So Bad It's Horrible/Theatre: Difference between revisions

{{examples|Examples (more-or-less in alphabetical order):}}

 

* Acclaimed company [[Cirque Du Soleil]] are known for their usually well-reviewed productions, and were in negotiations to launch an off-Broadway resident show in the wake of their success with their seasonal production ''[[Wintuk]]'' in New York. The result was ''Banana Shpeel'', a production so bad it didn't even appeal to die-hard fans of Cirque, or even Guy Laliberte ''himself''. The show was a twist on vaudeville humour, and promised a mix of slapstick and acrobatics. Instead, the show consisted of an annoying [[Jerkass]] running around [[Chewing the Scenery|shouting nonsense]], lame bathroom humour, stupid slapstick gags about being spat on or slapped, with maybe two Cirque-ish acts. The show flopped in its tryout run in Chicago and even after a substantial retool opened to condemnation from audiences and critics. Hoping to spark interest, a tour was attempted, but it made it only to one stop in New York, and a Canadian stop before being canceled altogether. With ''[[Criss Angel Believe]]'' getting panned hardcore, ''ZAIA'' struggling to sell tickets in China, and ''OVO'' and ''[[Viva Elvis]]'' getting mixed receptions in North America, this further ran Cirque's reputation into the ground. (In fact, thanks to the retool's delays ''Banana Shpeel'' and ''OVO'' [a tour] were dueling shows in New York; ''OVO'' opened first and would receive far better reviews.) Thankfully the company managed to make a comeback creatively with 2010's ''Totem'', and even made a happy return to New York with a far better-received show, ''Zarkana'', in 2011.

* One would think that a stage musical based off of ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' would be a recipe for success, right? Not so, if the 2006 production was any indication. After being unable to find a suitable British theatre to mount the production, the producers (who had spent an estimated $27 million on elaborate effects, licensing fees and rotating sets) decided to stage a test run in Toronto, [[Canada, Eh?|Canada]]. The reviews, however, were scathing. Despite being scored by the film's composer (Howard Shore) and featuring a cast of heavyweight dramatic actors, the musical (which ran almost ''four hours'' long) was a plodding, confusing mess that haphazardly cut out large chunks of the source material (even though the musical was almost ''four hours'' long). The rest was filled with overwrought narration, hammy performances and ridiculous effects (the Balrog is represented by a large tissue-paper blow-up doll that is backed by wind blowing into the audience's faces). [http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070709_107127_107127 The producers promised Toronto's mayor that "The Nerds Would Come"] - in the end, the show was panned by critics and audiences, closed down after five months (despite the producers promising the show would run much, much longer) and resulted in a financial loss for both the producers (who opened the show in [http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/theatre/story/2007/06/19/uk-lotr-opening.html London] a year later, to the exact same result) and the city of Toronto.