People Describe The Worst Broadway Show They've Ever Seen

Cats. Why is that still thing? And I'm sorry but Les Miz... too depressing.

Not so Pretty...

"Worst is so hard to narrow down. Right now I'm going to say Pretty Woman or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

yabasicjanet

Bad Bullets

"Bullets over Broadway. Got discount tickets and still wanted my money back. Although close tie with Paramour. That show had a lot of potential was the writing was so messy it brought the whole thing down."

herbiepunchbuggy

"I also saw Bullets Over Broadway and consider it one of those 'certainly not the best I’ve seen, but far form the worst.'. I’m actually a little surprised by the level of hate it’s getting in this thread!"

"I mean I’m certainly not going to defend it, and I basically remember nothing about it, but I feel it was more meh than godawful (for me personally the godawfuls are Dr Zhivago, Finian’s Rainbow, and Dear Evan Hansen). One of the stars of Bullets Over Broadway, Nick Cordero, was a very early-on and really very tragic casualty to Covid."

FancyPigeonIsFancy

"threesome with conjoined twins"

"It might have been the theater being cramped and me being tired, but Side Show was not a good time for me. All I really remember is the opening song (which had some actual cool makeup) and the 'threesome with conjoined twins' sequence."

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was also pathetic, besides Christian Borle of course. Never getting over the set of the chocolate river being stuck inside a giant tiny glass cube instead of being an actual set."

hyperjengirl

No Shade but...

"Spider Man in previews. I was working it—handing out marketing surveys—so I got to slip into an empty seat once I was done taping all the surveys to seats. I felt sorry for anyone who paid for those seats. No shade to Reeve Carney or Patrick Page; they did what they could with horrendous material."

smol_lydia

Never Again

"A Bronx Tale made me rethink my love of theatre."

svtxcvnb

"Didn’t love it, but in retrospect, I’m glad I had a chance to see Nick Cordero. He was great in it."

skymasterson2016

Thankfully I skipped all of those shows. I heard the same word of mouth.

WAR

"War Paint. 100% the only show I've regretted paying to see."

IceCreamAttachment

Bad Jazz

"I had some friends visiting from Chicago, and I took them to see... Chicago with Christie Brinkley as Roxy Hart. IT WAS SO BAD. I mean Chicago isn't like Shakespeare or something, but the music is good and it's pretty unoffensive. This made me actively mad and embarrassed that this is what my friends saw on their first trip to Broadway!! I still feel so angry about it when I see Christie Brinkley on TV lol. She played Jerry's wife on Parks and Rec and it totally ruined the joke for me!!"

Mean-Responsibility4

“use your imagination.”

"The Bye Bye Birdie revival with John Stamos and Gina Gershon. Man was that just jaw-droppingly bad on so many levels. Allie Trimm as Kim was the one good thing about it. But I just felt terrible for everyone else, including the audience."

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory too - mostly just the massive letdown of what could’ve been a production spectacle for the ages, and instead was 'use your imagination.' I also really loathed Hand to God and could not figure out why people around me were laughing. I thought it was so stupid."

At_the_Roundhouse

And yet...

"'In My Life' was astonishing. I saw it with some other actor types in an almost empty theater and it beggars description, it was so terrible. And yet... There was a sweet moment where the characters were in a recording booth that actually worked. The show was idiotic, the plot was insane, none of the characters made any sense but there was still this one lovely moment. If was definitely the worst show I've ever seen, but even the worst show had one magical thing in it, which is kinda wonderful."

gideonsean

Oh Puppets

"I just saw Mrs. Doubtfire… I know it’s still in previews, but the set almost fell down at one point. Everyone gasped. I just feel it would have been a better comedic play than a musical. But so far this season, that was my least favorite."

lgaudio1

"I just saw Mrs. Doubtfire too and I would like to beg Broadway to stop doing these movie to musical adaptations."

fairlyfocal

If Nothing...

“'If/Then' and then a pre-Broadway run of 'Roman Holiday.'"

BrilliantBluebird6

"I was looking for if/then. I saw it in DC before it went to Broadway and it wasn’t until intermission that I understood sort of what was going on. I couldn’t understand why scenes were basically being done twice. I was looking forward to a mini Rent reunion and was so disappointed."

blackknight1

Head West

"The original Broadway 'Amélie.' However, the West End revival is one of my favorite shows of all time. Sadly it closed a few months ago."

euveginiadoubtfire

Huge disappointment...

"I tried to watch the new Pride and Prejudice musical during lockdown. I’m a huge Austen buff. But this was just… so ridiculously literal and explanatory… When the source material is so subtle! Austen never has to tell you that Lizzie is strong, smart and independent. You figure it out on your own."

"Here she literally starts by singing a number called « Headstrong » which is her going « Hi! I’m STRONG and refuse to conform to SOCIETAL NORMS ». It’s like all the characters know they’re in a show and feel the need to explain their personality to you instead of going about their lives. I couldn’t watch past the first couple scenes. Huge disappointment."

Litchee

“your ticketed seat”

"Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville I went with my mom on opening weekend and they had set malfunctions, stagehands literally running onto the stage while the actors were performing. The ushers were overly dogmatic about staying in 'your ticketed seat' even though the theater was a third full. It was quite the experience."

jimhoss

Please Die

"I know this show has it’s defenders, but Love Never Dies is the only show that I’ve walked out of, it was so bad but also so boring? I also saw the tour of Aladdin a few years back and I low key hated it. However, I’m not really the target audience, so I don’t mind (plus I got $20 seats)."

mneale324

Not Well Used

"I really wasn’t a fan of the 2018 revival of Carousel. To give it the benefit of the doubt, I did see it while it was still in previews. But there were times where it felt I was watching a high school production. It had a fabulous cast that was not very well-utilized. The choreography was simply incredible, though."

oofouchmybones27

So Many

"Toss up between West side story revival and first date. Gettin’ the band back together was rough as well. But I actually thought the Diana revival was campy fun so different strokes for different folks I guess."

LightningLilac

Angst Issues

"This will probably stir up controversy, but I absolutely hated Be More Chill. George Salazar’s song carried the whole damn show and was the only enjoyable part of it."

Sperberino_

"The only reason it’s so popular is because it takes place in high school and somewhat mentions mental health. Angsty theater teens flock to that shit. I know I did. That’s the only reason it’s so highly rated."

CouselaBananaHammock

Well everything, everytime is not gonna be a hit. And more often than not we'll never understand why something was a hit.

But please keep supporting the theatre!!