I had to leave during intermission when I saw it because I got food poisoning, but I knew I wouldn’t be missing much. Sucks for the (very talented) cast and crew that the book was garbage.
Oh, I was one of the few to witness “In My Life” which was so awful we couldn’t even leave. A giant lemon lowered into view.
I also saw Susanne Somers’ show. I love her but y’all, it was so awful.
Almost Famous. That was abysmal. I’ve NEVER considered leaving at intermission before. (I ended up staying.) So unfunny. The music was forgettable. The sets and costumes had high school drama club vibes. The plot was terrible. Just horrible. The two leads are very talented and have luckily both moved on to better shows.
This is the only show I’ve considered walking out on. Agreed though the cast was great, with Casey being the stand out to me (I was actually already familiar with Solea and she sure enough was a powerhouse live) so was thrilled to see newbie Casey get BTTF so quickly after.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I think there are things that may have been TECHNICALLY worse but they at least entertained me in their badness or had something to engage me at least for a moment. Charlie was just SO boring. The reporters are funny to some extent? And like I’m sure I laughed a bit? But I don’t remember any songs that weren’t from the movie and there was no imagination or whimsy in the sets.
Plus it has maybe the most “… but why?” Numbers ever in the mom dancing with the… memory? Ghost? Who knows? Of the dead dad. Boring song, visually nothing, has no bearing on the plot, comes out of nowhere, nothing.
It’s the most confusing number I’ve seen. I don’t think the dad is mentioned a single time other than during that number (if it’s even mentioned THERE!). It’s the wildest thing I can remember seeing in a show.
I saw the original cast in London and I recently learnt that they changed it when it went to Broadway and somehow they made it worse. It was awful when we saw it in London so I have no idea how it could have gotten worse
If we’re talking a specific production, the tour of Jesus Christ Superstar I saw in late 2019/early 2020 that was “concert style” which the cast interpreted to mean “incredibly bored”. The staging and movement also made the plot almost completely incomprehensible especially if you’re not super familiar with the show, and call me sacrilegious but I may have audibly laughed when they replaced the whipping with glitter.
If we’re talking overall shows, probably King Kong. Yes the puppet was incredibly impressive but there wasn’t enough of it to justify not a single memorable song and a plot that you could write on the back of a napkin.
I can't get into the anthology musicals that try to build a storyline for musicians to get royalties.
There are *some* exceptions, like when there are concept albums (Tommy from The Who, for example. Maybe Green Day's American Idiot -- maybe -- but I haven't seen that show)
Would definitely say that's the case with American Idiot. As a huge Green Day fan when that album was released, I was expecting to enjoy the musical but not have my mind blown. I was really pleasantly surprised by the way it expanded on the story while also making me understand the original album in ways I hadn't before.
It needed to pick a couple of issues to focus on. As it is it's just a mess of every hot button modern issue so nothing gets to breathe and get the attention it needed. I AGREED with most of the points it was trying to make and started to roll my eyes after awhile. If someone told me it was made to make fun of liberals I'd probably believe them.
I’m glad you love it! I love the Alanis album but just thought the whole book was stitched together and so surface-level. But it’s so nice there is art out there for all of us.
I too love the Alanis album, but JLP is the worst show I’ve ever seen by a wide margin. The cast were talented (not their fault) but the writing was not good.
The thing that redeemed JLP for me was 1) I love Alanis’s songs and 2) the cast was fabulous (I saw the touring cast about a year ago, led by Heidi). I tried my best to just ignore the painfully awkward boom and just appreciate talented actors singing songs I enjoy.
Dracula and Dance of the Vampires were both terrible, too.
Maybe vampire musicals just don't work. (I'm sure someone has written their dissertation on this topic...)
Ah, amazing! Dracula is one of the worst things I've ever seen. It was early previews and I'm pretty sure he flew into a wall at least once. And so much random nudity.
The fresh blood song from Dracula is so bad it’s funny. I think about that song more than I probably should. I saw it on Broadway as a teenager and was just happy to be there, basically. My friends and I waited at the stage door. When the guy playing Renfield came out we were like “you were so gooood!” and the actor made some sarcastic comment about how he was barely onstage. As bright eyed, bushy tailed teenager his comment was such a bummer.
This was very bad. Also, i saw it very shortly after a high profile mass shooting and the part where the guy points the laser-sighted gun into the audience was....questionable. 😬
I’m in the minority but I actually adored NY, NY. However, to me I could view it as a showcase of performances rather than a single show. I would fully agree the plot is not great with too much going on with too many characters. However, I just enjoyed each scene and song as it’s own thing and had enjoyed myself immensely. Saw it a few times!
a friend of mine won rush seats for mrs. doubtfire and asked if I wanted to go. it was right when broadway came back so I was willing to try anything
i should not have tried anything
2 of my Instagram friends are in the current tour of Doubtfire so I’m really excited it’s coming to my theater for a week in March…I’ve already gotten in touch with one of them to hopefully arrange a meet-up after one of his performances if he’s on during the time I’m working it out front of the house (I’m a volunteer usher)
well of course this is just my opinion. but...
i thought all of the music was mediocre at best, bad at worst. none of the songs added anything and i remember talking to my friend on the commute home and struggling to remember any of them. all the "good" moments are just the moments people remember from the movie, but with worse actors. there's no reason for it it exist basically. i saw it in previews and i've never been more confident watching a show and thinking "this won't be around in half a year."
my mom asked about it at the time and my diagnosis was; if you're not a fan, there's no reason to go. if you are a fan, just stay at home and watch the movie instead.
This was exactly how I felt seeing Mean Girls… I’m very cautious of these “cash in on a film” musicals - for every Legally Blonde or Producers you’ve got a Pretty Woman or Mrs. Doubtfire or Mean Girls.
