Flopsuary: Thoughts On Flops. What Makes Them, And Why We Need Them

Welcome back to Flopsuary  and today I wanted to explore the idea behind flops in general. Is it the lack of financial success that makes a show a flop, or how about how the show s received by critics and the public? Does a shorter run make a show a flop? A flop in Broadway is defined by many things, but what interests me is that flopping on the great white way does not mean it is necessarily curtains for your show. Some go on to become staples in civic or high school theaters, others are revived and see some greater success, some are given rewrites and given changes that they may need. Some unfortunately just fade away. Non of the ways to keep the show alive that were just listed apply to certain productions. The just come to an end . In my opinion a show that truly flops is one that is dropped and never performed again, such as " Spiderman Turn Off The Dark". I also think there are many forms of flops, such as some shows may be flops in the eyes of critics, yet  they live on. Others are financial flops, and some shows end for a combination of multiple reasons. I look back on "Natasha and Pierre, And The Great Comet of 1812" or " The Great Comet" for short,  and how much protentional it had, it was a critical and financial darling,  general audiences loved it too, even after losing so many Tony Awards to " Dear Evan Hansen" the show looked like it would continue to live on much like the similar show in the same season " Come From Away". Yet due to behind the scenes tampering, the show ended long before it was due, and as of this post, no efforts to stage the show or a tour announced, this wonderful show burned out in the heights of its prime. Sometimes a show flops even when it is having a solid run. So as this series continues I do plan on looking at flops of all backgrounds, critical, financial, bad word of mouth, ones that ended in their prime, and everything in between. It's important to look at flops, not only to maybe bring them back, but to learn from them. I think of some flops that didn't even get cast albums like the musical about the making of " Shuffle Along" . But that is a topic for another day, until then I hope your day is a showstopper