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re: Brown's seventh Broadway outing
Posted by: Chazwaza 06:09 pm EST 12/24/22
In reply to: re: Brown's seventh Broadway outing - mikem 10:52 am EST 12/24/22

I think it's completely disingenuous and misrepresentative of reality to put Parade in this category... very few new musicals programed into a non-profit theater's Broadway schedule run more than 3 months. Yes, there were hopes Parade would have a longer life. But it's not as if Hamilton opened at the Public and has been running there ever since. New musicals at these theaters that have runs longer than 3-6 months usually transfer to a new house and commercial run. Some exceptions exist, like Piazza and Contact... but Parade was never going to be a crowd pleaser.

Anyway... I think he keeps getting work because he writes great music and lyrics. His breakout score for SFANW is a showcase for why to hire him. His score to Parade is sensational and won him a Tony for his first Broadway show. The Last Five Years is produced constantly and is a standout favorite amount younger generations of musical theater lovers.

It's not as if his dad is the president of Broadway and insist they keep giving him chances. I get why Bridges was done... it has a stunning score, with a playwright who would have seemed a great fit for the book. It didn't catch fire on Broadway, there are several reasons.

13 was not a very good show and a risk from the beginning as a concept.

Urban Cowboy is hardly a JRB musical.

And Mr. Saturday Night came in and ran on Billy Crystal, and Honeymoon in Vegas was a raved about hit at Papermill. It's just bad luck in a lot of ways. But I also consider those two shows more cash-grab attempts that sadly didn't grab much cash. He writes for his living because he needs to to pay his bills, unlike Adam Guettel, for example, or Sondheim.

I don't know why he's never had a hit. But he has 2 Best Score Tony Awards, and that ain't nothing.

I would consider that he's only had 4 shows that work for this description of a Broadway attempted run - Bridges, 13, Mr. S N, and Honeymoon.

And the shows he's written that had the biggest impression and popularity were 2 off-broadway shows and 1 Broadway non-profit run.
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