Customer Reviews

Second Act Trouble: Behind the Scenes at Broadway's Big Musical Bombs

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

William Goldman in his watershed book about Broadway called The Season, wrote that every Broadway show is a series of "little battles to the death". Here in Mr Steven Suskin's book, we get lowdown on the skirmishes and the all-out battles that resulted in some of Broadway's most outrageous productions.

It's actors vs. directors, directors vs. composers, and everybody vs. the producers as we are taken backstage to learn why a show like Jerry Lewis' Hellzapoppin turned into such a fiasco.

This is not a newly written tome. Suskin has gathered a collection of contemporary articles from magazines, newspapers, autobiographies, and biographies. And that is why they are so accurate and timely. The writers were there - they talked to the participants. This is not second-hand gossip. As Edward R. Murrow used to say: "You are there." You are there when a composer/director finds his star/wife having an affair with her leading man. There when one star's part is reduced to five lines in the first act and six lines in the second act. There when a leading man is replaced with an 11-year-old boy. There when two people standing in line at the box office say they want their money back, only to hear the producer behind them say, "So do I."

Among the shows covered are Kelly, Fade Out, Fade In, The Red Shoes, and....well you get the picture. Stars include Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore...just to tap the distaff side.

If you have heard a rumor about a show, it is probably discussed here and confirmed or laid to rest. Suskin helpfully includes his own comments at appropriate places in the articles. These serve to clarify and sometimes give us the end result of a particular action or person.

If you are interested in Broadway, this book is for you. It is a quick read. Not one chapter is without interest. And as you read of the struggles of talented people to get their visions onstage, you will respect the craft of making a musical even more.

Kudos to Mr Suskin for this long-awaited book. It is handsome, with many illustrations of Playbills and sheet music from the reference shows, slightly oversized and easy to handle when read.

A great gift for a theatre fan or for yourself.

Steven Suskin has gathered first hand accounts of the biggest bombs to hit Broadway. He takes his material from news articles and memoirs and adds his own wry comments.

Some of the shows had a chance. "Irene" and "Seesaw" sold tickets but were hobbled by poor production decisions. "Fade In Fade Out and "Hallelujah Baby" died when the stars left.

Some of the shows were simply misbegotten from the get go. "Dude" was a catostrophe that will make you laugh at how so many smart people could've been so wrong and "Cry for us All" was too grim to be a muscial, period.

A few of the shows are memorable only because of what happened afterwards like "Skyscapper" which has a spooky link to the Kennedy assasination.

One show, "Flying Colors" almost drove the producer to suicide.

The book ends with a long article on "Kelly" a turkey that lasted ONE day on Broadway. It was so bad it's still something of a legend. Why anybody thought that Joe & Jane Q. Public would actually want to spend money on tickets, dinner, and a babysitter to see a musical about a dope who jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge on a bet is a mystery.

Second Act Trouble tells the story of how things can go completely wrong even with smart, talented and hard working folks in charge.

For those who have laughed out loud at Steven Suskin's previous efforts, particularly his lightning-quick, wittier-than-Coward summaries in OPENING NIGHTS ON BROADWAY, be prepared for a severe letdown. The fault lies not only in his sometimes curious selection of the 25 shows explored here, but in his treatment. The rapier wit is all but gone, replaced by a parched, nuts-and-bolts approach to his material. Suskin the archivist, it seems, prevents Suskin the writer from doing what he does best. In his next project, he would do well to let go of the essays and reviews of the past and write theater history from his own wise, far more illustrative point of view. His combination of wit, accuracy and savvy is too rare to hide behind the likes of Kerr and Chapman or the journalists represented in his latest compilation. That said, SECOND ACT TROUBLE is easy enough to take, though the illustrations are limited to overly familiar playbill covers and a handful of typos are somewhat disconcerting. Suskin, perhaps for the first time, also makes a glaring error: he unbelievably misquotes "A Matter of Time" - Liza Minnelli's collaborative film effort with her father Vincente - as "Somewhere in Time." Even so, the book is another worthy effort from a conscientious historian and gifted writer.

