Ken Mandelbaum’s book on flops is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. There are a few books that I save to re-read whenever I’m sick or depressed and need an old friend to keep me company. This is one of those books, and I guess my copy really needs to be replaced. I think anyone who is interested in musical theater will be completed entertained by Not Since Carrie— it is the book I would most recommend as a gift for someone who is just becoming interested in musicals.

Rules

Mandelbaum defines a flop as a show that ran fewer than 250 performances and he writes only about musicals that closed either on Broadway or on their way there. The chapters characterize shows into different categories. There’s a chapter on star flops (like Lucille Ball’s Wildcat), one on things not to do when creating a musical (like write sequels or shows without an audience.)

A survey of over a hundred shows is obviously going to be somewhat fragmented. The author prevents that from being a problem by making each chapter successively more focused. Anyone who is writing a book that deals with a wide number of loosely related topics could benefit by studying Mandelbaum’s structure. It makes a book that could seem scattered very satisfying as a whole.

Laughs

Hilarious anecdotes pepper the narrative. For example, Joan Diener was upset when her name was left off the marquee for Home Sweet Homer, an ill-advised musical version of Homer’s Odyssey that also starred Yul Brynner. Diener ordered the offensive marquee shrouded in black, a move which caused people to speculate that Brynner had died. A more risqué story about Diener’s odd behavior involves a fur coat, a rose, and a prudish actor.

Weird production photos and amusing quotes from critics and participants add greatly to the humor of the book. My favorite critical quip is from Walter Kerr’s review of Tenderloin: “Maurice Evans plays a crusading minister who wants to eliminate the production numbers.”

The book is full of shows that make you wonder what the creators could possible have been thinking. Did you know that there was a musical about the Shroud of Turin? That Bette Davis was cast in musical version of The Corn Is Green? That there was a serious rock musical based on Hamlet in which Ophelia commited suicide with her microphone cord? How about a musical Flowers for Algernon that featured Michael Crawford dancing with a mouse?

Mandelbaum makes many shows sound enjoyable awful. I know that his description of “Italy” from Ankles Away (“sounds like every tacky opening number rolled into one”) made me crazy to find a recording of it. I did. He’s right.

Heartbreakers

However, it isn’t just the bad shows that shine through. One of the great things about the way Mandelbaum structures the book is that the shows get better as you go along. The final chapter (before the epilogue) is about shows that should not have failed. The author writes passionately about these shows, like John LaTouche’s incredible The Golden Apple and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which failed despite having a wonderful score by Leonard Bernstein, and Alan Jay Lerner.

I promise you that if you get through this book you’ll find yourself scouring catalogues and used music stores trying to find cast albums like Flahooley, a Yip Harburg musical that amusingly skewers capitalism and the Cold War with a story about a laughing doll. You may also want to seek out Bruce Kimmel’s Unsung Musicals series of CDs, which includes songs from shows like Smile that do not have official cast albums. Smile, based on a cult movies about beauty pageants, has an especially wonderful score by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman.

”There’s Never Been a Musical Like Her”

Not surprisingly, the some of best parts of the book focus on Carrie, the musical based on Stephen King’s book and Brian dePalma’s movie. The first chapter is a “you are there” account of the first preview. The author is at his funniest describing the parts of this show that don’t work—like Carrie’s hands inexplicably bursting into flame and the infamous song “Out for Blood.” That’s the song at the pig farm, and Mandelbaum pulls out a lyric that may be known as the worst in musical theater history: “It’s a simple little gig/ You help me kill a pig.” He also writes stirringly about the parts of the show that did work, like the beautiful, dramatic duets for Carrie and her mother.

The epilogue analyzes what went wrong with Carrie and points out that it managed to be every type of flop rolled into one. He’s right. Carrie's creators started with an impossible idea- did anyone actually think a musical with this much emphasis on menstruation could possible succeed? They wrote some haunting, character driven songs, and found remarkable actresses to play them in Linzi Hately and Betty Buckley (Barbara Cook created the role of Margaret White in England, but left the production after the set nearly cut off her head.) They then threw in inappropriate, hideous sets and costumes, some horrible songs, and some merely mediocre stuff. Carrie dazzled and disgusted.

Some people criticize Mandelbaum’s research for this book and the accuracy of some of what he writes. I guess I’m not knowledgeable enough to be aware of any problems of this nature.




Recommended: Yes