All tagged Side Show
Halloween is just around the “coroner” to quote the Addams Family lyric you’ll encounter later in this playlist and I thought it would be fun to assemble a musical theatre playlist that embraced all things wicked and wonderful. Maybe this group of musical ditties will help put you in the mood for ghosts, goblins, and treak-or-treat.
Today is @theatreguy22's birthday (me) and I was trying to find a topic that centered around birthdays in Broadway musicals. At first, I thought this would be an easy task, but birthdays in musicals are not as common as one might think. Birthdays have only been occasionally addressed, so some digging was required. Thanks to my dear friend (and sparring partner) Robbie Rozelle, we came up with these titles that were a musical theatre reason to light the candles, cut the cake, and pop the champagne. “Happy Birthday” Broadway style!
It's always sad when a musical flops, especially when you consider all the time, talent, heart and cash that are poured into bringing a musical to Broadway. Every once and a while a musical that failed to ignite at the box office the first time around is given a second chance to show off its merits. Consider that the classic Candide was not a hit the first time around in 1956 but found great acclaim in a 1973 revival and the case is made that a revival of a failed property can be merited. Some other musicals have had this opportunity: a revival of Side Show, a 1997 flop that hoped to make a new case for itself with a 2014 revival, met with mediocre ticket sales and reviews. Some musicals are destined to be loved in concept only, never quite yielding in popularity what their proponents see as the hidden or untapped potential of its ingredients. This is okay. Not every revival of a once successful musical is a hit, so it stands to reason that not every first go around with a piece is going to be a success. Many components besides book, music and lyrics come together to make a production, so altering those ingredients (director, budget, performers, even the written material itself) can possibly add up to a new production that works.
Here are ten musicals that I believe, with the right ingredients and a little hope, could add up to a hit if they were given a second chance.
Many musical theatre fans are bemoaning the recent news that the musical Side Show, the eagerly anticipated revival of 1997 flop musical that ran a mere 91 performance, has announced its closing for January 4th. Fans of the original production are rabid; they fiercely be-cry the injustice of such a compelling work with an electrified, emotionally raw score and an arresting, freakish premise not afforded ample time to find an audience. All who are financially and emotionally invested in the revival hoped that a new production, featuring some book alterations, score changes, and a re-imagined production would make a new case for this musical to be revered for its supposed inherent greatness. Clearly, despite some critical accolades (if not exactly unqualified raves across the board), the new production is closing, having run approximately the same number of performances as the original. Why is it that a show, that has a strong base of musical theatre fans, cannot seem to find the success that many people believe it deserves?
