"The Worst"
April 20, 2008 9:17 PM Subscribe
The Worst Flop in Broadway History? First staged in 1983 for only one night,
Moose Murders (wiki) is legendary as the
flop-of-flops in Broadway history--and is now being revived for its kitsch value.
From the NYT piece:
...Critics described “Moose Murders” as “titanically bad” and “indescribably bad,” a play that “would insult the intelligence of an audience consisting entirely of amoebas” (Brendan Gill, The New Yorker), that looked as it were staged by “a blind director repeatedly kicked in the groin” (John Simon, New York magazine)....
Years later, Frank Rich, who was then the theater critic for The New York Times, would call it “the worst play I’ve ever seen on a Broadway stage.” (Mr. Rich’s writings about “Moose Murders” have become such a part of its lore that a recent production of the play in Manila credited Mr. Rich with having written the play.)...
Lately, the play has been revived in
unlikely places. What makes
the play so bad? Perhaps this....
The mysterious moose character was a woman dressed in black holding an inflatable deer head emblazoned with the Miller High Life logo. Sidney Holloway, the mummified quadriplegic, was played by a mannequin, whose head rolled off during the first act.
...is some indication?
posted by ornate insect (15 comments total)
10 users marked this as a favorite
At least they didn't have to worry about paying back all those old ladies, though.
posted by louche mustachio at 9:42 PM on April 20, 2008 [3 favorites]