Musicals killed so fast, we never had a chance to THINK about getting tickets!
The Capeman Paul Simon's musical based on a murder committed by a Latino youth in New York City. Admittedly, this musical had problems from the start (it went through 5 directors), but there was promise. Scathing reviews and all the negative publicity caused by the multiple director changes and script problems kept audiences away from what could have been something different, with a little work.
The Civil War Frank Wildhorn's musical about (what else) the civil war. Equal blame for the closing of this musical must go to both the producers and newspaper critics. As for the critics, it got some pretty bad reviews. We saw a TV special about how the show was put together and more than likely it was really the music that scared them away. It was quite a bit more on the pop side than his other stuff (Jekyll and Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel). I guess those stodgy old critics just don't get that modern stuff. Naturally, these bad reviews made sure the show came away from the Tonys empty-handed. The show closed ONE WEEK after the Tony Awards (June 13th). As for the producers, they didn't bother to give the show enough of a chance AFTER the Tony Awards were handed out. Before you could blink an eye, it was closed and out on the road. The funny thing is, we saw ads in our local paper (The Baltimore Sun) advertising that the show will be on tour to Baltimore next year a couple of weeks before the Tonys. It's almost as if they had planned all along to close and go on tour instead. Here's the kicker. We had already bought tickets for July 3rd. The producers have decided to play a little bit of dirty pool in their policy on ticket returns. We called Ticketmaster and, according to the person we spoke to, this is the only time they've ever heard of people having to mail their tickets back in before they get their refund. Usually, you can just call and they will refund your charge card, since they have you on file anyway. This inconvenience was at the request of the producer, whom we suspect is planning on keeping the thousands of unused tickets to use for a tax deduction at the end of the year. There's probably a "lost potential earnings" tax deduction. We didn't like the idea of having to mail our tickets in and hope that our account really would be credited. We were dying to see this show, and had it just stayed open a couple of weeks longer, it could have been in the "close shaves" category below. As it is, after this fiasco, they'll be lucky if we're not still mad enough to stay away when they come to Baltimore.
Once Upon a Mattress The revival of the musical based on the fairy tale, "The Princess and the Pea". Sarah Jessica Parker starred in the role which Carol Burnett created in the 60's. Part of what killed this one is that the critics thought Ms. Parker's voice wasn't up to snuff. At least that's what they said. We saw the performance on the Tony Awards show on June 1st and she sang and danced well enough to make us wish we'd seen it before it closed. "Mattress" got a few Tony nominations, but won none. What really may have gone on here is that the critics tried to compare Carol Burnett and Sarah Jessica Parker, which is unfair.
Steel Pier Kander and Ebb (Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Cabaret) wrote this musical about a dance marathon taking place on Atlantic City's famous Steel Pier during the depression. The show got a number of 1997 Tony nominations, but won none. It's really hard to say why this one went down in flames, other than the critics were more than likely too hard on it. The show closed on June 28th. Being such short notice (we live in Maryland, so New York trips aren't too frequent) we just couldn't get to NYC quickly enough to see it. Hopefully, it will go on tour, instead of disappearing into the netherworld of unfairly murdered musicals.
Sweet Smell of Success Marvin Hamlisch (A Chorus Line), Craig Carnelia, and John Guare collaborated on this musical based on the 1950's movie of the same name. The main character, JJ Hunsecker is supposed to be loosely based on Walter Winchell, a ruthless gossip columnist of the time. Sydney Falcone, a press agent looking to make it into the big time gets involved with Hunsecker's ruthless ways. We had planned to see it along with some other recent opening musicals, but once again, the New York newspaper critics killed it. They totally panned it, so it never had a chance. This in turn made for a bad turnout at the 2002 Tony awards, where the only award won was Best Actor in a Musical by John Lithgow, who played Hunsecker. We bought the CD and also saw a clip of the show on the Rosie O'Donnell show and thought it would have been a great musical to see-the CD sounded fantastic, and we wouldn't expect any less from the great Marvin Hamlisch.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer A new musical written by Ken Ludwig, with music and lyrics by Don Schlitz. Based on the book by Mark Twain. The critics absolutely trashed it. We saw a story about this musical and it's author, Ken Ludwig on the CBS Sunday Morning program and were very interested in seeing it. We loved Moon Over Buffalo and judging by the clips they showed during the interview, this one looked good, too. The musicals which opened late in the season were playing against what we consider bias towards The Producers, the $99 per ticket fiasco by Mel Brooks, which we are boycotting due to the outrageous ticket price. Tom Sawyer closed a mere 3 weeks after opening, just after the Tony Awards announcements, where they were sadly shut out of any nominations, except for scenic design and lighting design, clearly not enough for the producers of the show to warrant backing it any further. Y'know, in a perfect world, everyone would write shows that all the critics like, and then they would run a long time and make lots of money. There's no reason in the world that a show couldn't run a long time and make lots of money without the critics approval. The normal showgoers must be too dumb to make up their own minds, if they read one person's review and let that person make up their minds for them. Of course, it doesn't help that ticket prices are so high that it's almost a necessity for some people to use reviews to weed out what they might and might not want to see. Come on, people, don't sell yourselves short! The taste of ONE critic doesn't speak for the taste of thousands deciding on what they want to see! If the story looks interesting, if you've seen a clip of one of the numbers that you liked on television, whatever the reason, don't pay attention to the critic. You'll most likely enjoy yourself, in spite of their bad attitude. We've seen plenty of stuff they didn't like, and loved it, and we've also seen plenty of stuff they raved about that we thought was totally stupid. BRING BACK TOM SAWYER! He deserves another chance.
