead of previews they had out-of-town tryouts, which were never counted in the Broadway runs. So counting the Broadway run only from opening night aligns with age-old Broadway practice.
@@keikekaze Oh, I know the idea behind it, but I think it's completely faulty, and irrelevant to the record of what it means to do a performance or a run on broadway (that is to be performing to a take buying audience, after dress and tech). And it is absolutely in no way like counting the 9 month gestation as part of someone's age. That would the writing and rehearsal process... this is more like saying that until the child can walk, it doesn't count, so we start counting after 18 months. Most shows are not substantially changed, or even changed in any notable "minor" ways even, but nonetheless a paying audience is being sold ticket to the show, not to a preview (if they even know what that is, which most do not and also it wouldn't matter). This is why I like to use the Merrily example, because it did go through more changes in previews than most shows, but that doesn't mean the audiences for the first *44* of their 60 performances didn't see Merrily. As you point out, some shows make changes after opening (including shows you didn't mention). But either way, in almost all cases, in previews or post-opening, audiences are being sold (fill in the title) show. They aren't being sold 1/3 price tickets to a dress rehearsal, or to a workshop lab of a show in its gestation period. So not counting previews, whether its 6 or 60 of them, whether the rest of the run is 16 or 1600 performances, is disingenuous and inaccurate.
@@BrendanClifford Well, I disagree completely on almost every one of your points, so we'll have to leave it at that.
@@keikekaze nothing i said is wrong. You may disagree that it means previews should count as performances of the run, but that doesn't mean what I've said is wrong. Yes we disagree.
The Ugly Dachshund was my fav classic Disney too! 🐾 Nice shout out
Amazing video!! As someone who also loves a flops so much. These are some shows I hadn’t heard as much about. Please a part two!
To go in opposite directions if you could find enough material, I'd love full breakdowns of Via Galactica and the Lieutenant.
Part 2 Please!
Part 2 🤩😍🥰
Into The Light is a bomb I’ve been dying to know everything I can about since i saw that compilation of bad reviews and a baffling commercial for the show. Someone said they had a recording but I haven’t heard anything since
I am amazed I never heard of this show before. Given the subject matter, it seems that marketing such a serious show was problematic. Case in point, the show poster: 6:54.
Now do Angel, Dance a Little Closer (aka Close a Little Faster), Onward Victoria (the Suffs of the day), Prince of Central Park, and Cleavage.