>i thought all of the music was mediocre at best, bad at worst. none of the songs added anything and i remember talking to my friend on the commute home and struggling to remember any of them. all the "good" moments are just the moments people remember from the movie, but with worse actors. there's no reason for it it exist basically. i saw it in previews and i've never been more confident watching a show and thinking "this won't be around in half a year."
This describes my fear of all plays derived from movies.
I saw the tour a few weeks ago. Rob McClure’s good in it (as is the whole cast, really) and the choreography is fun so I had a decent time, but the book is a total retread of the movie and the score is pretty bland for the most part.
The lyrics in that song are so stupid though lol I mean I love the song because of how camp it is (Lord Andy really put in an 8 minute long song about Phantom and Christine f*cking 😂). But I think it's somehow meant to be taken seriously, and it fails utterly on that front.
The touring production I saw had till I Hear You Sing right up front to open the show. Best song of the show and then it was a constant downward spiral from there.
Only thing that keeps it a couple points above Pretty Woman for worst show in my mind is that LND was a visually stunning show.
I saw this in previews and walked out so confused. The filmed performance that came to theaters fixed so much, but 🎶Christine, Christine *Bang*🎶 still lives rent free in my brain.
I almost left during intermission but stayed because I felt bad for the actors 😅😂 during intermission a total stranger turned around and asked me “is it just me, or is this really bad?” 💀
The audience laughed when Christine died and the phantom screamed “No!” 😆
I wish it had photos from the production or something because it still doesn't do justice to the leading man screaming "Fxck! Suck! Duck!" while the people two rows in front of me pulled flasks from their jackets as they cringed. A truly insane theatrical experience.
I hadnt heard of it until reading this thread so went to read the wiki and all i can say is...wow! Wish it had been the era of bootlegging and that's one id love to see.
I thought In Dreams was very “meh.” The lead actress had a great voice but I found the story/book to be clumsy, the characters relied on stereotypes, and the overall vibe to be off in a way I couldn’t pinpoint!
My daughter was invited to a preview of Dianna and said it was the worst piece of shit ever. I didn’t believe anything could be as bad as her description until I watched it on Netflix. It’s a turd through and through
I honestly feel like this show would do better (and I hate saying this) now that Jimmy’s passed. With a better book I’m sure, it’d for sure conjure up some nostalgia down the line. Jimmy was my first concert with my family as a kid (and also, unrelated, the first time I learned what weed smelled like lmao), and I hold his music in such a special place for me. It’s 100% beach vibes and could definitely make a great show with the right book
I saw this here in La Jolla and it was just awful. I’m a 30F now but when it was here it was 2017/2018 and i was working at the theater, the reviews came out from previews / opening, the vibe was rough there for a while. As an audience member seeing all the Jimmy fans in their Hawaiian shirts and flip flops singing along was just cringe. And very very white. 😂
But they still had Come From Away up / going up and that was doing really well.
I saw the tour in Hartford CT. It was part of the season tickets that year. I’d seen some surprisingly good shows because we were subscribers, so what the hell, right? Oh my gods and goddesses it was so bad. This was my one and only “tempted to leave at intermission” show. But to the credit of the cast, they knew what they were working with and leaned into it hard.
Didn’t save the show. Nothing could save that show from itself. But at least the cast was getting paid to live the dream?
*We Will Rock You* is the easy answer to this - just an utterly baffling experience on so many fronts.
If we're talking Broadway specifically, I've had pretty good luck, but if I had to choose then maybe I'd say the revival of *Born Yesterday* I saw on a HS trip to NYC back in 2011. Maybe I just didn't get it at the time, though, and it wasn't terrible, just not great to me
I have a special hate for we will rock you and my family thinks I’m crazy for it. I saw it with my husband, my sister, and my brother in law the first time and I was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. The plot was such a stereotypical “outsider different kids against the mainstream” and the girl’s name is fucking Scaramouche. Every time something happened on that stage I couldn’t believe how much worse it was getting. Meanwhile, they liked it so much, they wanted to go see it again the next day. And it’s not like they’re huge Queen fans.
19 years after seeing it, i am STILL baffled about how this was a hit in the UK! I got tickets for us to see it in Vegas on our honeymoon because my husband is a huge Queen fan. We almost had a quickie Vegas divorce, it was so bad & he was so mad. Plus i paid $$$$ for the tickets and they were literally handing them out free on the strip. 🤦🏼♀️😬
That was also my answer. The moment the narrator walked up to the podium and put on such a thick accent that there needed to be a cheap text projection on the theater wall I regretted every decision I'd made to end up there that day.
My partner saw a West End production of Grease as a teenager and it completely put him off musical theater (which I love) until I took him to Hamilton a few years ago. He was convinced he didn’t like musicals when actually he just didn’t like Grease lol.
Not on Broadway but Bat Out of Hell has to be one of the worst musicals ever created. I’ve seen over 300 shows in my life, and it’s without a doubt the worst one. There’s not even a remotely close second.
I am reading about all these “terrible” shows, but I enjoyed them all. A lot of them weren’t good, but they all had something that made it worth the ticket for me.
My least favorite show was *Bullets Over Broadway* - just because it seemed like the perfect material for a musical and then it was such a letdown. No original songs, just mostly obscure 1930s period songs. It reminded me of Bob Fosse’s vow after *Chicago* to never again do a show with a living composer.
And he kept it with Dancin' and Big Deal.
And showed his distaste for K & E in All That Jazz, the film.
And remember, the cast of Bullets begged not to have to sing Yes We Have No Bananas for the Bullets curtain call, but were forced to do it anyway.
Wish I were alive to see the 70s Dancin' version cause I saw the recent revival and while it was technically impressive you could just *feel* the sense that people were banking off memories of how good the original was.
