What even IS a Broadway FLOP?

80% of Broadway shows fail. Seeing how we've been exploring the untold stories of obscure musicals for three years now, but we've never actually talked about how to properly define a Broadway flop.

Let's change that.

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[chaiky]

The fact that Great Comet, an absolute marvel of modern theatre, flopped is proof we're living in the darkest timeline

[lilysong]

Great Comet makes me cry. If Dear Evan Hanson hadn’t been during the same season and social media hadn’t completely ran with a half scandal it would still be playing. It’s musically brilliant, the staging was beautiful and immersive, the story was fabulous and made you feel for all involved… I just… the fact that Dear Evan Hanson won some awards that REALLY should have gone to Comet… because the songs semi blew up on TikTok I have some hope for a revival in the future.

[THATGuy]

I can't seem to watch a single video about Broadway in the last 5 years that doesn't somehow give me a reason to be annoyed at Dear Evan Hansen.
"...Great Comet won no awards, which were swept by critical darling Dear Evan Hansen..."
*shakes fist at the unfeeling sky*
"DEAR EVAN HAAANSEEENNN!"

[BeyondBaito]

What annoys me about Great Comet flopping is that a lot of people thought Oak was the original actor of Pierre and thought he was replaced by a famous white actor (some Youtubers still push this lie to this day). They also claims Denee Benton and Amber Gray were being "submissive to the obvious racism" and even decided to attack other actors either understudies or the performers in the band who are POC for not boycotting the show as if them not responding to made-up drama was being "compliant"

[memorian]

I feel like "flops" wouldn't hurt so badly when it comes to Broadway/American Musical theater if they got to live a 2nd life off broadway through a cast recording or a pro-shot to be enjoyed by the people who never got a chance to hear it or watched by a new generation or demographic who could've better understood it. It's one thing for a show to just not make it and close, but then it's a whole other thing for it to just basically vanish from the face of the earth and you can't even hear or see footage of it, it really saddens me that they can just vanish sometimes.

Btw, WITW videos are the PERFECT Thanksgiving content.

[LyricNear]

I'm glad Dave Malloy has managed to succeed off-broadway, his work is just build for a smaller and more intimate, experimental experience. Preludes, Ghost Quartet, and ESPECIALLY Octet have done wonderfully to great reviews! He knows he doesn't need Broadway to succeed.

[Macabrellian]

God, even just the thumbnail to this one hurt my heart. I would absolutely love to see you do a deep dive on Great Comet, (or even Dave Malloy's works in general.) _Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812_ is right there with _Hadestown_ as one of my two favourite modern musicals that really may just be all-time favourites at this point.

An absolutely stunning work that deserved so much better. I'd give anything to be able to see it get a revival one day—and if it does, I'll do my best to be one of the first in line to see it.

[nerdoftheatre]

Addams Family is interesting to me. That it was a disaster on Broadway. But that it has such a devoted base within regional theatres and it's insanely popular, despite being a flop.

It was my junior year show. I absolutely loved the script. The music is very homey to me. It was honestly the best show I've been in. A lot of people I know also did it in high school. They say the same thing.

Legally Blonde, Seussical, and Little Mermaid were all ones we did at my local theatre. They are very nostalgic to me

[callumbowyer]

Flops on Broadway aren't always flops in the UK which I always find so interesting. Amelie was a really big success in its West End run and Doubtfire in Manchester seemed to be reviewed much more favourably than on Broadway

[TheDriedfrogpills]

Howard Ho and Mickey Jo? And the reminder of the pain that I never got to see Comet? And the joy that was all of Margaret Hall's knowledge and grounded points? Love all of this!

Also I got to see a touring of The Addams Family and it was such a joy, so thanks for highlighting that flops doesn't equal awful.

[PrimRooks]

Howard Ho showing up for an in-person, on-the-street interview was not the way I expected the crossover to happen, but I’m not complaining 😂😂

[jazzy_theprayingmama]

“Was Bono involved?” Got me real good 😂😂😂😂

[Romy-]

I would love if you could do a deep dive into some European non-English-language musicals. Some shows are huge successes here and run for years and have frequent re-runs (like Dance of the Vampires, Elisabeth, Romeo et Juliette...) but are often neglected by the English-speaking musical experts. In any case - I'd love to see some appreciations for original musicals around the world!

[laurenramsden]

Amelie the musical is another great example which I think will only get more popular. I remember watching the *cough* tutorial *cough* and thinking how much potential the musical had but that it didn’t capture the magic of the film. The music - in particular - was great but the orchestrations were too… broadway. The changes made by the British team was EVERYTHINNG. The tour and then the west end run were amazing. I saw it 4 times. I was SO happy that it worked here in a way it didn’t on broadway.

[BoynamedSaraya]

I would love for you to do a deep-dive on Jekyll&Hyde - my favourite flop

[catherineelmore]

Was very glad to see a mention of one of my favorite flops- Legally Blonde.That cast recording got me through law school!

[WaitintheWings]

Huge thanks to everyone who helped contribute and the WitW Patreon for really helping make this piece thrive!

[thomasgolden]

Great Comet is my favorite show of all time. I get why it is a hard sell, but good grief that show (and that cast and crew) deserved a long a fruitful run.

[mwmheps]

It is like a gut punch to see / remember Great Comet as a flop... truly breaks my heart! One of my favourite musical experiences and was so devastated by the closing notice that I managed to rearrange my life to get to New York to see it for its penultimate performance. I'll never forgive the 2017 Tony's! Great video as always, so nice to see your guests as well!

[cal]

it's also fun to look at musicals like Be More Chill becoming popular to an audience that could not afford to physically see it once it reached a certain stage. it wasn't bad in that it was unliked, but that they for some reason didn't consider that there was an uptick in bootleg drama around this time for a reason lol