Musical Flops

Sights and sounds of musicals that didn't do so well. Feel free to submit requests or ask questions! Current Avatar: Linzi Hateley during the destruction of "Carrie", the notorious 1988 Broadway flop.

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Today in History: "The Bridges of Madison County", starring Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, closes at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway after only 92 regular performances. (May 18th, 2014). The show will reportedly be launching a national tour in the fall of 2015.

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This Day in History: "Leap of Faith" opens on Broadway at the St. James Theatre (April 26th, 2012). The show will shutter quickly and become the biggest musical flop of the season, closing after only 19 performances on May 13th, 2012.

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"Carrie", a musical adaption of Stephen King's classic novel, played only sixteen preview performances and closed after only five official performances at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway in 1988, losing the entire investment that was put into it and immediately becoming one of the most notorious flops in Broadway history. The show starred Linzi Hateley in her Broadway debut as Carrie White and Betty Buckley as Margaret White. In this clip, Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley sing "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance" from the first preview of Carrie the Musical at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway on April 28th, 1988.

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Musical flop you might want to post: Bring Back Birdie (played 41 previews but closed after four performances)

Posted! Also bumped an older post with a rehearsal photo from the show. Enjoy!

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"Bring Back Birdie" closed on Broadway after four performances on March 7th, 1981. Though it was a sequel to the successful musical "Bye Bye Birdie", it was not a hit with audiences or critics. Shown here are Donald O’Connor and Chita Rivera in rehearsal for the show.

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Bumped per request!

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What show income wise do you think was the biggest flop? Spider Man?

Yes, Spider Man is the biggest flop in Broadway history despite how many performances it played.

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What makes a show a flop? Is it the number of performances or the overall profit made?

A lower number of performances can determine that the show is a flop, but also not making the initial investment back makes it a flop. For example, Sister Act did not recoup the initial investment put into it but still enjoyed a decent run on Broadway so many would still consider it a flop.

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What show has had the shortest run?

Not entirely sure on this one! Some shows only played one preview performance on Broadway before closing and some have opened and closed on the same night. Good question!

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Which flop is your favorite?

My favorite flop is Carrie, but I also enjoy Mata Hari (1967), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1966) and a few others.

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"Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on October 13th, 2010. It closed after only 94 performances on January 2nd, 2011.

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The first Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" closed after only 117 performances at the Belasco Theatre on July 14th, 2001.

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Do you consider First Date a flop?

Yes. Being that it only played 174 performances on Broadway and never recouped back the initial investment that was put into it, it is considered a flop. Thanks for the question!

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This Day in History: "The Story of my Life" closes at the Booth Theatre after only five performances (February 22nd, 2009). The show starred Will Chase and Malcom Gets.

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This Day in History: “Foxy”, starring Bert Lahr in his final theatrical appearance, opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre (February 16th, 1964). The show will eventually close after only 72 performances on April 18th, 1964. Before the show opened on Broadway, it played a seven-week engagement at the Palace Grand Theatre, in Dawson City, a town in Yukon, Canada in the summer of 1962. It was co-produced by the government of Canada in order to try and promote tourism in the area, but the show mostly played to empty audiences and lost the entire $400,000 investment that was originally put into it. In 1963, Producer David Merrick revived the show with Lahr attached once again and brought it to New York where it would ultimately fail a second time. Despite the show’s rapid closing, Bert Lahr won the 1964 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in “Foxy”. Shown here is a photo of the original window card for the Broadway Production, a photograph of the theatre in the remote Canadian town of Dawson City where “Foxy” failed in 1962, as well as two production photos of Lahr and his co-star, Julienne Marie.

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"Smile" closed on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on January 3rd, 1987 after only 48 performances. The musical was based on the 1975 film of the same name, and was written by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman. Shown here are photographs of the Lunt Fontanne's exterior during the short time the show played there as well as rehearsal photos from the show.

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This Day in History: "A Night With Janis Joplin" closes on Broadway  todayafter only 133 performances at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway (February 9th, 2014). Mary Bridget Davies, who plays Janis Joplin, received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the late rock icon. Producers have announced that the show will re-open in New York at an Off-Broadway Theatre to be determined in March 2014. Purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of "A Night With Janis Joplin" here!

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Production photos from "Big Fish", which closed after only 98 performances on December 29th, 2013 at the Neil Simon Theatre. Purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of "Big Fish" here!