My Favorite Flop

The Books You Claim To Have Read: Part II

Because we all used CliffsNotes more often than we're comfortable to admit.

On Part II of The Books You Claim To Have Read, "nothing has changed" as Bobby and Kristina discuss 1992's Anna Karenina on Season Two, Episode 6 of My Favorite Flop.

The Books You Claim To Have Read: Part I

Because we all used CliffsNotes more often than we're comfortable to admit.

On Part I of The Books You Claim To Have Read, "the road goes on" as Bobby and Kristina discuss 2007's Lord of the Rings on Season Two, Episode 5 of My Favorite Flop.

A Preview Was Enough: Part II

While most Broadway shows make it to opening night - sometimes, a preview is enough.

On Part II of A Preview Was Enough, "a day will never be the same" as Bobby and Kristina discuss 1981's The Little Prince and the Aviator on Season Two, Episode 4 of My Favorite Flop.

A Preview Was Enough: Part I

While most Broadway shows make it to opening night - sometimes, a preview is enough.

On Part I of A Preview Was Enough, "Hollywood is dying" as Bobby and Kristina discuss 1973's Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It!) on Season Two, Episode 3 of My Favorite Flop.

The Curse of the Longacre: Part II

It's time to break some legs and keep that "M" word out of your mouths, kids, because Bobby and Kristina are back with Part II of The Curse of the Longacre (dunn, dunn, dunn!!!) to discuss 2013's First Date on Season Two, Episode Two of My Favorite Flop.

 

ABOUT THE CURSE OF THE LONGACRE

In theatrical history, baseball and Broadway have not been very compatible companions. There are two theories about this animosity. The first is that more theatre tickets are bought by women than men and that women are not overly fond of the sport. The second theory centers on the legendary Curse of the Bambino. 

In 1916, a Broadway producer and theatre owner named Harry Frazee bought the Boston Red Sox. He was an avid baseball lover, but he made a fatal error. In 1920, he sold Boston pitcher Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox didn't win another World Series for over 80 years (they won in 2004), leading fans to believe the team was under The Curse of the Bambino. To add insult to injury, when reporters asked Frazee why he sold the immortal Babe Ruth to New York, he replied that he wanted the $125,000 to produce a Broadway musical. The show turned out to be the hit No, No, Nanette, which further enraged Boston. Legend has it that since then, no Broadway show about baseball could succeed. And many haven't.

Of course, there have been notable exceptions that have defied the infamous curse: the most famous being the 1955 smash hit Damn Yankees, starring Gwen Verdon. But even this show started with a jinx. The musical's initial artwork featured Verdon garbed in a drab baseball uniform, and tickets were not selling very well. When producers changed the cover photo to Verdon in sexy black lingerie (after all, she did play a tempting seductress in the musical), the box office suddenly responded. The show won seven Tony Awards and ran for 1,019 performances.

Harry Frazee also famously built Broadway's Longacre Theatre. At first, the large theater was home to a series of hit shows, but after the infamous Baseball trade, it began to struggle. Many plays and musicals have premiere there over the years and the flops have outnumbered the successes. Sometimes the theater stands empty for long periods of time as Broadway producers are notoriously superstitious and it is considered by some to truly be a cursed house and they would rather not mount their show at all than to risk mounting it there.

The Curse of the Longacre: Part I

It's time to grab your cleats and jockstraps, kids, because we're back with a brand new season and this time our episodes are themed and paired! To kick things off, Bobby and Kristina will be exploring whether or not baseball and Broadway can actually coexist as they cover The Curse of the Longacre (dunn, dunn, dunn!!!) and then learn more about "the worst job in the world" as they discuss 2021's Diana, The Musical on the Season Two premiere of My Favorite Flop.

 

ABOUT THE CURSE OF THE LONGACRE

In theatrical history, baseball and Broadway have not been very compatible companions. There are two theories about this animosity. The first is that more theatre tickets are bought by women than men and that women are not overly fond of the sport. The second theory centers on the legendary Curse of the Bambino. 

In 1916, a Broadway producer and theatre owner named Harry Frazee bought the Boston Red Sox. He was an avid baseball lover, but he made a fatal error. In 1920, he sold Boston pitcher Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox didn't win another World Series for over 80 years (they won in 2004), leading fans to believe the team was under The Curse of the Bambino. To add insult to injury, when reporters asked Frazee why he sold the immortal Babe Ruth to New York, he replied that he wanted the $125,000 to produce a Broadway musical. The show turned out to be the hit No, No, Nanette, which further enraged Boston. Legend has it that since then, no Broadway show about baseball could succeed. And many haven't.

Of course, there have been notable exceptions that have defied the infamous curse: the most famous being the 1955 smash hit Damn Yankees, starring Gwen Verdon. But even this show started with a jinx. The musical's initial artwork featured Verdon garbed in a drab baseball uniform, and tickets were not selling very well. When producers changed the cover photo to Verdon in sexy black lingerie (after all, she did play a tempting seductress in the musical), the box office suddenly responded. The show won seven Tony Awards and ran for 1,019 performances.

Harry Frazee also famously built Broadway's Longacre Theatre. At first, the large theater was home to a series of hit shows, but after the infamous Baseball trade, it began to struggle. Many plays and musicals have premiere there over the years and the flops have outnumbered the successes. Sometimes the theater stands empty for long periods of time as Broadway producers are notoriously superstitious and it is considered by some to truly be a cursed house and they would rather not mount their show at all than to risk mounting it there.

