San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Pop success doesn’t always translate For every ‘Waitress’ on Broadway, there’s a flop like ‘Capeman’
Pop star Sara Bareilles found Broadway warm and welcoming when she agreed to compose the score for “Waitress.”
“I have never felt more welcomed by a professional community in my life,” Bareilles says. “I was brand new and never felt one ounce of cattiness or snobbery. It truly felt like I’ve been at the wrong party all my life. It was like, ‘Oh, here you are — my people!’ ”
Other pop stars have, like Bareilles, felt the flush of Broadway success, while others heard only the flush of their show-tune hopes and dreams swirling down the drain.
HITS
Cyndi Lauper — If girls really do just want to have fun, then Lauper must be having a blast. The ‘80s songstress became the first solo woman to win the Tony Award for best score for “Kinky Boots.”
Linda Ronstadt — Always keeping her fans guessing with excursions into rock, pop, big band standards and canciones, Ronstadt made her sole Broadway appearance in 1981 with “The Pirates of Penzance” opposite another pop star, Rex Smith. Her charming performance was preserved in a 1983 film version of the production.
Elton John — John has a surprisingly strong track record for Broadway hits with “The Lion King,” “Billy Elliot” and “Aida.” His one massive flop, cowritten with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, was the ill-advised vampire musical “Lestat.” Next up: a musical version of “The Devil Wears Prada.” Josh Groban — Every mother’s favorite pop star received warm reviews and a Tony nomination for his 2016 debut in “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.”
Bette Midler — With hits like “The Rose” and “Wind Beneath My Wings,” Midler didn’t need Broadway, but it turns out Broadway needed her muchballyhooed turn in the title role of “Hello, Dolly!” Midler took home a Tony
Award for best actress in a musical.
Carole King and the Four Seasons
— With hugely successful jukebox musicals created around their personal and professional lives, King (“Beautiful”) and Frankie Valli and the other seasons (“Jersey Boys”) received late career bolts of Broadway lightning to keep their pop careers thriving.
Bruce Springsteen — The Boss’ solo autobiographical show has proven a massive, completely sold-out hit on Broadway and has been extended through 2018.
MISSES
Bono — The U2 frontman and bandmate the Edge got tangled in the disastrous web that was 2010’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
Paul Simon — The revered singersongwriter couldn’t build a bridge over his troubled musical “The Capeman,” a 1998 flop about convicted murderer Salvador Agrón that starred two worldmusic powerhouses: Marc Anthony and Ruben Blades, playing younger and older versions of the murderer. Phil Collins — Just because Collins wrote a few songs for Disney’s animated “Tarzan” didn’t mean he had what it took to expand the score for the Broadway stage. The 2006 flop marked the first and, so far, last time Collins worked on Broadway.
Sting — “The Last Ship,” a musical by the former Police front man, couldn’t get arrested on Broadway. Sting supplied music and lyrics and even joined the cast in an attempt to sell tickets. The show closed after four months. Harry Connick Jr. — If anyone from the pop realm should have hit it big on Broadway, it’s Connick. He’s handsome and charming on screen (“Will and Grace,” “Hope Floats”) and a muchloved musician, composer and singer. As a Broadway composer, he struck out with “Thou Shalt Not,” a 2001 adaptation of Émile Zola’s “Thérèse Raquin,” but fared better as a performer in 2006’s “Pajama Game.” He attempted Broadway stardom again with a 2011 reboot of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” but the show fizzled after three months.