When a musical has been savaged by the critics and abandoned by audiences, the gay-dominated sport of “flop-watching” becomes about the timing. Can you clear your calendar in time to score tickets before the theater marquee goes dark? Moreover, location comes into play.
Given their short life span, flops have long been a delicacy enjoyed only by Gothamites and those with deep pockets for last-minute flights.All of that changed on October 1, 2021, when the ephemeral met the ubiquitous with the Netflix release of Diana more than a month before it would face the critics’ poison pens and half-empty houses made up largely of jeering audience members. The streaming service inadvertently created a watershed moment.
With 24-hour access by millions of subscribers, Diana became an eternal dud for the masses. The musical version of the life of “the people’s princess” became the people’s flop.But so much happened before Diana.
Queerty has compiled a list of some of our favorite flops from recent years — each one suitable for your bootleg video wish list or next YouTube deep dive.Related: Every actress who has played Diana ranked from worst to bestThe advertising image of a chiseled shirtless Matt Cavenaugh proved to be the hottest part of this musical adaptation of the 1980 John Travolta blockbuster. But the skilled hand of director Lonny Price and performances by Sally Mayes and Jenn Colella failed to breathe life into an evening that proved to be more thrills-free than the anemic mechanical bull used on stage.A prime example of a show that never should have failed, Cry Baby had all the right elements for a camp classic: irreverent sight gags, hilarious star turns, a zippy score by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and Rob
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Entertainment
broadway
Elton John
princess Diana
John Travolta