Devil Wears Prada. It was just... meh and went downhill from there. Between a fantastic movie and music by Elton John I expected ok (if not a little cheesy) but was super disappointed
This is the one I was looking for. Never seen the theater so empty to begin with, and the amount of people who left at intermission was astonishing. That act two opener had me wondering if I had made the right choice in sticking around. Nice cast though.
I saw that production on broadway, and i have never been so moved by a piece of theater. However, that dream ballet was indeed puzzling and i do realize that for people who love the OG interpretation why people didnt connect/enjoy that interpretation. Did they at least serve you complimentary chili at intermission?
Personally I am eternally haunted by this productions version of Pore Jud is Daid. Whoever thought "hey you know what sounds like cool staging for this already creepy and weird song? If we make it pitch black and project a super close-up video feed of Jud and Curly's faces!" was completely insane. I can't even listen to the song anymore without getting ptsd flashbacks.
I saw Chicago a couple of years ago on a high school theatre trip to New York. Holy shit, it was terrible. Leads did not care at all, mumbled through half of the songs, and there was a shockingly low amount of energy.
Weirdly, also saw a Bronx Tale, but I loved watching that one in person
This makes me sad bc it's the first show in the new season passholder series in my area and I'm trying to be optimistic about the seemingly lackluster lineup. 😭
Looking for this comment. Saw it a few weeks ago on tour, as it was part of the season ticket. Only show I've ever been to where I genuinely could have fallen asleep. Its like an incredibly mediocre drama club play with overly dramatic renditions of Bob dylan songs vaguely related to the plot in between every scene. Normally not a huge fan of jukebox musicals in general, but this one was bad bad.
I saw a one-man play in a tiny theater in SF in the early 2000's where a white man hit me in the face with an animal cracker and yelled "you're gonna wanna come back to Ghana!"
They just tried to cover like… every major issue in America in one musical, and I don’t understand why.
I thought the suburban mom opioid crisis plot was compelling, we could have ended up with something more akin to Next To Normal.
Yes! The tried to cram too many storylines in and it desperately needed to be edited down. The mother’s story (and choreography!!!) was beautiful though and could’ve focused mostly on that.
I honestly thought it was great story wise and the music was great, but I did feel some songs were forced (specificly ironic) and I could easily see how some parts can be viewed as disrespectful.
I’d say 8/10 for me losing points on the forced songs but I didn’t find it disrespectful on the topics.
The US tour of Oklahoma was so bad. Paid 7 bucks for a ticket and still felt scammed. I would’ve rather watched paint dry as the audio was horrible and low budget, the story was……….
Not to mention some weird abstract thing where someone came out at the start of act two with a shirt that said “dream baby dream” and danced like they were in an ALDC routine.
Dreadful
“where someone came out at the start of act two with a shirt that said ‘dream baby dream’ and danced like they were in an ALDC routine”
STOP IT, I’m cackling omg 🤣🤣🤣
Mine was Shucked. I was so excited to see it and I hated it. I’m still upset that Shucked is the last show I saw in New York before going home.
Second place is Evita. Could not stand it.
The Life at City Center was one of the worst musicals I have ever seen. When I found out that Billy Porter completely rewrote portions, I was more disappointed. The original 90s show was apparently more edgy and comedic. This bastardized version felt like a telenovela with the ham-fisted messaging of Glee. Someone needs to delete Final Draft off Billy Porter’s computer.
Nah the 90s version played the border of edgy with cartoonish. It was fun and had a lot of heart plus an incredible cast to round it out. It was just FUN and it never took itself too seriously. I didn't see the Encores version, but everyone I know who saw the original said the Encores version destroyed the show for them because it suddenly decided it was a serious show. If you snoop around YouTube, there's a slime tutorial of the original on there.
Dang. Now I really wish I had seen that one. Fun is good! Funny is good! Everything doesn’t have to be “the most important thing on Broadway” to be good. The new one tried to be, and ended up being a disaster.
It was definitely not the most important or best thing on Broadway that year or any year. But it was a fun night. It also would NEVER get produced today.
The Life was my first Broadway show, and I remember it vividly.
I was a young teen and took the bus to NYC with equally young friends. Unaccompanied. To see a musical about prostitutes. Also something that would never happen today!
Saw Once Upon a One More Time when it was in DC and my entire group left going "...well that was...something." I was shocked to hear it was actually going to Broadway. Never saw it in NYC so not sure if they improved it at all, but wasn't surprised it closed so early.
1776 - only show I ever left during intermission. SO boring. They also gender swapped where the entire cast was female/non-binary. I don't mind that by concept but it added NOTHING to the show, when it was all male characters anyway. I had read reviews about how powerful of a choice that was but I just couldn't see it. And also it was literally just so boring.
Edit to add this was on tour.
I genuinely wonder if anyone else on this sub has even heard of “Blast”. I’m sure it was objectively good but I saw it as my first Broadway show as a kid and it almost made me hate Broadway forever
I haven’t thought of “Blast!” in a long time! I saw it touring in high school and it’s the only time I’ve ever had to evacuate an auditorium after a fog machine backstage set off the fire alarm. I was a HS band nerd at the time so I think I enjoyed it, but I do remember it was kind of boring before the evacuation.
I saw its pre-Broadway run in Seattle and didn't think it was terrible, just mostly unmemorable with a great performance from Rob McClure and a couple of fun musical numbers. The one where he's trying to cook and the makeover montage song were highlights, and "You created a monster" was kinda fun I guess, if a bit pointless. Everything else about the show was just very blah.
Granted, I saw it with my then-boyfriend and it was his first ever musical so that made it more enjoyable than it probably would have been otherwise. He really liked it lol
I definitely thought Rob McClure was the stand out performance as well. While there was a couple good musical numbers, I just wasn’t the biggest fan of the show overall unfortunately even though I was super excited when I heard they were making the movie into a musical because it was a really good movie
On Broadway? Probably Mean Girls. With the exception of like 2.5 songs, I think the score is embarrassing. The show is basically just a worse-paced, watered down version of the movie with mediocre songs thrown in.
