Moose Murdered: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Broadway Bomb

What do you do when that play is reviled by critics and used as an example of badness for many years afterwards? By the time the first and last performance was given, Arden had been replaced, the director had done virtually nothing, other actors had run amok, the rain effect drowned out most of the dialogue, and the critics raced to pan the production.

Bicknell was so devastated that he never wrote another play. In fact, he wrote nothing until the early s, when a friend miraculously mailed to him his journals of his Broadway experience that she had somehow acquired. This book is the result of that. Bicknell gently trashes Arden, a bit more vigorously trashes the director and another actress, but through it all, he remains a gentleman telling a story of love and loss. There is even redemption by the end of his tale.

And a point is driven home by a quote from an essay by John Borek that appears near the end of the tale: No other artist is subjected to this treatment, for those involved in movies have already lined up their next gig perhaps completed it before the reviews are out on their movies; a singer has most probably already recorded and released his next hit before a review is released; a painter has already been defended by his gallery owner and sold paintings before the review hits. Those theater people who endure and overcome their bad reviews are to be celebrated for their talent and tenacity.

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This is the message and the heart of Moose Murdered. I produced the play "Moose Murders" twice, or maybe three or four times, with Mr. Bicknell looking on skeptically and sometimes fearfully from the wings. As a vilified work, it inhabits a lonely place in the arts. It is, perhaps, the single most famous failed work of art in history. The play inspired some of the most brilliant hatchet criticism in the American critical canon.

Frank Rich, John Simon and Brendan Gill each had their way with the play and engorged their reputations on the bloodlust they heaped upon it.

And so, Arthur's story is a unique. No other artist has ever suffered a public evisceration quite like his-- a golden boy playwright who, overnight became the wrong kind of sensation. After thirty years, Arthur tells this tale of cupidity, stupidity, timidity and illiquidity with robust good will and a complete lack of malice -- excepting where it's deserved.

And folks, it's funny too.

1. ‘Moose’ is loose.
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3. Moose Murdered: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Broadway Bomb.
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Let's not forget that selling point. It's very, very , very funny. Sort of "Jude the Obscure" adapted by the Marx Brothers. The book is the measure of the man. Spend a couple of hours with a remarkable artist who has a remarkable theatrical tale to tell. See all 20 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers.

Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. The foreshadowing of a historic failure coming down the pike came soon thereafter. Robertson created the part herself. To this day it remains her only Broadway credit. Eve Arden, who earned an Oscar nomination for playing Ida in Mildred Pierce, was planning to return to Broadway for the first time in 42 years by starring as Hedda; she withdrew from a Santa Barbara production of Barefoot in the Park for the opportunity.

Had Holland known what would happen during one of the 13 preview performances, she might have reconsidered. It was apparent the crew was already sensing they were working on a disaster:. One night, the play closes on a blackout laugh line, which is my line.

One night, I said the line, it got its fairly weak response, and the lights did not go out. And the curtain did not come down. And that was the end of the play. The others all started scattering like rats on the ship. No blackout, no curtain, end of play, on a weak laugh, with everyone standing there. Concerned friends of Bicknell tried to shield him from reading any of the official reviews. Selective patrons cannot even imagine what horrors reviewers are exposed to, night after nightmarish night. The 10 actors trapped in this enterprise, a minority of them of professional caliber, will not be singled out here.

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Preview — Moose Murdered by Arthur Bicknell. Paperback , pages.

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Moose Murdered , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Dec 28, Maura rated it it was amazing. Dec 17, George Sapio rated it it was amazing. From aging stars incapable of stepping up to the limelight to casting decisions and directors that were not right, Bicknell openly and with smooth, elegant prose--and a juicy, searing wit that Oscar Wilde would be proud of--tells it all.

Oftentimes hilarious, this tale of good intentions and plans gone awry can make you cringe as you read of things beginning to go badly. Aug 17, Russell Sanders rated it really liked it. What do you do when that play is reviled by critics and used as an example of badness for many years afterwards? Bicknell was overjoyed—until he met Arden. By the time the first and last performance was given, Arden had been replaced, the director had done virtually nothing, other actors had run amok, the rain effect drowned out most of the dialogue, and the critics raced to pan the production.

Bicknell was so devastated that he never wrote another play. In fact, he wrote nothing until the early s, when a friend miraculously mailed to him his journals of his Broadway experience that she had somehow acquired. This book is the result of that. Bicknell gently trashes Arden, a bit more vigorously trashes the director and another actress, but through it all, he remains a gentleman telling a story of love and loss. There is even redemption by the end of his tale.

I expected lots of laugh out loud humor—the humor presented here is gentle and at times self-deprecating. And a point is driven home by a quote from an essay by John Borek that appears near the end of the tale: No other artist is subjected to this treatment, for those involved in movies have already lined up their next gig perhaps completed it before the reviews are out on their movies; a singer has most probably already recorded and released his next hit before a review is released; a painter has already been defended by his gallery owner and sold paintings before the review hits.

Those theater people who endure and overcome their bad reviews are to be celebrated for their talent and tenacity. This is the message and the heart of Moose Murdered. Apr 12, Nolan added it. Moose Murders, which closed on its opening night in , is the most universally reviled play in Broadway history. Twenty-five years later, the author recounts the story of how it all went down.