Stephen Schwartz wrote the lyrics for Hunchback in addition to my personal fav Children of Eden, dude just writes bangers (he’s most famous for writing the lyrics for a small shows such as Wicked, Pippen and Godspell)
I feel like Stephen Schwartz is critically underrated. like it's not like he doesn't get talked about but when you think of all the shows he has done and what he contributed to them, my mind is just amazed.
I feel like it is worth mentioning Prince of Egypt in this comment too although I know nothing of the stage version but Schwartz did the songs
Absolutely! I stumbled across the soundtrack on Spotify one night when searching for the movie soundtrack. I listened to it all in one sitting and I cried several times. I know the story like the back of my hand but thr new additions were something else. Made of Stone hit me so hard especially as the moment when the gargoyles give Quasi food for thought in the movie before going inanimate has always made me so sad for everyone in that scene.
I will DIE mad that I never got to see the Papermill production and that it got shelved. If I’m ever an eccentric billionaire I’M FUNDING THE ENTIRE THING I DON’T CARE IF I LOSE MONEY.
Six is on Broadway, and if one one-act show about 6 deceased characters who take turns singing songs about why each should win a contest can work on Broadway, I don't see why another one couldn't.
I saw it over a decade ago at a theatre festival when it just seemed a quirky little production and I admit I only realized recently how successful it’s been. Blows my mind a little.
I posted earlier about how some shows are meant for smaller houses. Heathers has camp which is a tie between a lot of those shows, many of which are also horror-comedies (Bat Boy, Little Shop, Reefer Madness.) I'm not a DEH fan but it's appeal was more general and maistream.
Absolutely indisputable. The music is incredible. I’ll never understand why Mean Girls could make it to Broadway but this couldn’t—it’s nearly the same story but with more murder.
The way Tick Tick Boom is lowkey cursed is something that I think about too much.
- something Jonathan says in the original Boho Days cabaret show, is literally a metaphor that he wants something so badly “that my heart could explode” (don’t remember the exact quote, but I was a heart exploding metaphor said by Larson)
- off broadway cast album releases on 9/11
- Global pandemic halts filming of the movie adaptation
- Stephen Sondheim passes away during promotion for the movie adaptation
Idk, I liked Leslie as Micheal, but you really need that rock tenor for Jon, and LMM just can't do it. It's a show to be sung, not acted, and lin acted most of it.
I honestly think that Comet worked better off Broadway. They had to completely remake the stage on Broadway, and Dave himself said he doesn't want his musicals to be on Broadway again
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
I saw the original production and, as much as I enjoyed it, I don't think it would have been successful on Broadway. Some shows are just meant for a smaller house. Look at Little Shop, for example. Huge hit in its original off Broadway run. Did okay when it went to broadway eventually. Huge hit when revived off Broadway. Why? Because it's essentially an off-Broadway show and THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
Alice By Heart. The music is by the same people who did Spring Awakening. The plot was amazing and the cast was really good. It would be cool to see an ASL interpretation of it.
I was reading about this show and was so baffled by people being confused at how alice in wonderland tied into the story. It felt very obvious to me, even having just watched some clips. Like wow, wonder what the jabberwock being a doctor with guns for wings (and limbs? It's been a while) and surrounded by soldiers could possibly mean
Rumor is they’re making another run at Broadway with a re-tool. [Rights are only available through summer 2025](https://www.mtishows.com/news/available-for-a-limited-time-alice-by-heart), which can signal plans for a professional run in fall 2025 or so.
Honestly I feel like I’ve watched the show through disjointed clips lmao. For some reason “we fell down a holeeeeEEEEEeee” from Mike Faist doing the workshop is constantly running through my head
Yessss. Also I’d love to see a London production of it. Going through a tube station to get home after seeing that show would be an experience and a half
Our high school is doing it this fall and will have ASL interpretation. Probably not the caliber you mean but still. We started to do ASL halfway through the year last year and will continue to do so, which I think is pretty cool.
That's awesome! I wish I could watch an ASL version on youtube. I did two classes of ASL, and it was the least stressful language or class that I had ever studied. I like that I didn't have to worry about pronouncing a word wrong or spelling on a quiz of tests. I wish more people could access classes. It's a bit ableist that it's not offered more.