Back To Before

Sorry, Mother, but apparently you can go "back to before" as hosts Bobby and Kristina look back on our entire first season and share cut soundbites and bloopers on My Favorite Flop's second super special, limited-edition Christmas Special!

One Night Only

"Are you ready for tonight?" "Simple ain't easy" and this isn't "just another song" as hosts Bobby and Kristina discuss a whole bunch of Clopenings (shows that closed on opening night) on the season one finale of My Favorite Flop.

Another National Anthem

We're all just "children of the wind" in this "brave new world" as hosts Bobby and Kristina discuss 1986's Rags on episode twenty one of My Favorite Flop.

The Day After Tomorrow

"Tomorrow is now" as hosts Bobby and Kristina discuss 1989's Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge and 1993's Annie Warbucks on episode twenty of My Favorite Flop.

 

ABOUT ANNIE 2: MISS HANNIGAN'S REVENGE

The first official attempt at a sequel to the hit Broadway musical Annie, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge follows the continued story of villainous Miss Hannigan as she escapes from prison to marry Daddy Warbucks, steal his fortune, and rid the world of of Little Orphan Annie once and for all. The musical features a book by Thomas Meehan, lyrics by Martin Charin, and music by Charles Strouse.

At the closing performance of Annie 1, lyricist Martin Charnin stood onstage and told the audience that the story of Annie was not over and that a sequel to the musical was already in the works. Six years later, hundreds of little girls in their red velvet dresses pilgrimaged to Washington D.C. with their parents to get a first look at what was excepted to be one of the biggest hits on Broadway the following season. Little did they know that Annie 2 would feature very little Annie at all and, instead, would tell the misguided redemption story of the first musical's villain.

The entire project was a manifestation of the creative team's own insecurities of now being best-known for writing a fluffy kids musical and not their more-serious previous works... so, they set out to prove to the industry that they could follow it up with something more complex and grown up. The happy endings we see at the end of Annie 1 we find out were short lived. Daddy Warbucks discovers that he can't legally adopt Annie as a single father, so he must find a wife and because of that, Annie's future is uncertain. Grace, who has genuine feelings for the billionaire, must balance her career and personal life as she is passed over for other candidates. And Hannigan must come to terms with her quest for revenge and money as she confronts her own past and humanity.

The creative team had hoped that fans of the original musical had grown up with them and would appreciate their cynical take on what happens after "tomorrow". Sadly, "something was missing", and what that was what attracted so many fans to the original piece - the absolute charm of Annie and her orphan friends. Throughout the run in D.C., desperate changes were made to the show to fix that tonal issues, including adding more Annie and additional orphan characters from the original, but a major financial backer decided to leave the show and it's scheduled Broadway run (the marquee was already up!) was cancelled.

Annie 2 would then go through a process of rewrites and restructuring at the Goodspeed Opera House that would not only remove Miss Hannigan from the show's title, but from the show completely... eventually evolving into a different sequel titled Annie Warbucks!

 

Original Washington Cast

• Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan
• Fiely Matias as The Asp
• Gerry McIntyre as Punjab
• Lauren Mitchell as Grace Farrell
• Harve Presnell as Oliver Warbucks
• Danielle Findley as Annie Warbucks
• Beau as Sandy
• Marian Seldes as Mrs. Christmas
• Ronny Graham as Lionel McCoy
• Terrence P. Currier as Drake
• Raymond Thorne as FDR
• Ellyn Arons as Eleanor Roosevelt

 

ABOUT ANNIE WARBUCKS

Another attempt at as a sequel to the hit Broadway musical Annie, Annie Warbucks begins immediately after Annie ends as  Daddy Warbucks learns that he must marry within sixty days or else Annie will be returned to the orphanage. The musical features a book by Thomas Meehan, lyrics by Martin Charin, and music by Charles Strouse.

Annie Warbucks was developed in a workshop at the Goodspeed Opera House, directed by Charnin and choreographed by Peter Gennaro and under the direction of Michael P. Price, Executive Director. The musical played several out-of-town tryouts, starting at the Marriott Lincolnshire, Chicago in February through April 1992 and then the Drury Lane in Oak Brook, Illinois, followed by a five city United States tour, including San Diego in October 1992.

It was originally planned that Annie Warbucks would open on Broadway, but a "major investor pulled out". Some characters were cut and the budget reduced, leading to delays. The Off-Broadway production opened on August 9, 1993, at the Variety Arts Theatre. The cast included Harve Presnell as Warbucks, Donna McKechnie as Sheila Kelly, and Kathryn Zaremba in the title role. The show broke all off-Broadway box office records for the time, running for 200 performances.

The producers considered moving the show from the Variety Arts Theater to Broadway, and they secured $2.5 million from an investor for a move to Broadway, but discovered they couldn't make the move in time to be eligible for Tony Award consideration, which was a big part of the reason for moving in the first place. A provision in the Tony rules required that a show had to transfer to a Tony-eligible theatre within 30 weeks of its original opening in order to qualify for any nominations. The investor pulled out, ending the plans.

 

Original Off-Broadway Cast

• Kathryn Zaremba as Annie Warbucks
• Harve Presnell as Daddy Warbucks
• Donna McKechnie as Mrs. Sheila Kelly
• Alene Robertson as Commissioner Harriet Doyle
• Marguerite MacIntyre as Grace Farrell
• Kip Niven as Drake
• Raymond Thorne as FDR
• Cindy Lou as Sandy