The Wild Party A new musical written by Michael John LaChiusa, based on the poem about an all night party during the roaring 20's, written by Joseph Moncure March. Once again, we've been snookered out of seeing what had to be a really good show. We got tickets for a show a few weeks after the Tony awards, but it closed only 1 week after they had a dissapointing night, winning none of the 7 awards they were nominated for. We got the cast album (thanks much to Beth Krakower of CineMedia Promotions for sending it to us!) and we LOVED it! Naturally, as soon as we listened to the CD, we ordered our tickets to see the show. The same experience happened here as did with our "The Civil War" debacle (listed on this page as well), in that we had to send the tickets back to get a refund. In any event, this show should have won a couple of Tony awards, especially for best book and best new musical. No offense to Contact, but this show had more of a storyline-one that lasted the whole 2 hours and included all new music instead of 3 short stories and old music we've heard before. Eartha Kitt, Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette and the gang seemed like they were doing a bang up job, especially judging by the clip on the Tony awards broadcast. We were really dying to see this show, and more than likely, it won't even go on tour. We say that theatre critics should be outlawed. They gave this show an unfairly bad review, which biased everyone elses opinion against going to see the show for themselves and use their own judgement. To all our theatre going friends out there: We've said it before, but we can't say it enough! Please, please, please go to a show and judge it for yourself, instead of listening to critics. You'll be glad you did.
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown A revival of the hit musical based on the Charles Schulz cartoon characters. Another case of the critics and the Tony award voters working together to kill a show. It got so-so reviews, except for Kristin Chenoweth, who played Sally Brown and got rave reviews. Ms. Chenoweth won a Tony award for best supporting actress, and Roger Bart, who played Snoopy also won (for best supporting actor). These were the only 2 it won, even though it was nominated for a few more. After seeing the performance of "My New Philosophy" on the Tony award show, we thought we might try to get tickets to the show on the same weekend (July 2nd, only a month after the Tonys) we had tickets for another show, to find out the show was closing before that. We bought the CD, so we could hear what we missed. It was actually pretty good. The storyline seemed a little lightweight, but sometimes it's nice to see a show where you don't feel weighed down by story. It's a nice break. What probably really scared people away was that it was very difficult to visualize the actors as the characters they were playing. When you've been reading the comic strip for years and years, that's how you see ol' Charlie and the gang and these people didn't look like that. That wouldn't have kept us away. Too bad many Broadway patrons have such limited vision. It would have been a fun show to see. Of course it might have lived if the producers had given it half a chance. Who knows? It seems like lately, if a show doesn't sweep the Tony's, it's gone the next day.
Musicals that had a somewhat slower death-at least we got to see them first!
Candide We loved this musical, which was the perfect vehicle for Andrea Martin, of SCTV fame. She was great as the Old Lady. This musical was unfairly criticized by the New York Times. It deserved a good review because it was a wonderful show with fantastic music by the one and only Leonard Bernstein. And as for the critic who didn't like Hal Prince's "three ring circus" staging, well, frankly that particular critic has his head up his posterior. Just what are the critics looking for anymore??!! It seems like they hate everything. (See the Broadway reviews section for details about the show itself.)
Seussical It just goes to show you that critics are too far away from remembering their own childhood to know a fun show when they see it. We loved every minute of this fun and colorful show, which opened in November, 2000 and closed in May of 2001. Critics complained of lack of focus, and a plodding plot. Maybe their problem was that they were looking for more storyline than was needed. Everyone these days wants overblown, deep plots, and you just can't get that by putting together Dr. Seuss books. We thought it was just fine-the lightness of it made it very enjoyable and easy to watch. The critics notices of a lack of direction got to potential audience goers, and it showed in ticket sales, which resulted in an unneeded attempt at audience draw in the form of guest stars such as Rosie O'Donnell and Cathy Rigby. This show was perfect for kids and enjoyable for adults and it's a shame to see it close. Read our review of the show in our broadway reviews section.
Side Show It's a good thing we impulsively decided to go see this in November. Little did we know it would be gone so quickly. It wass a really good show and there was no reason for the audience to only be half full as it was when we saw it. Some people were apparently afraid to go because the portrayal of the Siamese twins might be yekky or something. In the first place, both of the stars were gorgeous and they portrayed Siamese part in a simple, yet effective, way. In the second place, the Hilton twins were only joined at the hip, so it wasn't like all that weird stuff you see on the tabloid TV shows. Besides lukewarm reviews, the only other thing that might have killed Side Show so quickly was the opening of the Disney extravaganza, The Lion King. It's possible that the humongous amount of hype may have steered audience interest away from everything else that was new. (See the Broadway reviews section for details about the show itself.)
State Fair We saw this show on it's pre-Broadway run at the Kennedy Center. (See the touring company reviews section for details about the show itself.) It opened on Broadway some months later and was mercilessly panned by critics. Not only didn't it get many Tony nominations, winning none of them, but it was panned by critics as well. They were just too interested in "Rent" last year to take notice of a nice, simple storyline such as this one. This led to a quick closing. It was a really good show! Critics and audiences alike have been spoiled by the all-music, all-drama musical created by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The style of musical created by Rogers and Hammerstein has been left in the dust by the likes of Phantom of the Opera. Fortunately, it is now on tour and John Davidson is still playing his role as Abel Frake. No word on whether the other stars are still with the show.
Victor/Victoria We saw this show with Julie Andrews in December of 1996. (See the Broadway reviews section for details about the show itself.) In the spring of 1997, Raquel Welch took over the lead role. This cancellation was probably more a case of audience bias than anything else. Come on, people! Julie Andrews couldn't do the show forever! Now, because everyone wanted only to see Ms. Andrews in it, it is closed.
More coming soon! (Unfortunately, since it goes with the territory.)
Comments? Additions to the shows listed here? E-mail The Litterbox at knighton@cablespeed.comand tell us what you think!
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