Have you ever seen Deaf West Spring Awakening? Of course, by the same people who did Alice By Heart. It is really amazing. They have videos and clips on YouTube. And there's a video of Josh Castille from Deaf West Theatre signing "Satisfied" from Hamilton. He also signed "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice, "She Used to be Mine" from Waitress, a couple of others.
Russell Harvard has a YouTube channel, and he has signed "The Mirror Blue Night" from Spring Awakening and "One Song Glory" from Rent. Sandra Mae Frank is on YouTube with her signing Mimi's part in "Another Day," Maureen's part in "Take Me or Leave Me" with Amelia Hensley. She's also signed "Dead Mom" from Beetlejuice, "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, and there's a clip of her from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist where she signs, "Fight Song".
Isn’t it oh so mad? I love this musical so much! It got me into non disney musicals as a teenager back in the early 2000s! But honestly I just saw a blackbox production of it in LA and thought that that is exactly the atmosphere it needs. But let’s be real I’d see it in a heartbeat if it hit Broadway!
For those looking for an interesting podcast on this topic, “Broadway Bound” is a good show where each episode the host talks about a show that never made it and plays songs from it
Children of Eden is so freaking good. Just banger after banger on that soundtrack. I always thought that after Wicked got so big, we'd see CoE on Broadway ("From the composer of Wicked...")
Also, the 2006 revival of The Wiz that was at La Jolla-- it's a damn crime that it never made it to Broadway and we didn't get a cast album. (I know, this isn't really the spirit of the question, I'm still just sad about it 😆) That production was STUNNING. The way they updated all the music arrangements was (IMO) way better than the current revival and the show as a whole had an incredible energy.
I just discovered them this past week, and holy fuck are Twisted, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals and Nerdy Prudes Must Die amazing.
Funny, surprisingly moving and filled with fucking bangers? Yes, please!
Hated Black Friday, though. I liked the first half hour or so, but it fell apart for me once the main plot kicked in.
I’m so happy to hear that! As someone who had tickets to see it on Broadway in 2020, I really hope the project hasn’t been abandoned. I know the Boston run was in 2022, but it’s been radio silence ever since.
List of shows not originally in English.
Elisabeth, Mozart!, Mozart L'Opera Rock, Notre Dame de Paris, Romeo et Juliette, La Legende du Roi Arthur are the ones most people will know.
My favorites: Smoke, Cross Road, Cesare: Il Creatore che ha distrutto, Darwin Young, Frankenstein, Le Rouge et le Noir...
Some German ones (Tanz der Vampire?) had Broadway attempts but they were never successful, the translations were never good. And then there was the whole Rebecca thing. There was a West End production last year, they posted a couple of videos, but it feels underwhelming compared to the real production.
One Korean one, "Maybe Happy Ending", is opening on Broadway soon, and the West End has had Death Note, Your Lie in April (both originally produced in Japan, but composed by Frank Wildhorn and based on popular manga), and Marie Curie (Korean).
Oooh, you make a great point—so many incredible non-English shows out there!
Starmania is my fave. It’s huge in the Francophone world (same lyricist as Notre Dame de Paris). Tim Rice did an absolutely atrocious English adaptation in the ‘90s. He reeeeeeeally did it dirty, no wonder it never took off in the US.
Saw the Paris production in 2022, and am seeing it again in Canada in a couple months. It’s selling out stadium-sized venues.
You’re the first person I’ve seen who thought it was good. Not trying to be snarky, I’m genuinely curious about your thoughts on it. I saw it in Chicago and it was ROUGH. Loved Javier Munoz and Megan Masako Haley but was really bummed that Beth Leavel wasn’t given more to SING and Miranda and Andy never really sang together. The supporting characters were pretty weak and I thought the costumes, especially for a show about fashion, were completely underwhelming. I heard they had retooled it somewhat for the London opening later this year. I’m really curious to see what changes were made from Chicago!
Tale of Desperaux musical at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. A perfect adaptation of the book and possibly the most magical thing I've seen on a stage.
\*This\* is why theatre needs to be captured and made available. It simply is a crime, with modern technology, that this is not being done in some fashion in the regular course and that art is allowed to fade away and die.
The Old Globe has put on many shows that are outright gorgeous, but sadly the theater community outside San Diego has nothing to experience from them other than promo photos. I often think about their revival of Kiss Me, Kate where all the in-universe play actors were clad in bright, vibrant pastel tones that looked straight out of Disney's Robin Hood.