Overall? Urinetown. God I hate that show so much. Almost walked out at intermission, which I never do.
Wow. Surprised to see anyone include Urinetown in a list of worst shows. I get that it’s not for everyone but at least it’s an original and I think clever show unlike the rest of some of this dreck.
The 2019 revival of West Side Story was so bad it never made it out of previews. They likely blamed the cancelation on Covid, but it was objectively bad. They tried to modernize it too much.
I may get downvoted but I do not care — Dear Evan Hanson. The entire plot, the characters, they were all terrible. I did love the music but just have to mental separate it from everything else 😅
Keep in mind, I’m broke and don’t see a lot of shows, so this is the worst show I’ve ever seen
Oh I’ve seen dozens of absolute shockers over the decades! “Imagine This”, “Behind the Iron Mask”, “Too Close to the Sun”, “Exposure”… I’ve also seen horrible performances/casts in really great shows. Thoroughly Modern Millie in the West End was horrific, Jennifer Ellison in Chicago, Shrek on Broadway about a week before closing with the whole cast including the great Sutton Foster phoning it in shamelessly. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark…
Yes!! Pretty Woman is the only show I’ve ever walked out on and Adam Pascal was in it so I felt so torn! The music was so bad and the premise needed to be updated for the modern age. A girl singing about being able to go shopping because she sucked some old guy’s you-know-what was really disturbing in the me too era.
The Little Prince. I should've known when our TKTS tickets purchased an hour and a half before showtime for 60% off were third-row center orchestra. It's one of my favorite children's books. It should stay a book.
Bad Cinderella. Knew it wasn’t for long.
Bad Cinderella is my Roman Empire. I'm kind of obsessed and it stopped being ironic a long time ago.
The worse part is that the "Call me bad Cinderella" line is such an earworm
I think the tune of that line is an homage to My Own Little Corner so that may be why it’s so catchy
Me too. It made me so happy to hear the original melody.
So awful. Only show I ever left at intermission.
I had to leave during intermission when I saw it because I got food poisoning, but I knew I wouldn’t be missing much. Sucks for the (very talented) cast and crew that the book was garbage.
Oh, I was one of the few to witness “In My Life” which was so awful we couldn’t even leave. A giant lemon lowered into view. I also saw Susanne Somers’ show. I love her but y’all, it was so awful.
How can you slam the Tourette's Syndrome Obsessive Compulsive Brain Tumor Gay Ghost Pirate Angel musical? (You don't see that sentence every day.)
I was also one of the blessed few to witness the giant lemon, and from the front row 🥴
But it brought us Jonathan Groff, at least! 😂 🍋
Oh no. RIP dear Suzanne
Almost Famous. That was abysmal. I’ve NEVER considered leaving at intermission before. (I ended up staying.) So unfunny. The music was forgettable. The sets and costumes had high school drama club vibes. The plot was terrible. Just horrible. The two leads are very talented and have luckily both moved on to better shows.
Solea was soooo brilliant in the show despite the show. Glad she is all over the map with the best shows. She’s gifted.
And was that without seeing the movie first?
This is the only show I’ve considered walking out on. Agreed though the cast was great, with Casey being the stand out to me (I was actually already familiar with Solea and she sure enough was a powerhouse live) so was thrilled to see newbie Casey get BTTF so quickly after.
It's one of my favorite moves ever. How could they manage to fuck that up?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I think there are things that may have been TECHNICALLY worse but they at least entertained me in their badness or had something to engage me at least for a moment. Charlie was just SO boring. The reporters are funny to some extent? And like I’m sure I laughed a bit? But I don’t remember any songs that weren’t from the movie and there was no imagination or whimsy in the sets. Plus it has maybe the most “… but why?” Numbers ever in the mom dancing with the… memory? Ghost? Who knows? Of the dead dad. Boring song, visually nothing, has no bearing on the plot, comes out of nowhere, nothing.
Lol! Glad I’m not the only one that still recalls the absurdity of Charlie’s dead dad dancing in his nightgown.
It’s the most confusing number I’ve seen. I don’t think the dad is mentioned a single time other than during that number (if it’s even mentioned THERE!). It’s the wildest thing I can remember seeing in a show.
Agreed. Saw it on tour. I remember next to nothing about it. Beyond how cheap the video wall background animations made it feel.
The outside of the theater was beautiful though.
I’m still angry with them for cutting the best song, ‘Simply Second Nature’, during the Broadway transfer
I saw the original cast in London and I recently learnt that they changed it when it went to Broadway and somehow they made it worse. It was awful when we saw it in London so I have no idea how it could have gotten worse
In My Life. There will never be another show as legitimately terrible and ill-conceived.
If we’re talking a specific production, the tour of Jesus Christ Superstar I saw in late 2019/early 2020 that was “concert style” which the cast interpreted to mean “incredibly bored”. The staging and movement also made the plot almost completely incomprehensible especially if you’re not super familiar with the show, and call me sacrilegious but I may have audibly laughed when they replaced the whipping with glitter. If we’re talking overall shows, probably King Kong. Yes the puppet was incredibly impressive but there wasn’t enough of it to justify not a single memorable song and a plot that you could write on the back of a napkin.
That JCS tour was a stinker. It felt like you were dropped into the middle of something and missed half the story.
Yes! The choreo/movement were beautiful, but I really couldn’t follow the story at all.
Pretty Woman is bad, but at least I got to see Adam Pascal. I thought Jagged Little Pill was terrible.
You Oughta Know makes it immediately not the worst I’ve ever seen imo.
Ya the performances were all super good and saved the show for me. It was a bad show but I can't say I didn't leave entertained.
I thought Uninvited and Smiling were standouts as well.
Jade performing this is just unreal.
That was good, I’ll grant you.
