Other than Bialystock & Bloom in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, no one sets out to manufacture a Broadway Flop. Yet the streets of Broadway are littered with some notorious failures. There is something kind of poetic about truly bombing on Broadway (except, of course for those involved). The creators talk about being misunderstood or too far ahead of their time or victims of a critic conspiracy - but more often than not, the shows were just plain old awful.

In celebration of our Walkin’ Broadway tour, we present the Top Ten List of Broadway Flops. There are plenty more out there. These are our faves. (Please add your own!) Many link to their original New York Times review, because scathing reviews are pretty darn funny.

10. Late Night Comic, 1987
How’s this for a bad sign: the director removed his name from the credits after the previews before the show opened on Broadway. He probably shouldn’t have bothered; the show only lasted four performances. The New York Times review probably didn’t help: ”Late Nite Comic has no sense of direction. It also has no sense of book or score.”

9. Via Galactica, 1972
This one was a rock musical that starred Raul Julia as a space sanitation man living on an asteroid 1,000 years in the future. It was a originally entitled Up! – but appearing at the newly opened Uris theater, the producers thoughtfully avoided a billboard that read Up! Uris. True.
NY Times Review

8. The Capeman, 1998
“It would take a hard-core sadist to derive pleasure from the sad, benumbed spectacle that finally opened last night at the Marquis Theater, three weeks behind schedule.” Paul Simon’s much anticipated pop-opera hit the stage with a thud. While it survived a couple of months after opening, this one was pretty much dead on arrival. Paul Simon did release an album of the songs to some generally positive reviews. And in 2008, Simon performed a series of concerts “Songs from The Capeman” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
NY Times review.

7. Lennon, 2005
Continuing the trend of the ‘jukebox musical,’ Lennon aspired to be an interpretation of the life of John Lennon through the lens of his music. But the seemingly manufactured nature of the show was a “drippy version of his life” that featured a “Muzak-alized assortment of Lennon’s non-Beatles songs.” In a style not unlike that employed (more successfully) in the Bob Dylan-inspired film I’m Not There (2007), 5 actors portrayed different aspects of Lennon’s life. Weak reviews drove the show to close in about 6 weeks.
New York Times review

6. Frankenstein, 1981
The most expensive dramatic production to come to Broadway at the time, Frankenstein lasted just one night at the Palace Theater. Elaborate special effects and a ballooning budget behind extensive scenery (and the huge crew of stagehands to move it all around) made it impossible for the production to withstand a critical panning.

5. Dude, 1972
A musical from the creators of Hair, (one of whom was also the composer of Via Galactica, also on this list) this was a high-concept production that scattered the orchestra around the audience and turned the theater into an arena. Rewrites and last minute personnel changes pushed the budget of this “monstrosity” ever upwards, leading Newsweek to posit, “Only in America can a million dollars be thrown directly into the garbage disposal that is the cultural machine operated by the Holzers (the show’s backers) and their ilk.” A bunch of Dude articles are indexed here.

4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1966
A beloved film makes its way to the Broadway stage as a musical. And starring Mary Tyler Moore as Holly Golightly. Sounds perfect. What could go wrong? Well, everything. Constant rewrites and massive changes – all the way up to and including the Broadway previews. Breakfast at Tiffany’s The Musical never made it out of previews. Producer Bob Merrick announced the abrupt close of the show with an ad the New York Times explaining that he chose to shut down the production “rather than subject the drama critics and the public to an excruciatingly boring evening.” (As the show never opened, there were no reviews to link to. Too bad!)

3. Kelly, 1965
Once considered the flop of all flops, this was a musical about a con man who reneges on a promise to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1880s. After pretty bad reviews in warm-up runs in Philadelphia and Boston, the producers brought in Mel Brooks, among others, to rework the script. More bad reviews, a big budget and some negative publicity all teamed to close this show after opening night to make it the most expensive flop in its day.

2. Carrie, 1988
A musical of the version of the Stephen King novel / horror movie classic about a taunted teenager with telekinetic powers that she unleashes at the prom. Expectations were actually pretty high for this one. The show was produced in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company and had some strong talent pulling it all together. A production budget of blockbuster proportions and scathing reviews across town did it in. Thanks to its combo of pedigree (from King to a classic movie to the RSC), high expectations, huge budget and a run of just 5 performances, Carrie is often considered the quintessential Broadway flop.

1. Moose Murders, 1983
One night. One great (read: hysterically awful) review in the New York Times. Moose Murders could be the worst Broadway play of all time. Opening to dreadful reviews and closing on the same night, this is the flop that Bialystock & Bloom dreamed about. Perhaps a recent reference in Times described it best, as a “monumental fiasco…which closed almost before the final curtain.”

Tags: broadway, broadway flops