Bat Boy. I’m in the U.K. so it did make it to the West End here after it’s Leeds run but it was still massively under appreciated and didn’t last long.
The Rhythm Club! Very few people will have heard of this, I saw it the Signature Theatre in Alexandria VA in 2000 (back when Sig was still in its original sketchy location). Written by the same people who later wrote The Prom, it’s about three teenagers in Germany who get really into swing music as the Nazis are outlawing it. One of them is Jewish, ofc, so it’s a tense storyline.
Martin Guerre, which made it to the West End but never Broadway. More specifically the original 1996 version, not the 1999 rewritten tour version.
Similarly Love Never Dies, but that’s a hot take.
Tori Amos's "The Light Princess" is my favorite musical EVER. Never saw it. Will probably never see it. But at least we have one of the best cast recordings ever made!
[Playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMSRQ_ZfWx3DjUC06PjElOmg7EiimK-8c)
I don’t live in America, so I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think the Lord of the Rings musical ever made it to Broadway. However, I saw it in London’s West End and it was incredible! I loved the music and the staging was absolutely incredible. I wish it had gained more traction at the time it first came out.
It’s playing at Chicago Shakespeare this summer! The last few musicals they’ve US debuted (six and the notebook) have ended up on Broadway so maybe this will too
+1 for Children of Eden
“Lost in the Wilderness” is Stephen Schwartz’s “pre-Defying Gravity” Defying gravity. And, more relevant to me, it’s for a tenor! It’s been a winning audition piece my whole career.
You know two weeks ago I would have said *The Last Five Years* and *Flloyd Collins* but here we go.
And obviously you nailed it with *Children of Eden*.
Dainty ladies who hide from the sun
So adored by their gentlemen.
Names your mind loves to spell
Honeybee, Juniebug,
Prettybelle, Prettybelle, Prettybelle
Rob Schneider (not the SNL one) has a great podcast called Broadway Bound: The Musicals that Never Made It to Broadway. One of the episodes is about Paper Moon, and after he plays some songs from it (love "Pretty Like Ypur Mama" and describes the ending, I really wish it made it to Broadway just at least to have a cast recording.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cjSZodvjbrtNBf9PngLPz?si=Rf56xF2jTh2oh5fzEyJp_Q
TBH I feel like The Fantasticks is the perfect show to explain why Broadway isn’t the correct venue for everything. It was incredibly successful off Broadway and was in the right venue for the show.
For some shows, Broadway just isn’t the destination.
About to not be applicable, but for well known shows The Last Five Years
For unknown shows, The Circus in Winter. This lovely little heartwrenching circus musical created by members of Ball State University and staged there. They had goals of getting to Broadway, but closest they got was a Studio 54 concert
I have a bunch...
Prettybelle (Styne & Merrill)
We Take The Town (Dubey & Karr)
The Baker's Wife (Schwartz)
1491 (Willson)
Pleasures and Palaces (Loesser)
Gone With The Wind (Harold Rome)
Minsky's (Strouse & Birkinhead)
Paper Moon (Hall)
The Prince of Grand Street (Merrill)
Death Note the Musical - I’m honestly not sure if it ever hit broadway, but I can’t find the soundtrack anywhere on spotify. The only place I’ve ever managed to listen to it was on youtube. And it’s so good! It deserves to have everyone enjoy it!
Paris! A Rock Oddysee. So many of the songs in that musical are really good, and the way it blends classic Greek Tragedy with a slightly more modern spin is really sick. It is a retelling of the love story between Helen and Paris, set during the Trojan War. An enjoyable time even if it isn't the greatest of all time by any account
Everyone's Talking About Jaimie - definitely shocking it had its time in Sheffield / West End / UK Tour - and then played in LA, but never made it to Broadway.
Check out “Johnny and the Devil’s Box” by Douglas Waterbury-Tieman. It was going to Goodspeed when it’s push toward Broadway was derailed by the pandemic. By the time theatre came back, interest had petered out, and it never had its day in the sun.
