When Evita opened on Broadway during the 1979-1980 season it was (as one of its songs said) "High Flying Adored." But in the 1970-71 season the producers of Lolita My Love saw their show (as one of its songs said) "Going Gone Gone" after its torturous Philadelphia and Boston tryouts. It didn't even try to brave Broadway although the bookwriter-lyricist of My Fair Lady had written it. It happens every season. Broadway has one two or a few hit musicals but many many more flops. Here's a look at the extreme cases from each season of the past half-century. The musicals that everyone knew would be hits - The Sound of Music The Phantom of the Opera The Producers - and were. The tuners that sounded terrible from the moment they were announced - Via Galactica The Civil War Lestat - and turned out to be even worse than anyone expected. The shows that were destined to succeed - Breakfast at Tiffany's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Merrily We Roll Along - but didn't. The ones that didn't have a chance - Man of La Mancha 1776 Grease - but went on to household-name status. Peter Filichia takes a look at 100 shows that met either the most glorious or the most ignominious fates. Paperback Peter Filichia  is the critic for the Star-Ledger and News 12 New Jersey. Each week he writes a column for MasterworksBroadway.com and three columns for Theatermania.com. He is a past president of the Drama Desk the current president of the Theatre World Awards and the author of Let's Put On a Musical!
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