When it comes to the glittering world of Broadway, the top 10 iconic productions often hinge on the verdicts of the press. After the curtain falls on opening night, the cast and crew sit in suspense as critics unleash their pens, shaping public perception one review at a time.

Why These Top 10 Iconic Musicals Faced Harsh Reviews

10 Oklahoma!

While the original production of this truly groundbreaking musical garnered almost exclusively positive reviews, Daniel Fish’s 2019 Broadway revival was incredibly divisive.

Not a single word of the original production is changed. However, through costuming, blocking, gender‑swapping, and more, Fish was able to transform a classic show into something entirely different—and not for the better, according to many.

Some reviews called it “edgy,” “dark,” and “terrifying,” which could be construed as positive, but many reviews weren’t so generous. WTTW News claimed the show “wreaks havoc on a musical theater classic” and that it’s “a travesty of a mockery of a sham.” There even were reports of audiences leaving the show early and even some “audible vomiting.”

So, not a beautiful morning!

9 Moulin Rouge!

Based on Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie, Moulin Rouge! is truly a spectacle to behold. It has everything you could want in a Broadway musical: dazzling costumes, chorus lines, acrobats, moving sets, beautiful people, and an audience chomping at the bit for more.

But according to critics, there is one thing this show doesn’t have: substance. The show has no original songs, making it a “jukebox” musical (a show that uses pre‑existing songs). It spends so much time showing off its sets and costumes it hardly remembers there’s supposed to be a plot.

Most reviewers agreed there wasn’t much depth to this supposed love story between writer Christian and courtesan Satine, leaving the audience empty emotionally. But the producers of the show seem to know what they’re doing: The show has boasted such stars as Titus Burgess, Riverdale’s Casey Cott, JoJo Levesque, and Boy George, keeping ticket‑buyers coming back for more and ensuring the show’s glamorous marquee continues to shine on Broadway.

8 Be More Chill

The film Be More Chill, based on the 2004 novel, follows nerdy teenager Jeremy as he implants himself with a supercomputer chip programmed to make him cooler. An interesting score and some funny characters accompanied the 2015 world premiere of the musical version (also called Be More Chill), but that wasn’t enough to save the show when it moved to New York City.

Songs from Be More Chill went viral during its 2018 Off‑Broadway run, so by the time the show transferred to Broadway in 2020, thousands of teens flocked to the Big Apple to catch it. Unfortunately, both the COVID‑19 pandemic and low ticket sales from adults (the main demographic for Broadway) caused the show to flop financially.

And the reviews didn’t help. While some critics enjoyed the experimental nature of the music, which used instruments such as the theremin, the majority found the show too childish, poorly written, and repetitive. Ben Brantley of the New York Times probably summed it up best when he wrote that Be More Chill was like “one of those high‑pitched dog whistles that only those under 25 can hear.”

So, while the show might not be as famous as others on this list, scroll through TikTok for a few minutes, and I can almost guarantee you’ll stumble across a tune from Be More Chill. The tween fandom is still very much active.

7 Suessical The Musical

Now a staple in elementary schools across the country, Suessical seemed dead on arrival when it premiered on Broadway in 2000.

While Dr. Seuss’s books, the source material for the show, are filled with heart and clear morals, the same can not be said for Suessical. Rather than focusing on just one Seuss story, the musical attempts to combine multiple into one mega‑plot. The result was a cluster of confusion, no real depth, and characters that were more caricatures than relatable people.

The biggest complaint about Suessical was that the show couldn’t decide whether it was for children or adults. While this meant failure on Broadway (the show couldn’t even be saved by a short stint featuring Rosie O’Donnell as the Cat in the Hat), the show has gone on to find a home at community and school theaters for children who are less concerned with clever lyrics and parents who are just excited to see little Billy play the Grinch.

6 The Rocky Horror Show

Not to be confused with the iconic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 movie adaptation of the 1973 musical The Rocky Horror Show, opening on Broadway to abysmal reviews. The New York Times called it “campy trash,” while Newsweek claimed it was “tasteless, plotless, and pointless.”

The funny thing is, this all may be true, but that doesn’t stop the show from being a whole lot of fun! The nonsensical yet extraterrestrially sexual plot seems just to be an excuse for the actors to jump around in their underwear, making crude jokes. And audiences love it.

While most people know that midnight moving showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show are a place to throw food and shout out jokes, not as many know that the stage version encourages this as well.

Rocky Horror is interesting because, critically, it is a bad musical. But who cares about what the experts think when you can have a fun two and a half hours throwing toast and screaming “A**hole!” at Brad Majors?

5 Gigi

Based on the 1958 musical movie of the same name, Gigi seemed like it was meant to be a surefire hit. Starring Broadway superstar Corey Cott and High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens, Gigi opened its revival stage production in 2015.

The main compliant critics had with this show was how clean it was. Despite the fact that the show is about a teenage prostitute, the New York Times mentioned it “has been scrubbed of anything even remotely naughty or distasteful” and that Gigi’s job as a prostitute “is alluded to in such delicately vague terms that no parent chaperoning a tween… will have much explaining to do after the curtain has fallen.”

While this may have interrupted the show’s integrity as a piece of art, it did boost ticket sales. Hudgens’s young fanbase and the show’s classic Broadway feel allowed tourists with children to enjoy the Tony‑nominated, splashy production.

4 Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice follows the same plot as the 1988 Tim Burton movie it’s based on: Undead demon Beetlejuice meets a recently dead couple, and hijinks ensue. The odd plot lends itself well to a musical adaption, and the show has blown up on social media, particularly TikTok, with songs such as “Dead Mom” inspiring lip‑syncing trends.