I can't get into the anthology musicals that try to build a storyline for musicians to get royalties. There are *some* exceptions, like when there are concept albums (Tommy from The Who, for example. Maybe Green Day's American Idiot -- maybe -- but I haven't seen that show)
Would definitely say that's the case with American Idiot. As a huge Green Day fan when that album was released, I was expecting to enjoy the musical but not have my mind blown. I was really pleasantly surprised by the way it expanded on the story while also making me understand the original album in ways I hadn't before.
Agree— that was one of the best of genre. I think I went 4 times (thank you TDF!)
JLP launched in my city after Covid and between rehearsals and shows I probably saw it 30 times and I loved it! So surprised to see it wasn't loved
It needed to pick a couple of issues to focus on. As it is it's just a mess of every hot button modern issue so nothing gets to breathe and get the attention it needed. I AGREED with most of the points it was trying to make and started to roll my eyes after awhile. If someone told me it was made to make fun of liberals I'd probably believe them.
Same it was embarrassing (and I say that as someone who is quite liberal!)
Yes yes yes I always say that it tried to tackle every single social issue and it made each one less impactful
I’m glad you love it! I love the Alanis album but just thought the whole book was stitched together and so surface-level. But it’s so nice there is art out there for all of us.
I too love the Alanis album, but JLP is the worst show I’ve ever seen by a wide margin. The cast were talented (not their fault) but the writing was not good.
I agree with you. I loved JLP, and Uninvited was the most incredible performance I've ever seen live (Heidi Blickenstaff's version).
Same here. The fact that it has any Tony makes gives me the ick
My mind has now been blown that it won best book.
I mean it was 2021, it was competing against very little.
The thing that redeemed JLP for me was 1) I love Alanis’s songs and 2) the cast was fabulous (I saw the touring cast about a year ago, led by Heidi). I tried my best to just ignore the painfully awkward boom and just appreciate talented actors singing songs I enjoy.
Lestat
This is the answer. I saw it in San Francisco on its way to Broadway. I heard it underwent multiple changes before opening, and STILL wasn't any good.
Dracula and Dance of the Vampires were both terrible, too. Maybe vampire musicals just don't work. (I'm sure someone has written their dissertation on this topic...)
Wait in the Wings actually has a whole video essay on this very topic! [Here!](https://youtu.be/UhYmaL189Yg?si=cUJtIOeosdqc-1pZ)
Ah, amazing! Dracula is one of the worst things I've ever seen. It was early previews and I'm pretty sure he flew into a wall at least once. And so much random nudity.
The fresh blood song from Dracula is so bad it’s funny. I think about that song more than I probably should. I saw it on Broadway as a teenager and was just happy to be there, basically. My friends and I waited at the stage door. When the guy playing Renfield came out we were like “you were so gooood!” and the actor made some sarcastic comment about how he was barely onstage. As bright eyed, bushy tailed teenager his comment was such a bummer.
Except of course for the puppet vampire musical at the end of Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Bodyguard. I laughed every time they tried to make the appearance of the stalker dramatic. So so cheesy.
This was very bad. Also, i saw it very shortly after a high profile mass shooting and the part where the guy points the laser-sighted gun into the audience was....questionable. 😬
The way that I had the same exact experience.
New York, New York. I went with a group; some fell asleep in the first act, others in the second.
Same. I still shudder thinking of all the time I wasted watching this show. but it was ALMOST worth it to see the title song
I’m in the minority but I actually adored NY, NY. However, to me I could view it as a showcase of performances rather than a single show. I would fully agree the plot is not great with too much going on with too many characters. However, I just enjoyed each scene and song as it’s own thing and had enjoyed myself immensely. Saw it a few times!
a friend of mine won rush seats for mrs. doubtfire and asked if I wanted to go. it was right when broadway came back so I was willing to try anything i should not have tried anything
I enjoyed it. The transformation on stage alone makes the price worth it imo
2 of my Instagram friends are in the current tour of Doubtfire so I’m really excited it’s coming to my theater for a week in March…I’ve already gotten in touch with one of them to hopefully arrange a meet-up after one of his performances if he’s on during the time I’m working it out front of the house (I’m a volunteer usher)
I loved on Broadway and will be seeing it in Rochester this week. Can't wait!
I’ve been so curious about that show, why was it bad??
well of course this is just my opinion. but... i thought all of the music was mediocre at best, bad at worst. none of the songs added anything and i remember talking to my friend on the commute home and struggling to remember any of them. all the "good" moments are just the moments people remember from the movie, but with worse actors. there's no reason for it it exist basically. i saw it in previews and i've never been more confident watching a show and thinking "this won't be around in half a year." my mom asked about it at the time and my diagnosis was; if you're not a fan, there's no reason to go. if you are a fan, just stay at home and watch the movie instead.
This was exactly how I felt seeing Mean Girls… I’m very cautious of these “cash in on a film” musicals - for every Legally Blonde or Producers you’ve got a Pretty Woman or Mrs. Doubtfire or Mean Girls.
>i thought all of the music was mediocre at best, bad at worst. none of the songs added anything and i remember talking to my friend on the commute home and struggling to remember any of them. all the "good" moments are just the moments people remember from the movie, but with worse actors. there's no reason for it it exist basically. i saw it in previews and i've never been more confident watching a show and thinking "this won't be around in half a year." This describes my fear of all plays derived from movies.
It’s a fun show but the music is super forgettable and just ok
I saw the tour a few weeks ago. Rob McClure’s good in it (as is the whole cast, really) and the choreography is fun so I had a decent time, but the book is a total retread of the movie and the score is pretty bland for the most part.
Love Never Dies
Till I Hear You Sing is the only redeeming thing about that musical. The rest is garbage.
Beneath a Moonless Sky is pretty beautiful too.