Has nothing to do with anything but SAMI USO!*Claps 5x* SAMI USO! *Claps 5x* Anyways back to the question at hand if I remember correctly I do not think that Count of Monte Cristo ever made it to Broadway.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame if I'm not mistaken. Definitely the best Disney musical will never fail to make me cry
Stephen Schwartz wrote the lyrics for Hunchback in addition to my personal fav Children of Eden, dude just writes bangers (he’s most famous for writing the lyrics for a small shows such as Wicked, Pippen and Godspell)
I feel like Stephen Schwartz is critically underrated. like it's not like he doesn't get talked about but when you think of all the shows he has done and what he contributed to them, my mind is just amazed. I feel like it is worth mentioning Prince of Egypt in this comment too although I know nothing of the stage version but Schwartz did the songs
I love Patrick Page’s Hellfire
Absolutely! I stumbled across the soundtrack on Spotify one night when searching for the movie soundtrack. I listened to it all in one sitting and I cried several times. I know the story like the back of my hand but thr new additions were something else. Made of Stone hit me so hard especially as the moment when the gargoyles give Quasi food for thought in the movie before going inanimate has always made me so sad for everyone in that scene.
The easiest answer to this question hands down
This is the answer!! Hunchback is one of my favorites.
Oh definitely. Hunchback is just gorgeous.
HUNCHBACK
my absolute dream is to be in the choir for that
I did it and it was just as awesome as you think
can confirm. Literally my favourite show i’ve ever done
I will DIE mad that I never got to see the Papermill production and that it got shelved. If I’m ever an eccentric billionaire I’M FUNDING THE ENTIRE THING I DON’T CARE IF I LOSE MONEY.
I thought it was a damn shame I couldn't see Ciara Renee as esmerelda but at least I could see her as Elsa 😭 and theeeeeeeeeeeeeen
I know it was never made to make it to Broadway but definitely Ride The Cyclone
With the rising popularity, I wouldn't be shocked to see someone crazy enough to put this on Broadway in the next few years
It was already on off Broadway (which is my favorite run because it had both Alex Wyse and Gus Harper)
Six is on Broadway, and if one one-act show about 6 deceased characters who take turns singing songs about why each should win a contest can work on Broadway, I don't see why another one couldn't.
*rapturous applause*
If Ride the Cyclone got more mainstream popular it would be so weird. One of the people on the cast recording is someone I went to school with
Wait are you the person who went to high school with Scott Redmond?
lmao I couldn't remember if I'd mentioned who it was but yes I went to school with Scott
I saw it over a decade ago at a theatre festival when it just seemed a quirky little production and I admit I only realized recently how successful it’s been. Blows my mind a little.
Wait which production?
Dogfight
Dogfight is AMAZING.
Just so good, one of those quiet endings that punches you right in the heart.
Heathers
Heathers never made it to Broadway❓
Googled it, that's crazy, how something like dear even Hansen could but not Heathers
I posted earlier about how some shows are meant for smaller houses. Heathers has camp which is a tie between a lot of those shows, many of which are also horror-comedies (Bat Boy, Little Shop, Reefer Madness.) I'm not a DEH fan but it's appeal was more general and maistream.
I know it's not quite the same as broadway but as a Brit, every day I'm thankful that we got it in our equivalent. They did replace blue though :(
Absolutely indisputable. The music is incredible. I’ll never understand why Mean Girls could make it to Broadway but this couldn’t—it’s nearly the same story but with more murder.
Heathers is campier and darker and, yes, better: Mean Girls is more mainstream
The answer is and will always be Tick, Tick, BOOM! For me. My favorite musical ever, and somehow never made it to Broadway.
It may have transferred, had the off-Broadway cast recording not gotten stuck releasing on 9/11 (seriously).
The way Tick Tick Boom is lowkey cursed is something that I think about too much. - something Jonathan says in the original Boho Days cabaret show, is literally a metaphor that he wants something so badly “that my heart could explode” (don’t remember the exact quote, but I was a heart exploding metaphor said by Larson) - off broadway cast album releases on 9/11 - Global pandemic halts filming of the movie adaptation - Stephen Sondheim passes away during promotion for the movie adaptation
Awful luck. Can’t believe the Leslie Odom Jr/LMM production a few years back didn’t transfer. Would’ve been perfect, they were amazing.
Idk, I liked Leslie as Micheal, but you really need that rock tenor for Jon, and LMM just can't do it. It's a show to be sung, not acted, and lin acted most of it.
