First night failures

Hello everyone!


Today I'm going to write about the closure of the London production of Love Never Dies and an idea that came to my head while I was thinking about it. In first place, I was really sad because this is one of my favorite musicals and I can't believe a production I considered so beautiful didn't last. But then I started thinking of how many plays, musicals and scenic works in general are not commercially successful. How many of them close every day? The energy and creativity that people puts in these projects is not always enough to gain success.  This is a hard to accept reality. But this post is meant to be positive so I'm going to include some examples of first night failures that, later on, achieved the category of classics:

• The marriage of Figaro: This beautiful opera (sequel to The Barber of Seville) composed by Mozart was a failure when it was premiered in Italy, because of the satire of the aristocracy but achieved a great success in Prague turning Mozart into the idol of that city.
• La Traviata (Opera composed by Verdi): When it was premiered, it turned out to be a failure in a large scale, because of the soprano chosen for the main role. She was obese  while the character she played is a woman who is dying from tuberculosis. At the end, the public laughed out loud instead of appreciate the tragic end. A year later, it was staged again and achieved great success. Since then, its popularity has been constant.
• Carmen (Opera composed by Bizet): It was premiered in the Ópera-Comique in Paris. Apparently, the first fragments were received enthusiastically. But as the story advanced Carmen's attitude caused the rejection of the public. She wasn't the stereotype of sweet, romantic heroine that they wanted to see. The composer died thinking Carmen was a complete failure.
• Swan Lake (Ballet composed by Tchaikovsky):   The premiere was not well-received, with near unanimous criticism concerning the dancers, orchestra, and décor. Unfortunately Tchaikovsky's masterful score was lost in the debacle of the poor production, and though there were a few critics who recognized its virtues, most considered it to be far too complicated for ballet. Critics considered Tchaikovsky's music "too noisy, too 'Wagnerian' and too symphonic"^. The critics also found fault with Reisinger's choreography which they thought was "unimaginative and altogether unmemorable’’.
• The Nutcracker (Ballet composed by Tchaikovsky): The first performance of The Nutcracker was not deemed a success. The reaction to the dancers themselves was ambivalent. One audience member described the choreography of the battle scene as confusing: "One cannot understand anything. Disorderly pushing about from corner to corner and running backwards and forwards – quite amateurish.
• Follies (Broadway classic by Stephen Sondheim) Follies premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971 and closed on July 1, 1972 after 522 performances and 12 previews. According to Variety Magazine, the production was a "total financial failure, with a cumulative loss of $792,000." It was planned to present the musical on the West Coast and then on a national tour. However, the show did not do well in its Los Angeles engagement and plans for a tour ended.

These are the exaples I've found this far, but as soon as I find more (I'm sure there a thousands) I'll post them, :).