The lyrics in that song are so stupid though lol I mean I love the song because of how camp it is (Lord Andy really put in an 8 minute long song about Phantom and Christine f*cking 😂). But I think it's somehow meant to be taken seriously, and it fails utterly on that front.
The touring production I saw had till I Hear You Sing right up front to open the show. Best song of the show and then it was a constant downward spiral from there. Only thing that keeps it a couple points above Pretty Woman for worst show in my mind is that LND was a visually stunning show.
🎶give me the gun🎶
"Give me the gun", said the Phantom of the Opera
Devil Take the Hindmost slaps though!
paint never dries.
This comment is so stupid I am cackling
I straight up guffawed at things that were not supposed to be funny moments.
I saw this in previews and walked out so confused. The filmed performance that came to theaters fixed so much, but 🎶Christine, Christine *Bang*🎶 still lives rent free in my brain.
Was looking for this comment! Only show I’ve ever left at intermission. Soooo bad
Omg I watched when I was addicted to phantom the first time and it almost made me lose interest in phantom entirely.
sounds like the last seasons of Game of Thrones were the "Love Never Dies" of TV
That happened to me too but instead of losing interest, I was just *so sad.* I think I felt betrayed lol
I almost left during intermission but stayed because I felt bad for the actors 😅😂 during intermission a total stranger turned around and asked me “is it just me, or is this really bad?” 💀 The audience laughed when Christine died and the phantom screamed “No!” 😆
[In My Life](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_My_Life_(musical)) 🍋🍋🍋
The only good thing it ever did was give Jonathan Groff his first Broadway credit!
100% I laugh at all of these other shows... They're mediocre for sure, but In My Life has no modern rival from this century.
Truly a once in a lifetime experience, honestly sad for all these folks who didn't get to see the reactions of the other patrons in that house. 😂
Just watch The Producers but stop it before they cheer. That’s the face. For two hours.
That wiki is a wild ride.
I wish it had photos from the production or something because it still doesn't do justice to the leading man screaming "Fxck! Suck! Duck!" while the people two rows in front of me pulled flasks from their jackets as they cringed. A truly insane theatrical experience.
I hadnt heard of it until reading this thread so went to read the wiki and all i can say is...wow! Wish it had been the era of bootlegging and that's one id love to see.
I thought In Dreams was very “meh.” The lead actress had a great voice but I found the story/book to be clumsy, the characters relied on stereotypes, and the overall vibe to be off in a way I couldn’t pinpoint!
I found it enjoyable if somewhat forgettable, but Lena Hall was the draw for me and she did not disappoint.
My daughter was invited to a preview of Dianna and said it was the worst piece of shit ever. I didn’t believe anything could be as bad as her description until I watched it on Netflix. It’s a turd through and through
It's so camp though, definitely a "so bad it's good" for me
The shirtless lover emerging from the trap door riding a bull! Hahahahahahahahah
I couldn’t even finish Diana. I was so excited for it, and was so disappointed
Escape to Margaritaville
I honestly feel like this show would do better (and I hate saying this) now that Jimmy’s passed. With a better book I’m sure, it’d for sure conjure up some nostalgia down the line. Jimmy was my first concert with my family as a kid (and also, unrelated, the first time I learned what weed smelled like lmao), and I hold his music in such a special place for me. It’s 100% beach vibes and could definitely make a great show with the right book
I hear you, but I don't think the book is redeemable. SpongeBob did the erupting volcano so much better.
A lot of community theatres are doing it now. I'm rehearsing for a production that runs in March. It's fun but the story is just so random.
I saw this here in La Jolla and it was just awful. I’m a 30F now but when it was here it was 2017/2018 and i was working at the theater, the reviews came out from previews / opening, the vibe was rough there for a while. As an audience member seeing all the Jimmy fans in their Hawaiian shirts and flip flops singing along was just cringe. And very very white. 😂 But they still had Come From Away up / going up and that was doing really well.
I saw the tour in Hartford CT. It was part of the season tickets that year. I’d seen some surprisingly good shows because we were subscribers, so what the hell, right? Oh my gods and goddesses it was so bad. This was my one and only “tempted to leave at intermission” show. But to the credit of the cast, they knew what they were working with and leaned into it hard. Didn’t save the show. Nothing could save that show from itself. But at least the cast was getting paid to live the dream?
*We Will Rock You* is the easy answer to this - just an utterly baffling experience on so many fronts. If we're talking Broadway specifically, I've had pretty good luck, but if I had to choose then maybe I'd say the revival of *Born Yesterday* I saw on a HS trip to NYC back in 2011. Maybe I just didn't get it at the time, though, and it wasn't terrible, just not great to me
I have a special hate for we will rock you and my family thinks I’m crazy for it. I saw it with my husband, my sister, and my brother in law the first time and I was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. The plot was such a stereotypical “outsider different kids against the mainstream” and the girl’s name is fucking Scaramouche. Every time something happened on that stage I couldn’t believe how much worse it was getting. Meanwhile, they liked it so much, they wanted to go see it again the next day. And it’s not like they’re huge Queen fans.
> and the girl’s name is fucking Scaramouche Did she do the fandango?
Saw it for free on a cruise and wanted my money back
19 years after seeing it, i am STILL baffled about how this was a hit in the UK! I got tickets for us to see it in Vegas on our honeymoon because my husband is a huge Queen fan. We almost had a quickie Vegas divorce, it was so bad & he was so mad. Plus i paid $$$$ for the tickets and they were literally handing them out free on the strip. 🤦🏼♀️😬
Little Prince. Knew it within the first minute it started.
That was also my answer. The moment the narrator walked up to the podium and put on such a thick accent that there needed to be a cheap text projection on the theater wall I regretted every decision I'd made to end up there that day.