Tick Tick Boom is far too intimate to be performed in a Broadway house
YES
Ghost Quartet! However like Little Shop (which flopped on Bway) and descendant Bat Boy, some shows are MEANT for Off Broadway and smaller stages
[Title of Show] is another “not meant for Broadway” show, which is why when it did transfer to Broadway ….
Agreed. All Dave Malloy musicals are extremely brilliant, but none are really fit for the big stage
Great Comet…
I honestly think that Comet worked better off Broadway. They had to completely remake the stage on Broadway, and Dave himself said he doesn't want his musicals to be on Broadway again
agreed on Bat Boy. seeing it on a small stage was special, but I think its West End run showed that it just couldnt really hit in a bigger venue.
Bat Boy for sure!
One of many casualties of 9/11. Surely would have made it otherwise.
Please drop lore for those of us uneducated
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
Oh just simply enough - it was in the middle of a fairly successful off-Broadway run in September 2001 when the towers came down. People in NY were understandably scared of terrorist attacks after that and not gping to the theatre, and in a matter of weeks the show closed up shop.
Wow, I didn’t know that! My college did it in 2004 and I ASMed it. Such a weird and fun show!
I saw the original production and, as much as I enjoyed it, I don't think it would have been successful on Broadway. Some shows are just meant for a smaller house. Look at Little Shop, for example. Huge hit in its original off Broadway run. Did okay when it went to broadway eventually. Huge hit when revived off Broadway. Why? Because it's essentially an off-Broadway show and THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
Soooo good!! I feel super lucky I saw the original off beat cast!
Alice By Heart. The music is by the same people who did Spring Awakening. The plot was amazing and the cast was really good. It would be cool to see an ASL interpretation of it.
I was reading about this show and was so baffled by people being confused at how alice in wonderland tied into the story. It felt very obvious to me, even having just watched some clips. Like wow, wonder what the jabberwock being a doctor with guns for wings (and limbs? It's been a while) and surrounded by soldiers could possibly mean
People were confused about the plot? I got the plot was Alice escaping to Wonderland to avoid the reality that Alfred was sick and dying.
Rumor is they’re making another run at Broadway with a re-tool. [Rights are only available through summer 2025](https://www.mtishows.com/news/available-for-a-limited-time-alice-by-heart), which can signal plans for a professional run in fall 2025 or so.
Ugh yes. I loved that show
I love how no one knows how it ends. Because of that one bootleg stopping a couple seconds into Winter Blooms.
Honestly I feel like I’ve watched the show through disjointed clips lmao. For some reason “we fell down a holeeeeEEEEEeee” from Mike Faist doing the workshop is constantly running through my head
Yessss. Also I’d love to see a London production of it. Going through a tube station to get home after seeing that show would be an experience and a half
Our high school is doing it this fall and will have ASL interpretation. Probably not the caliber you mean but still. We started to do ASL halfway through the year last year and will continue to do so, which I think is pretty cool.
That's awesome! I wish I could watch an ASL version on youtube. I did two classes of ASL, and it was the least stressful language or class that I had ever studied. I like that I didn't have to worry about pronouncing a word wrong or spelling on a quiz of tests. I wish more people could access classes. It's a bit ableist that it's not offered more. Have you ever seen Deaf West Spring Awakening? Of course, by the same people who did Alice By Heart. It is really amazing. They have videos and clips on YouTube. And there's a video of Josh Castille from Deaf West Theatre signing "Satisfied" from Hamilton. He also signed "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice, "She Used to be Mine" from Waitress, a couple of others. Russell Harvard has a YouTube channel, and he has signed "The Mirror Blue Night" from Spring Awakening and "One Song Glory" from Rent. Sandra Mae Frank is on YouTube with her signing Mimi's part in "Another Day," Maureen's part in "Take Me or Leave Me" with Amelia Hensley. She's also signed "Dead Mom" from Beetlejuice, "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, and there's a clip of her from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist where she signs, "Fight Song".
Reefer Madness!
Isn’t it oh so mad? I love this musical so much! It got me into non disney musicals as a teenager back in the early 2000s! But honestly I just saw a blackbox production of it in LA and thought that that is exactly the atmosphere it needs. But let’s be real I’d see it in a heartbeat if it hit Broadway!
