1 Giant Hit, 3 Historic Flops: The 80's Mega-Musical Craze

PHANTOM conquered Broadway. CARRIE closed after just five days. How did 1988 produce both a megamusical phenomenon AND some of theatre’s most notorious flops? Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:24 - The 1987-1988 Season 1:55 - Phantom of the Opera 3:20 - The Tony Awards 5:12 - CARRIE: The Musical 9:30 - Madonna in SPEED-THE-PLOW 11:40 - CHESS 14:10 - LEGS DIAMOND 15:07 - The AIDS Epidemic 17:29 - Sarafina! 17:40 - The Middle Disappears 18:12 - Conclusion Before becoming a cult favorite, the musical adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel burned through millions on its journey from England to New York - a saga filled with near-death experiences and technical catastrophes. Then there’s CHESS, the cult fav by ABBA’s Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus and lyricist Tim Rice. How could the hit concept album and London production lead to such a confused mess? And finally: LEGS DIAMOND, Peter Allen’s bid as writer, director, and star to turn a real-life mobster into a tap-dancing gangster. What could possibly go wrong? Alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, these productions tell the story of Broadway in 1988: soaring ambition, exploding budgets, and delusions of grandeur. Could different versions of these shows have worked? Or were they a bunch of CRAZY CARRIES for trying at all? LMK in the comments! #Broadway #CarrieTheMusical #MusicalTheatre #Carrie #StephenKing #TheatreHistory #AndrewLloydWebber SUBSCRIBE!    / @therealbryan.r   instagram.com/@therealbryan.r