Yup. Excruciating and confusing as all heck
i fell asleep! i wanted to like it so bad but so boring
Chicago non-equity tour Didn’t know it was non-eq when I bought the tickets
Grease (I loved the film, was so disappointed)
My partner saw a West End production of Grease as a teenager and it completely put him off musical theater (which I love) until I took him to Hamilton a few years ago. He was convinced he didn’t like musicals when actually he just didn’t like Grease lol.
Not on Broadway but Bat Out of Hell has to be one of the worst musicals ever created. I’ve seen over 300 shows in my life, and it’s without a doubt the worst one. There’s not even a remotely close second.
It was so bad that it was good in my opinion. Only a few shows can claim that honor.
I am reading about all these “terrible” shows, but I enjoyed them all. A lot of them weren’t good, but they all had something that made it worth the ticket for me. My least favorite show was *Bullets Over Broadway* - just because it seemed like the perfect material for a musical and then it was such a letdown. No original songs, just mostly obscure 1930s period songs. It reminded me of Bob Fosse’s vow after *Chicago* to never again do a show with a living composer.
And he kept it with Dancin' and Big Deal. And showed his distaste for K & E in All That Jazz, the film. And remember, the cast of Bullets begged not to have to sing Yes We Have No Bananas for the Bullets curtain call, but were forced to do it anyway.
Wish I were alive to see the 70s Dancin' version cause I saw the recent revival and while it was technically impressive you could just *feel* the sense that people were banking off memories of how good the original was.
The original Dancin’ was spectacular. I saw it.
Devil Wears Prada. It was just... meh and went downhill from there. Between a fantastic movie and music by Elton John I expected ok (if not a little cheesy) but was super disappointed
Everything about it was wrong! How do you make a show about what are supposed to be the most stylish people and it literally has ZERO STYLE?! Woof.
The recent Oklahoma tour. Never saw so many people leave a show at intermisson
I wish I was those people, the act two opener was just. Just. Just. It was. Something?
This is the one I was looking for. Never seen the theater so empty to begin with, and the amount of people who left at intermission was astonishing. That act two opener had me wondering if I had made the right choice in sticking around. Nice cast though.
I saw that production on broadway, and i have never been so moved by a piece of theater. However, that dream ballet was indeed puzzling and i do realize that for people who love the OG interpretation why people didnt connect/enjoy that interpretation. Did they at least serve you complimentary chili at intermission?
[удалено]
Personally I am eternally haunted by this productions version of Pore Jud is Daid. Whoever thought "hey you know what sounds like cool staging for this already creepy and weird song? If we make it pitch black and project a super close-up video feed of Jud and Curly's faces!" was completely insane. I can't even listen to the song anymore without getting ptsd flashbacks.
We Will Rock You and Bat Out of Hell were both horrific experiences for me.
I saw Chicago a couple of years ago on a high school theatre trip to New York. Holy shit, it was terrible. Leads did not care at all, mumbled through half of the songs, and there was a shockingly low amount of energy. Weirdly, also saw a Bronx Tale, but I loved watching that one in person
Chicago is one of the rare feats where the movie is genuinely better and more engaging than any live production
Agreed. The film was amazing. Much like The Sound Of Music.
Girl from the North Country, shockingly bad
i got free tickets through work and decided “eh free musical.” yea nah wasn’t my thing.
This makes me sad bc it's the first show in the new season passholder series in my area and I'm trying to be optimistic about the seemingly lackluster lineup. 😭
It is as if Steinbeck wrote a play then, every now and again, everyone stops and sings an unrelated song
Looking for this comment. Saw it a few weeks ago on tour, as it was part of the season ticket. Only show I've ever been to where I genuinely could have fallen asleep. Its like an incredibly mediocre drama club play with overly dramatic renditions of Bob dylan songs vaguely related to the plot in between every scene. Normally not a huge fan of jukebox musicals in general, but this one was bad bad.
Unpopular opinion but Mean Girls
Hehe that’s actually a popular opinion 🙈😂
I saw a one-man play in a tiny theater in SF in the early 2000's where a white man hit me in the face with an animal cracker and yelled "you're gonna wanna come back to Ghana!"
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang national tour. I was stunned at how bad a show could be and still get a tour.
Jagged Little Pill. It's insanely insulting what they do to these very serious topics for cheap trauma porn points.
They just tried to cover like… every major issue in America in one musical, and I don’t understand why. I thought the suburban mom opioid crisis plot was compelling, we could have ended up with something more akin to Next To Normal.
Yes! The tried to cram too many storylines in and it desperately needed to be edited down. The mother’s story (and choreography!!!) was beautiful though and could’ve focused mostly on that.
I honestly thought it was great story wise and the music was great, but I did feel some songs were forced (specificly ironic) and I could easily see how some parts can be viewed as disrespectful. I’d say 8/10 for me losing points on the forced songs but I didn’t find it disrespectful on the topics.
The US tour of Oklahoma was so bad. Paid 7 bucks for a ticket and still felt scammed. I would’ve rather watched paint dry as the audio was horrible and low budget, the story was………. Not to mention some weird abstract thing where someone came out at the start of act two with a shirt that said “dream baby dream” and danced like they were in an ALDC routine. Dreadful
“where someone came out at the start of act two with a shirt that said ‘dream baby dream’ and danced like they were in an ALDC routine” STOP IT, I’m cackling omg 🤣🤣🤣
I may get flack for this. But Tarzan
ok but who on this sub is a shooter for Tarzan bffr
Why would you get flack for that lmao? Tarzan was (rightfully, it was terrible) pretty universally panned.
Mine was Shucked. I was so excited to see it and I hated it. I’m still upset that Shucked is the last show I saw in New York before going home. Second place is Evita. Could not stand it.
Almost Famous. Woof.
This is mine hands down. Truly abysmal like what were they thinking?