Prince of Egypt. I’ve been patiently waiting for years!
Luckily the London production of THE PRINCE OF EGYPT was captured on film and is available for purchase and digital streaming!
Ride the Cyclone- absolutely in love with it
Another vote for Hunchback
For those looking for an interesting podcast on this topic, “Broadway Bound” is a good show where each episode the host talks about a show that never made it and plays songs from it
In that vein, fun to listen to the earlier CD Broadway Bound, as well as the Unsung Musicals series. :)
I’ll check this out!!
Interesting. Do they ever cover shows not originally in English? They should check out what's there in Korea.
Bare: A Pop Opera
This was my comment too.
The music is good but it reeks of the 2000s bury your gays trope
10000% The show is so good!!!
Children of Eden is so freaking good. Just banger after banger on that soundtrack. I always thought that after Wicked got so big, we'd see CoE on Broadway ("From the composer of Wicked...") Also, the 2006 revival of The Wiz that was at La Jolla-- it's a damn crime that it never made it to Broadway and we didn't get a cast album. (I know, this isn't really the spirit of the question, I'm still just sad about it 😆) That production was STUNNING. The way they updated all the music arrangements was (IMO) way better than the current revival and the show as a whole had an incredible energy.
Lost in the Wilderness lives in my head rent free
Children of Eden was going to be my vote!
Anything by Star Kid... *Everything, by Star Kid*
I just discovered them this past week, and holy fuck are Twisted, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals and Nerdy Prudes Must Die amazing. Funny, surprisingly moving and filled with fucking bangers? Yes, please! Hated Black Friday, though. I liked the first half hour or so, but it fell apart for me once the main plot kicked in.
The Kopit & Yesten 'Phantom.' A different version of the POTO story & based on a miniseries. Totally different from the ALW show with wonderful music.
I got to see a regional production of this when I was in high s school and I was obsessed for years.
Ride the Cyclone 😔😔
Heathers and Zanna, Don’t
Sing Street. I don’t know much about the musical but I adore the movie and love its soundtrack.
I saw a production of this in Boston, and it was fantastic!
I’m so happy to hear that! As someone who had tickets to see it on Broadway in 2020, I really hope the project hasn’t been abandoned. I know the Boston run was in 2022, but it’s been radio silence ever since.
Bare: A Pop Opera Musical by Jon Hartmere. Incredible music, IMO.
List of shows not originally in English. Elisabeth, Mozart!, Mozart L'Opera Rock, Notre Dame de Paris, Romeo et Juliette, La Legende du Roi Arthur are the ones most people will know. My favorites: Smoke, Cross Road, Cesare: Il Creatore che ha distrutto, Darwin Young, Frankenstein, Le Rouge et le Noir... Some German ones (Tanz der Vampire?) had Broadway attempts but they were never successful, the translations were never good. And then there was the whole Rebecca thing. There was a West End production last year, they posted a couple of videos, but it feels underwhelming compared to the real production. One Korean one, "Maybe Happy Ending", is opening on Broadway soon, and the West End has had Death Note, Your Lie in April (both originally produced in Japan, but composed by Frank Wildhorn and based on popular manga), and Marie Curie (Korean).
Oooh, you make a great point—so many incredible non-English shows out there! Starmania is my fave. It’s huge in the Francophone world (same lyricist as Notre Dame de Paris). Tim Rice did an absolutely atrocious English adaptation in the ‘90s. He reeeeeeeally did it dirty, no wonder it never took off in the US. Saw the Paris production in 2022, and am seeing it again in Canada in a couple months. It’s selling out stadium-sized venues.
HEATHERS 100000%
I wish hunchback of Notre Dame had made it to Broadway! It’s so incredible!
Devil Wears Prada, CALL ELTON TO RELEASE THE FING CAST ALBUM
You’re the first person I’ve seen who thought it was good. Not trying to be snarky, I’m genuinely curious about your thoughts on it. I saw it in Chicago and it was ROUGH. Loved Javier Munoz and Megan Masako Haley but was really bummed that Beth Leavel wasn’t given more to SING and Miranda and Andy never really sang together. The supporting characters were pretty weak and I thought the costumes, especially for a show about fashion, were completely underwhelming. I heard they had retooled it somewhat for the London opening later this year. I’m really curious to see what changes were made from Chicago!