On 45th Street in Manhattan there is a restaurant that is favored by theatre folk and playgoers alike, Joe Alllen's is it's name and on their walls are theatrical posters, not unusual for the locale, being in the heart of the theatre district, what's notable about the collection of posters is that all those displayed were huge flops. Steven Suskin's, "Second Act Trouble" takes this concept (theatrical failures) and illuminates how once promising shows turn into failures. The collection covers twenty or so Broadway shows(some never made it to The Great White Way) that flopped, losing all or most of their investment. The articles, published previously from bios and newspaper accounts from various writers, are grouped into chapters such as; When Everything Goes Wrong, Star Turns and Battle Stations. Suskin has assembled the most illuminating accounts of; what seemed like a good idea at the time, Liza Minneli directed by Martin Scorcesse-can't fail, right? It is a very enjoyable read although as you follow show after show dive off a cliff it gets a little depressing, how they failed; the who, what and where of" bombs" could be instructive for investors and producers alike, but, alas there is no sure fire formula for a hit show (could you imagine a show about a murderer who dices up his victims and makes pies out of them plus he's singing-Sweeny Todd). I am a theatre goer but even if you are not it's a fascinating peek into Broadway and what makes it tick...and sometimes it's ticking is the prelude to a very large bomb. Fun read.

This is a wonderful idea for a book, but many of the "failed" shows that were discussed were not the most choice considering the wealth of shows that could have been discussed. Some were not even entirely "bombs" and if fact made or didn't lose that much money. I would have enjoyed it more if the book had dealt strictly with shows that were complete flops and more rationale as to why they failed. However the book does have many interesting tidbits and generally was a good read. However, I felt they didn't mine a lot of the treasure to be had.

It would be something wonderful to say that Steven Suskin's book is an entirely delightful, dishy, gossipy guilty pleasure. However there is something ultimately heartbreaking about the 25 Broadway shows he chronicles, produced to entertain us and make everyone connected with them rich --- and each failing ... mightily, miserably and very expensively. Suskin illustrates each example with a contemporary newspaper or magazine article, explaining the birth (and death) pains with often witty commentary. Gore Vidal once said that it's not enough to succeed, one must see others fail. But in this case, there is a sense of overkill. Ultimately, the divas, directors, egos, hysterics and fights all go to prove that sometimes people have no business in show business.

I was extremely disapointed with this book, having read most of the essays contained therein from other sources.

Theatre buffs will quickly come to find SECOND ACT TROUBLE: BEHIND THE SCENES AT BROADWAY'S BIG MUSICAL BOMBS an essential guide to which shows have failed - and why. Veteran theatrical manager and producer Suskin analyzes over twenty Broadway musical flops from the 1930s to the 1990s, using accounts by those directly involved and articles from respected critics of the times to consider financial failures across the board, from famous productions by well-known artists to lesser-known Broadway shows. Adding his own notes, Suskin provides well-rounded analysis of failures and their influences.

If you are looking for a fresh look at some of Broadway's bomb, do not stop here.

Suskind wrote very little in this book of previously-published material by other people. This book is more accuratly "compiled by" than "by" him.

I refrain from entirely discounting this book because it publishes (more or less) in their entirety sources that were used by much better authors by their much better books. It may be a reference for theatre students, but there isn't much else to recommend this book.

And don't get me wrong; flops are a source of morbid fascination for me. This is why I am so disappointed with this particlar volume -- there's nothing in it that you can't get in other, better written, better compiled, and better organized tomes.

Compared to the wit and flair I had expected, I found this volume boring and dull. It is largely a compilation (with Suskin providing brief notes) of theatrical reviews. Approach this with care if, as I did, you searched on a star's name and found a mention in this book - it may be only one line.

I had expected great humour, inside knowledge, entertaining stories of the backstage. Frankly, I wish I had kept the receipt - I would have returned it the next day.