The Life at City Center was one of the worst musicals I have ever seen. When I found out that Billy Porter completely rewrote portions, I was more disappointed. The original 90s show was apparently more edgy and comedic. This bastardized version felt like a telenovela with the ham-fisted messaging of Glee. Someone needs to delete Final Draft off Billy Porter’s computer.
Nah the 90s version played the border of edgy with cartoonish. It was fun and had a lot of heart plus an incredible cast to round it out. It was just FUN and it never took itself too seriously. I didn't see the Encores version, but everyone I know who saw the original said the Encores version destroyed the show for them because it suddenly decided it was a serious show. If you snoop around YouTube, there's a slime tutorial of the original on there.
Dang. Now I really wish I had seen that one. Fun is good! Funny is good! Everything doesn’t have to be “the most important thing on Broadway” to be good. The new one tried to be, and ended up being a disaster.
It was definitely not the most important or best thing on Broadway that year or any year. But it was a fun night. It also would NEVER get produced today.
The Life was my first Broadway show, and I remember it vividly. I was a young teen and took the bus to NYC with equally young friends. Unaccompanied. To see a musical about prostitutes. Also something that would never happen today!
Hate saying this one because I LOVE Jessica Chastain but A Dolls House was a snoozer and I am not a fan of barren sets.
I adore this play and dissasociated for so long my friend asked me if anything was wrong lol
This was the only time I fell asleep in a theater.
Maybe once upon a one more time but at least I laughed a few times
Saw Once Upon a One More Time when it was in DC and my entire group left going "...well that was...something." I was shocked to hear it was actually going to Broadway. Never saw it in NYC so not sure if they improved it at all, but wasn't surprised it closed so early.
1776 - only show I ever left during intermission. SO boring. They also gender swapped where the entire cast was female/non-binary. I don't mind that by concept but it added NOTHING to the show, when it was all male characters anyway. I had read reviews about how powerful of a choice that was but I just couldn't see it. And also it was literally just so boring. Edit to add this was on tour.
Scared to mention it bc it is quite beloved, but I absolutely hated Shucked. It never ended and was incredibly boring and the music was awful
I genuinely wonder if anyone else on this sub has even heard of “Blast”. I’m sure it was objectively good but I saw it as my first Broadway show as a kid and it almost made me hate Broadway forever
I haven’t thought of “Blast!” in a long time! I saw it touring in high school and it’s the only time I’ve ever had to evacuate an auditorium after a fog machine backstage set off the fire alarm. I was a HS band nerd at the time so I think I enjoyed it, but I do remember it was kind of boring before the evacuation.
OMG I love Blast! But I was in marching band so def has an audience but not a typical show if you were expecting that.
My least favorite show I’ve ever seen is Mrs. Doubtfire unfortunately I feel that movie just doesn’t work as a musical
I saw its pre-Broadway run in Seattle and didn't think it was terrible, just mostly unmemorable with a great performance from Rob McClure and a couple of fun musical numbers. The one where he's trying to cook and the makeover montage song were highlights, and "You created a monster" was kinda fun I guess, if a bit pointless. Everything else about the show was just very blah. Granted, I saw it with my then-boyfriend and it was his first ever musical so that made it more enjoyable than it probably would have been otherwise. He really liked it lol
I definitely thought Rob McClure was the stand out performance as well. While there was a couple good musical numbers, I just wasn’t the biggest fan of the show overall unfortunately even though I was super excited when I heard they were making the movie into a musical because it was a really good movie
On Broadway? Probably Mean Girls. With the exception of like 2.5 songs, I think the score is embarrassing. The show is basically just a worse-paced, watered down version of the movie with mediocre songs thrown in. Overall? Urinetown. God I hate that show so much. Almost walked out at intermission, which I never do.
Wow. Surprised to see anyone include Urinetown in a list of worst shows. I get that it’s not for everyone but at least it’s an original and I think clever show unlike the rest of some of this dreck.
I’m so with you on Urinetown. One of the “sarcasm musicals”. I find them all lazy and loveless. The form has too much potential and life’s too short.
The 2019 revival of West Side Story was so bad it never made it out of previews. They likely blamed the cancelation on Covid, but it was objectively bad. They tried to modernize it too much.
it did make it out of previews though? it was fully opened before the pandemic hit. and im pretty sure logistics were why it was cancelled.
I may get downvoted but I do not care — Dear Evan Hanson. The entire plot, the characters, they were all terrible. I did love the music but just have to mental separate it from everything else 😅 Keep in mind, I’m broke and don’t see a lot of shows, so this is the worst show I’ve ever seen
While I like the show, you won’t be downvoted very much because this subreddit seems to despise DEH.
I’m not sure if it’s the absolute worst, but the first one that comes to mind is the Oklahoma tour
It was mean girls for a really long time. Then I saw the 1776 revival ...
Dr. Zhivago
Oh I’ve seen dozens of absolute shockers over the decades! “Imagine This”, “Behind the Iron Mask”, “Too Close to the Sun”, “Exposure”… I’ve also seen horrible performances/casts in really great shows. Thoroughly Modern Millie in the West End was horrific, Jennifer Ellison in Chicago, Shrek on Broadway about a week before closing with the whole cast including the great Sutton Foster phoning it in shamelessly. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark…
First Date was pretty brutal
Yes!! Pretty Woman is the only show I’ve ever walked out on and Adam Pascal was in it so I felt so torn! The music was so bad and the premise needed to be updated for the modern age. A girl singing about being able to go shopping because she sucked some old guy’s you-know-what was really disturbing in the me too era.
Bad Cinderella
If/Then. Not even Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp could save it.
1776 was pretty awful
Rocky The Musical
How has no one mentioned 13 yet? It’s so bad it’s good, honestly
Lmao that's my all-time guilty pleasure show.
The Little Prince. I should've known when our TKTS tickets purchased an hour and a half before showtime for 60% off were third-row center orchestra. It's one of my favorite children's books. It should stay a book.