When Evita opened on Broadway during the 1979-1980 season, it was (as one of its songs said) "High Flying Adored." But in the 1970-71 season, the producers of Lolita, My Love saw their show (as one of its songs said) "Going, Gone, Gone" after its torturous Philadelphia and Boston tryouts. It didn't even try to brave Broadway, although the bookwriter-lyricist of My Fair Lady had written it. It happens every season. Broadway has one, two, or a few hit musicals, but many, many more flops. Here's a look at the extreme cases from each season of the past half-century. The musicals that everyone knew would be hits - The Sound of Music, The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers - and were. The tuners that sounded terrible from the moment they were announced - Via Galactica, The Civil War, Lestat - and turned out to be even worse than anyone expected. The shows that were destined to succeed - Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Merrily We Roll Along - but didn't. The ones that didn't have a chance - Man of La Mancha, 1776, Grease - but went on to household-name status. Peter Filichia takes a look at 100 shows that met either the most glorious or the most ignominious fates.
Broadway Musicals
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About the Author
PETER FILICHIA (New York, NY) is the critic for the Star-Ledger and News 12 New Jersey. Each week, he writes a column for MasterworksBroadway.com and three columns for Theatermania.com. He is a past president of the Drama Desk, the current president of the Theatre World Awards, and the author of Let's Put On a Musical!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Robert Armin
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Peter Filichia is one of the few writers who can come up with historical tidbits about the musical theater that even I didn't know. His choices for the "Hits" are rarely all that surprising (although his revelations are often new and entertaining) but his "Flops" will certainly prompt a lot of discussion. Just when you think you've figured out his system (big anticipation, big let-down), he'll throw in a ringer that you've never even heard of. Even one performance disasters are pushed aside by shows that closed in previews or on-the-road. In one remarkable instance he chooses a show that closed before rehearsals even started!!! If your knowledge of musical theater is limited to just the well-known shows, you'll love reading about the Hits and be completely baffled by the Flops, but more passionate musical theater buffs will relish everything. Be prepared, though, to be a little frustrated when Filichia skips over the show you were expecting -- Ken Mandelbaum has already covered that territory. Filichia has other tricks up his sleeve.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For any lover of the Broadway Musical (Yes! CAPS!) this is one of the most marvelous and saddest books available. Sure, one can quibble with some of Filichia's choices, especially in re: flops (where's "Greenwillow", "Ilya, Darling", "Drat, the Cat", "Bravo Giovanni!", and, of course, my "favourite" "Happy Town"?) but one can't escape two very important aspects of the book. First: Unlike all too many critics, when Filichia offers suggestions as to what went wrong with a show and how it could have been fixed, he's invariably right. Second, and this is where the sadness enters: The remarkable mediocrity of the biggest hits as we get closer and closer to the present, makes one despair as to whether it will ever again be commercially viable for anyone to try to write a truly great (or, even better than average) musical. Filichia, himself, seems to address this with his afterword on Stephen Sondheim (who has, in financial terms, rarely had a big "hit"). Moreover, Sondheim at least had the opportunity of starting to make his name in the older musical theater and was an already established icon when the biggest changes occured. Would anyone, today, even give a new Sondheim a chance? Ah well. For those of us who still remember... GET THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Enjoyable overall, but way too much space is spent on going over the plot points and songs for both the hits and the flops. I'm more interested in some of the backstage gossip and why shows succeeded or failed. I don't need five pages on every single plot point of "Applause" for instance, and how it differed from "All About Eve". Who cares? That's not what the book is supposed to be about. Ken Mandlebaum's book "Not Since Carrie" was much more on point. Even though it dealt only with flops, at least it talked about what happened out of town, why things didn't work, etc. I would have liked to have seen more of that in this book, rather than plot synopses ad nauseum.
I also felt that some of the topics Filichia highlighted were downright bizarre. For instance, one poster already spoke of his discussion of George Andrews, who has been with "Phantom" since the beginning. This is what he chooses to talk about for the longest-running show in Broadway history? Likewise, for "Crazy for You", we get a few pages of what Beth Leavel was "thinking about" when she was singing in the chorus? I like her as much as anyone, but come on....
By the way, speaking of editing, this book needs some heavy-duty proof-reading. There are missing words, wrong words (i.e., "pop marker" instead of "pop market") and unfinished sentences. Doesn't anyone proof read anymore?
I also felt that some of the topics Filichia highlighted were downright bizarre. For instance, one poster already spoke of his discussion of George Andrews, who has been with "Phantom" since the beginning. This is what he chooses to talk about for the longest-running show in Broadway history? Likewise, for "Crazy for You", we get a few pages of what Beth Leavel was "thinking about" when she was singing in the chorus? I like her as much as anyone, but come on....
By the way, speaking of editing, this book needs some heavy-duty proof-reading. There are missing words, wrong words (i.e., "pop marker" instead of "pop market") and unfinished sentences. Doesn't anyone proof read anymore?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, this was a squandered opportunity
This is a truly excellent idea for a book...and that's about it. I don't particularly expect consistency in this kind of book. Read more
Published 21 days ago by D. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars
great info
A very good book for theatre lovers. It's useful to have all the info of the past plays and remember some of this plays as they were
Published 1 month ago by ana maría collado
5.0 out of 5 stars
Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit and the Biggest Flop of the Season
I loved reading the details of how these musicals came together and why they succeeded or failed. Well written. Brought back lots of pleasant memories of those I had seen.
Published 5 months ago by Chuck
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superlative for the musical theatre buff!
I adored this book--full of many interesting facts and observations for the
past fifty years. Every show queen must read. It was given to me as a gift. Read more
past fifty years. Every show queen must read. It was given to me as a gift. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Patrick J. Shea
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but inconsistent
What a mixed bag of a book, this is!
It briefly reviews and explains what the author thinks was the biggest "hit" and biggest "flop" for musicals on Broadway in a 50... Read more
It briefly reviews and explains what the author thinks was the biggest "hit" and biggest "flop" for musicals on Broadway in a 50... Read more
Published 21 months ago by B. McCoy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not since "Not Since Carrie"
If Ken Mandelbaum can be said to have written the "Old Testament" of Broadway Flop musical books with "Not Since Carrie", then Peter Filichia's "Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit... Read more
Published on May 4, 2011 by theatremonkey
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read
Phenomenal look at the best and the worst Broadway musicals, season-by-season, from 1959 to 2009. Filichia (along with Ken Mandlebaum) is one of the most important musical theatre... Read more
Published on April 27, 2011 by Jeffrey E. Sanzel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written and interesting
The title says it all--short write ups on all the biggest hits and flops on Broadway from 1959 to 2009. It's well-written and moves (and reads) quickly. Read more
Published on February 27, 2011 by Wayne M. Malin
4.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific read!
I've read many books on this subject, so didn't expect lots of new information. And yet there it is! There's nothing weighty or ground breaking here. Read more
Published on February 16, 2011 by Kenneth R. McLeod
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too Many Errors
The book is fraught with so many errors and poorly chosen examples to be credible. Sometimes the original cast members are noted, sometimes replacements. Read more
Published on January 23, 2011 by Amy Gladstein
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