Disaster(s) Waiting to Happen - Turn Out the Lights and other misadventures

Every so often, there arrives a play so troubled that we wonder how it ever could have gotten past the selection process, let alone been green-lighted to go forward after early rehearsals.  Of course, there probably is no play (or specific production of a play) so bad that it doesn't have at least some defenders, but there are still some where the overwhelming consensus is negative.  No point in going down the list in Chicago, though a few companies do seem to have more than their fair share.

Basically, the consensus is that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is such a turkey.  Of course, there have been a rash of injuries during rehearsals (and previews!) with a very serious one occurring last night: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/performer-is-injured-during-spider-man-performance/.  There has been a fairly persistent murmur of voices asking to shut the show down on artistic grounds, and now 75% or more of the commenters are openly demanding that the show be shut down, with the most persistent saying that they themselves are actors and are trying to force Equity to take action.  It is hard to see how the show can continue, but we shall see what transpires over the next week or so.

It does seem that the trend to skip out of town try-outs is not working well for Broadway productions, so I expect to see a correction in this trend soon.

Still, I was struck by one commenter (who seems to be living on Pluto frankly).  Here is his comment: "Julie Taymor is a visionary and a great artist. I wouldn't count her out just yet. If the show works all this will be forgotten and people will be tripping over each other in an attempt to get in and see it. I've been around the theatre all my life and been with shows that were disasters out of town until suddenly the pieces that didn't work fell away and something beautiful was revealed."

I think this is always the hope, but how often is it the reality that a really troubled show can be salvaged -- by the original director who may be a little too hung up on proving that his or her vision was brilliant?  I would generally think it more likely that a show that did really badly in New York might succeed elsewhere with a completely different director and vision, or on a different scale.  And indeed, only the day before, the NY Times was talking about "Almost, Maine" and how it had flopped on Broadway but succeeded at the regional level, particularly with amateur theatrical companies: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/theater/18almost.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=maine&st=cse

One point in this piece seemed really on target: "Could the key to success be that the text can be performed by as few as 4 people or as many as 19?  If you are a professional playwright looking to make it in New York, you write something with the smallest possible cast,” said Doug Rand, chairman of the licensing company Playscripts Inc. “Amateur theater groups want to have as big a cast as possible. New York really hasn’t generated that kind of work in decades. So, when you come across that work, it’s like water in the desert.”"

But of course, what would a piece in the Times be without a backhand swipe at the locals who aren't sophisticated enough to know a bad piece of theatre when it shows up playing in the sticks: "“When shows have a certain sweetness, an absolute lack of guile, they can be very good for regional theaters to do,” Mr. Thomas said."

Well, we do know that The Story of My Life completely bombed on Broadway and hasn't been doing that well in Chicago, so maybe it has to play even smaller cities to find its niche.  Or not.

I have been involved in one seemingly troubled show in college, and I may go into a bit more detail in the comments to one of Christine's post.  In this case, the director wasn't really the problem, but our prima donna lead actor who pulled out of the show at least twice and had to be coaxed back in with some script changes.  Still, we pulled it off for one weekend and actually made a healthy profit.  It was actually a shame that we didn't book a second weekend, but such is life.  Maybe it would have fallen apart after the pressure was off.

Anyone have stories about either 1) troubled shows that stayed troubled (and maybe shouldn't have opened) or 2) shows that did the near miraculous and pulled it all together right before opening night?