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| Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| Most or at least a majority of musicals that cross the pond as hits arrive as hits. Degree may be different, but, in general, a producer's decision to export a hit is usually a better bet than mounting a new show or even a revival. There exceptions. Length of run per se is not a perfect indicator of popularity. Size of theatre, running costs, events etc. may well account for why a show has a shorter or longer run. Interestingly. both The Sound of Music and Hair ran longer in London. Hair did so, I think, because it was the show that ended stage censorship in London and The Sound of Music may have fit English sensibilities of the time. In general, though shows do tend to run longer at home. The interesting shows are those that are hits and then complete flops. I'm sure others can and will post examples. My favorite or favourite example is Salad Days in the 1950 becoming the longest running London musical ever at almost 2300 performances (sources differ slightly). It was a hit in Toronto too. In NYC, it didn't even make it to Broadway, but ran for 10 weeks off-Broadway. The show was about a young couple taking care of a magical piano that made everyone happy and dancing in the middle of the park - cute. Had the moved, let us say, the setting to Brooklyn's Prospect Park, they might have retitled it WAIT FOR IT. A Twee Grows in Brooklyn. |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: 37Rubydog 12:43 am EDT 08/29/22 | |
| In reply to: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| Taboo…although it played a small house in London. It might have done better in a venue like Circle in the Square or maybe Studio 54…or off-bway. Definitely would have been better wo Rosie’s hand in it…sorry Rosie | |
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| BLESS THE BRIDE and ROBERT AND ELIZABETH | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:05 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
| In reply to: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| Two more British musicals that were long-running successes in London, but have never been staged on Broadway. Both have beautiful scores and fine cast recordings IMO. | |
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| re: ROBERT AND ELIZABETH An Interesting Story involving one Judge Fred G. Moritt | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 11:21 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
| In reply to: BLESS THE BRIDE and ROBERT AND ELIZABETH - BroadwayTonyJ 09:05 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
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| If you look at the credits for Robert and Elizabeth you will see a tiny one "from an original idea by Fred G. Moritt," a NY judge, who had written an unproduced musical based on the famous play. He had the rights so hence the credit - he lost a suit to get it in bigger type. He had the ability to and did prevent the show from coming to the US. That is part of the story. Moritt also had written some other unproduced musicals. He collected 'investments' in his musical based on the movie The Love Lottery from those with court business. He was charged, convicted, appealed to the Supreme Court which did not take his case but he finally got himself off. (he should have stuck with law) In the NY Times article (see below) they quote one his lyrics. This is sung by an "Arabian Dancer"about his unrequited love. "Allah knows the Moslem maid on whom I'm stuck! 0, Allah, Allah, please listen to my call! She's just driving me (Oy!) Up the Wailing Wall." https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/14/archives/songwriting-judge-under-nadjari-inquiry-earlier-effort-method-of.html You cannot make these things up. |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 07:25 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
| In reply to: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| Aspects of Love comes to mind. It played several years in London while the NY production was (at the time) the most expensive flop in Broadway history. Starlight Express (18 yrs London) comes to mind, and I imagine this might apply to other ALW musicals. Another example is Blood Brothers. Relatively short and unprofitable run in NY yet the London production played 24 years. | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: dramaturg 10:53 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - EvFoDr 07:25 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
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| The West End premiere of "Sweeney Todd" received mixed reviews and ran for only 157 performances. It did win the Olivier for Best New Musical, but awards recognition didn't translate to a decent run. Perhaps it might have run longer had Angela Lansbury chosen to do it. I seem to remember reading somewhere that one of the reviews referred to the show as "a thin tissue of excrement." I don't think even John Simon would have come up with a line like that! | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 06:20 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
| In reply to: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| I'm more familiar with London hits that flopped in New York than the other way around. Two musicals that each ran more than 2,000 performances in the West End in the 1960s, Canterbury Tales and Charlie Girl, played 121 and zero performances in New York, respectively. (That is, Charlie Girl was never even tried there.) There's also a whole genre of smash-hit British farces, non-musical, that seldom work in New York even if they get produced there at all. No Sex, Please--We're British and Run For Your Wife each ran for hundreds if not thousands of performances in London, and 16 and 32 performances, respectively, in New York. | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:01 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - keikekaze 06:20 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| 1776 only ran for 168 performances on the West End in 1970. | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 06:29 am EDT 08/28/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - BroadwayTonyJ 07:01 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| 1776 the title says it all. And Alex Cohen produced the London production the flop king. The logo did get the British flag right. | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 10:16 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - BroadwayTonyJ 07:01 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| You can kind of understand that--it's more our history than theirs, as well as being a celebration of what was ultimately one of their greatest defeats! | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: young-walsingham 01:42 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
| In reply to: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - Musicals54 10:42 am EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| The reverse (obvious I guess) example of "Salad Days" could be "The Fantasticks" which ran for only 44 performances at London's Apollo Theatre in 1961. American Twee. | |
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| re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 02:57 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Hits to Flops: London to NY/ NY to London - young-walsingham 01:42 pm EDT 08/27/22 | |
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| You are right! Each country has their very own twee party. Twee dle dumb and twee dle dee | |
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