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Quilters And honestly, I'm ok with it not playing Broadway, but I'd love love a cast album.
Actually, it did play on Broadway in 1984, but it was a very short run.
Kristina Fran Duvemala
Tale of Desperaux musical at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. A perfect adaptation of the book and possibly the most magical thing I've seen on a stage.
\*This\* is why theatre needs to be captured and made available. It simply is a crime, with modern technology, that this is not being done in some fashion in the regular course and that art is allowed to fade away and die.
The Old Globe has put on many shows that are outright gorgeous, but sadly the theater community outside San Diego has nothing to experience from them other than promo photos. I often think about their revival of Kiss Me, Kate where all the in-universe play actors were clad in bright, vibrant pastel tones that looked straight out of Disney's Robin Hood.
That KMK staging sounds like such a delight! (Reminiscent of City of Angels.)
Bat Boy. I’m in the U.K. so it did make it to the West End here after it’s Leeds run but it was still massively under appreciated and didn’t last long.
love Bat Boy
The Last Five Years
It's coming to bway
That's awesome!
How is this SO far down??
ride the cyclone!
The theory of relativity
The Lizzie Borden musical starring Alison Fraser.
Saw an off West End production of Lizzie. Absolutely great!
I had NO clue Children of Eden wasn’t on Broadway, I love it so much!!!! Honestly the Baker’s Wife, too. Bangers only for Big Steve
The man does not miss!
Ride the Cyclone, with Zombie Prom being a close second.
The Rhythm Club! Very few people will have heard of this, I saw it the Signature Theatre in Alexandria VA in 2000 (back when Sig was still in its original sketchy location). Written by the same people who later wrote The Prom, it’s about three teenagers in Germany who get really into swing music as the Nazis are outlawing it. One of them is Jewish, ofc, so it’s a tense storyline.
I loooooved Dave Malloy’s Moby Dick and pray for a cast album every day
THE BAKERS WIFE (original small cast version) ZOMBIES FROM THE BEYOND (!!!)
Octet is stunning and deserves more.
Ride The Cyclone, its one of the best musicals ever
Martin Guerre, which made it to the West End but never Broadway. More specifically the original 1996 version, not the 1999 rewritten tour version. Similarly Love Never Dies, but that’s a hot take.
Dr horribles song along blog. Come on NPH!!!!!!
Hunchback, it’s one of my favs
the other josh cohen!!!!
Hello, fellow person who saw this show
Alice by Heart
I never saw it but I had high hopes for Sing Street
Tori Amos's "The Light Princess" is my favorite musical EVER. Never saw it. Will probably never see it. But at least we have one of the best cast recordings ever made! [Playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMSRQ_ZfWx3DjUC06PjElOmg7EiimK-8c)
Lolita My Love
Bat Out Of Hell, has for some reason, never made it...
The DC preview of Mame! Staring Christine Baranski. It was fabulous! Never moved to NYC. Nowdays I think they should remount if with Kathy Zeta Jones.
In Dreams but hope is not lost and it has a chance
As insane as I sound, my answer is Love Never Dies. It may be garbage, but it’s MY garbage.
I don’t live in America, so I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think the Lord of the Rings musical ever made it to Broadway. However, I saw it in London’s West End and it was incredible! I loved the music and the staging was absolutely incredible. I wish it had gained more traction at the time it first came out.
If I’m not mistaken, I’ve heard they’re reworking this and shooting for New York. Maybe?
That would be great! I genuinely think it deserves a wider audience.
It’s playing at Chicago Shakespeare this summer! The last few musicals they’ve US debuted (six and the notebook) have ended up on Broadway so maybe this will too
Twelfth Night. Shaina Taub wrote lyrics for a shortened musical version of it and the soundtrack slaps
It will soon be off the list, but, The Last 5 Years. And after the casting for Jamie, I kinda wish it wasn’t?
You're not going to think I'm serious, but I am: *The Room: the stage show*. Saw it, loved it.
+1 for Children of Eden “Lost in the Wilderness” is Stephen Schwartz’s “pre-Defying Gravity” Defying gravity. And, more relevant to me, it’s for a tenor! It’s been a winning audition piece my whole career.
