Book Review: Flop Musicals of the 21st Century: How They Happened, When They Happened (And What We’ve Learned) – Stephen Purdy

Flop Musicals of the Twenty-First Century: How They Happened, When They Happened (And What We’ve Learned) – Stephen Purdy Routledge Books – ISBN: 978-0-367-17331-9 (hbk); ISBN: 978-0-367-17332-6 (pbk); ISBN: 978-0-429-05622-2 (ebk)

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

What is our morbid fascination with shows that don’t make it! Either due to lack of good book, bad direction, sloppy music or just plain bad right through to the core? I don’t know what the answer is but they have certainly been my guilty pleasure since I read Not Since Carrie and Second Act Trouble (both great reads and recommended).

So, you can imagine my delight when asked to review this new publication which covers 10 musicals of the recent past that, for different reasons, didn’t quite make it.

Here is the blurb from the front of the book:

Flop Musicals of the Twenty-First Century offers a provocative and revealing historical narrative of a group of musicals that cost millions, that were created by world-renowned writers and directors, and that had spectacular potential… but bombed anyway.

Stephen Purdy asks the reader to consider what the legendary creators of Les Misérables, pop superstar Elton John, and wunderkind Julie Taymor have in common besides being inspired storytellers of iconic Broadway musicals. The answer is that they also all created shows that, for one reason or a dozen, flopped. This book shares the story of what can happen when formidable creative teams of sell-out musicals attempt to repeat their success but miss the mark. First-hand accounts from the cast members, backstage staff and the creative team, combined with a wealth of secondary sources gathered from press articles, reviews, and critical commentary, offer an intriguing insight into the factors behind success and failure in the musical theatre business.

This is a fascinating book for students, scholars, practitioners, and fans of musical theatre that contains thoughtful observations about luck and creative differences, botched adaptations, and alienated audiences, all of which can determine the fate of a musical.

So, the musicals covered are: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; Lestat; Urban Cowboy; The Pirate Queen; Rocky; King Kong; Escape to Margaritaville; Glory Days; Bullets Over Broadway and Dance of the Vampires.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised to see Spider-Man in there because it ran for over 1,000 performances but, since it nowhere near returned the capitalisation it required then it was termed ‘a flop’. The others came as no surprise. I had also read Song of Spider-Man by Glen Berger, so I knew there was a lot of history (not good) behind that production. However, it was still an entertaining read and then on to the other chapters and shows and the gossip was well and truly spilled. I especially liked the chapter on Dance of the Vampires as it contained information on just how difficult it must be working with Michael Crawford!

I have only given the book four stars though and that is due to the fact that there are no illustrations and no photos. It would have been such an added attraction to be able to see the ‘stunning costumes’ or ‘King Kong the puppet’ and things like that. They are described but one would have thought that a book this expensive would have had some pictorial evidence of the narrative. Yes, the Kindle edition is £18, the paperback is £30 and the hardback is £93!

To be honest, I don’t think the pricing reflects the contents – no idea why it is so expensive but I do know that it is probably outside the price range of most of us at this particular moment in time. Especially with absolutely no illustrations or photos.

With that reservation, I would recommend the book but do think that the publishers might have to look at the pricing if they wish it to be successful.

Nick Wakeham