By Nestor U. Torre Philippine Daily Inquirer

DOLPHY. Viewers didnt want him to stop playing the clown and fool.

What makes one production hit it big, and another show bites the dust of ignominywith great alacrity? A producer once intimated to us that the difference between a hit and a flop can be quite slight. Not all the judicious planning and money in the world can assure the creation of a blockbuster. On the other hand, a movie produced for just peanuts some years ago ended up making over a hundred million dollars!

Will the presence of big stars do the trick? Much of the time, but definitely not always. Sex and violence? Theyre compelling attractionsbut could also end up as major turnoffs.

An unusual story, beautifully told? Ditto. Film awards and triumphs at international festivals. Yesup to a point.

Perhaps we can learn valuable lessons from the sad experiences of some musical-theater producers, who invested a lot of money in some exciting projectsbut got only pain (no gain!) in exchange:

Financier

Take, for instance, the financier behind the 1986 musical, Into the Light, which was aboutthe Shroud of Turin! Now, why would anybody in his right mind think that there would be a huge audience for such esoteric and quasi-religious hoo-hah?

What about Bring Back Birdie? We loved the original musical, Bye Bye Birdie, but not enough to want to see the production of a new show that updated the story and showed us what happened to its lead characters, two decades later! Alas, the new production cravenly bit the dust after only four performances.

One Night Stand similarly failed to interest let alone excite theatergoers with its story abouta suicide! Not exactly a fun evening, huh? The show was so dismally dark that it never even got to the Great White Way, and literally died during its trial run.

See the rest here:
Anatomy of a flop