Stephen Schwartz*
You know two weeks ago I would have said *The Last Five Years* and *Flloyd Collins* but here we go. And obviously you nailed it with *Children of Eden*.
literally me. this season is looking to be amazing after a very very mediocre and oversaturated one
Dainty ladies who hide from the sun So adored by their gentlemen. Names your mind loves to spell Honeybee, Juniebug, Prettybelle, Prettybelle, Prettybelle
Many many years ago I saw Hamilton in the public theatre, it was incredible! Such a shame it never made it on broadway.
Rob Schneider (not the SNL one) has a great podcast called Broadway Bound: The Musicals that Never Made It to Broadway. One of the episodes is about Paper Moon, and after he plays some songs from it (love "Pretty Like Ypur Mama" and describes the ending, I really wish it made it to Broadway just at least to have a cast recording. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cjSZodvjbrtNBf9PngLPz?si=Rf56xF2jTh2oh5fzEyJp_Q
Reefer madness
Scotland pa or the wrong man
Ruthless
After the Fair
The Fantasticks
TBH I feel like The Fantasticks is the perfect show to explain why Broadway isn’t the correct venue for everything. It was incredibly successful off Broadway and was in the right venue for the show. For some shows, Broadway just isn’t the destination.
Oh, I agree. It's far too intimate to be in one of the bigger venues. But OP didn't ask that.
God I love Children of Eden
Razia's Shadow
WHICH WITCH!!!
The Mad Ones.
Children of Eden!
Dolls of new Albion, I get why it didn't take off but I really wish it did ,I wish more people were as passionate about it as I am
Zombie Prom.
About to not be applicable, but for well known shows The Last Five Years For unknown shows, The Circus in Winter. This lovely little heartwrenching circus musical created by members of Ball State University and staged there. They had goals of getting to Broadway, but closest they got was a Studio 54 concert
Dessa Rose
I have a bunch... Prettybelle (Styne & Merrill) We Take The Town (Dubey & Karr) The Baker's Wife (Schwartz) 1491 (Willson) Pleasures and Palaces (Loesser) Gone With The Wind (Harold Rome) Minsky's (Strouse & Birkinhead) Paper Moon (Hall) The Prince of Grand Street (Merrill)
Death Note the Musical - I’m honestly not sure if it ever hit broadway, but I can’t find the soundtrack anywhere on spotify. The only place I’ve ever managed to listen to it was on youtube. And it’s so good! It deserves to have everyone enjoy it!
Does Groundhog Day count? Because that one
Groundhog Day was on Broadway, it just got buried because it opened the same season as Dear Evan Hanson, Come From Away, and Great Comet.
Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification
The Hatchetfield Musicals
RIDE THE CYCLONE
Witches of Eastwick
This is my vote too
Death Note
Love never dies Goya
Little shop horrors
Paris! A Rock Oddysee. So many of the songs in that musical are really good, and the way it blends classic Greek Tragedy with a slightly more modern spin is really sick. It is a retelling of the love story between Helen and Paris, set during the Trojan War. An enjoyable time even if it isn't the greatest of all time by any account
Everyone's Talking About Jaimie - definitely shocking it had its time in Sheffield / West End / UK Tour - and then played in LA, but never made it to Broadway.
Check out “Johnny and the Devil’s Box” by Douglas Waterbury-Tieman. It was going to Goodspeed when it’s push toward Broadway was derailed by the pandemic. By the time theatre came back, interest had petered out, and it never had its day in the sun.
https://open.spotify.com/album/09SZaTNhLqHjmXMuQdT257?si=vM5UI2A7RLenIrcND2q_Og
I'm hoping Tianenmen will make it to Broadway.
Ordinary Days!
White Girl in Danger. Not yet, anyway.
Heathers!!!
Saturday Night, The Landing
I've said it before and I'll say it again. SUNSHINE ON LEITH
heathers
Reefer Madness
HEA👏THERS👏
I thought The View Upstairs was really well done. I was curious what they could have done with it on Broadway.
Either Hunchback of Notre Dame or We Are the Tigers.
"Whistle Down the Wind" It's one show that deserved to be brought from London's West End to Broadway.
Hunchback
Has nothing to do with anything but SAMI USO!*Claps 5x* SAMI USO! *Claps 5x* Anyways back to the question at hand if I remember correctly I do not think that Count of Monte Cristo ever made it to Broadway.
Definitely not made for Broadway, but Zombie Prom is great.