However, while the youth may adore the show, adult professional critics largely do not. The New York Times claimed Beetlejuice catered to its younger audience by frequently relying on cheap one‑liners and stupid gags, leading to “sensory overload.”

Even the most positive reviews admitted that there’s not a lot of substance behind the mediocre songs and recycled jokes. “Exhausting,” “gross,” and “ill‑conceived” are just a few of the worst things this show has been accused of being.

Luckily, most teens don’t rely on the NYT to know what to see on Broadway. A catchy song and impressive voice work from the title character is all it takes nowadays.

3 Les Misérables

Trying to adapt a 1,200‑page book into just two and a half hours of showtime is a difficult task, and the reviews of the original production of Les Misérables reflect this. Opening in 1985, one critic called the show “witless and synthetic entertainment,” while another compared it to “attempting to pour the entire English Channel through a china teapot.”

While the music and performances were loved, audiences and critics simply couldn’t get past how much was left out of the original novel. One of the most infamous reviews of the show comes from Francis King in the Sunday Telegraph, who described the show as “a lurid Victorian melodrama produced with Victorian lavishness” without the missing context of Victor Hugo’s book.

Despite these poor reviews and the long run time, Les Misérables got the last laugh, eventually going on to become the second longest‑running musical in the world and winning Best Musical at the Tony Awards.

2 Merrily We Roll Along

Anyone who’s been keeping up on Broadway this year knows this season’s hot ticket is Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. Tickets are going for hundreds of dollars, and this production about a group of friends coming of age (told in reverse) stars Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Frozen’s Jonathan Groff.

This is a revival of one of the most infamous Broadway flops of all time. Before the show had even officially opened, there were reports of audience members walking out, and leading man James Weissenbach dropped out of the show. Opening night didn’t go much better: Critics ripped the show apart, calling it both boring and confusing. To combat the issue of audience members being unable to tell characters apart, producer Hal Price dressed everyone in sweatshirts with their names on them.

After just 16 performances, Merrily ended its original run. Since then, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim has been recognized as one of the best in theater history, and more familiarity with the odd style of the show and Sondheim’s complicated lyricism has allowed the newest revival, which opened in 2023 to usher in a new era of appreciate for the flopped show.

1 Wicked

With Jon Chu’s big‑budget adaption set to premiere later this year with pop superstar Ariana Grande at the helm, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time Wicked wasn’t one of the most beloved shows on Broadway.

Wicked started performances in San Francisco in 2003, to generally mixed results. The production was highly anticipated, with lyrics and music by Stephen Schwartz (who also did such famous shows as Pippin and Godspell). While Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth’s performances were universally admired, many critics found the music generic and the lyrics trite.

Karen D’Souza of the San Jose Mercury News wrote that “style over substance is the real theme in this Emerald City,” suggesting that while the sets and costumes were dazzling, there wasn’t much of a story beneath all the glitz and glamor of this Wizard of Oz retelling.

So how did Wicked become the cultural symbol of Broadway it is today? Thanks to some great rewrites, by the time the show made it to New York City, Schwartz and the creative team had taken critics’ advice and tightened things up. Although reviews were better for their Broadway opening, these good reviews wouldn’t be enough to allow the show to take home the coveted “Best Musical” Tony Award: It lost to Avenue Q, a show starring some seriously disturbed puppets.

When it comes to criticism, most folks can swallow a harsh comment with a grain of salt. But there are those who take a negative review and turn it into a full‑blown, crazy reaction. Below are 10 crazy reactions that prove some people will go to extreme lengths when their reputation is challenged.

10 Richard Brittain

Richard Brittain was thrilled with early praise for his novel The World Rose, boasting that critics likened him to Dickens, Shakespeare, and Rowling. He dismissed the handful of detractors as “idiots” and “teenagers.”

Enter Paige Rolland, who found the book unbearably dull and penned a scathing review that tore apart everything from the cover to Brittain’s very name. Brittain, infuriated, tracked her via Facebook, then drove over 640 kilometres (400 mi) to the grocery store where she worked.

Inside the cereal aisle, he seized a wine bottle and smashed it over her head as she bent down. Rolland briefly lost consciousness, later waking with stitches in her scalp. Security footage captured Brittain’s assault, leading to his arrest. With a history of violence, a judge sentenced him to 30 months behind bars.

9 Marisol Simoes

Elayna Katz ordered jambalaya at Mambo Nuevo Latino and specifically asked for no olives. The dish arrived with olives, prompting Katz to send it back. The restaurant complied, but the check still listed charges for both meals.

Frustrated, Katz left a business card with a note requesting a call. When no response came, she posted a negative review criticizing the slow, rude service and the olive mishap.

Owner Marisol Simoes, enraged, harvested Katz’s personal details from the card and fabricated an email account using Katz’s name. She spammed Katz’s employers with bizarre messages about group sex and other lewd content, and even impersonated her on a dating site. After two years of harassment, Simoes was convicted of libel, sentenced to 90 days in jail, 200 hours of community service, mandatory counseling, and an anger‑management course.

8 Joon Song

Michelle Levine visited gynecologist Joon Song for an annual exam that should have been covered by insurance. Instead, she received a $427 bill for an ultrasound, a new‑patient visit, and several procedures she swore never occurred.

After the office ignored her complaints, Levine vented on multiple review sites, labeling Song’s practice as “very poor and crooked.” Two weeks later, Song’s lawyers served her with a lawsuit demanding $1 million in damages plus legal fees, alleging she fabricated pelvic pain.

During the litigation, Levine claimed Song’s team leaked her entire medical record—including mental‑health notes, insurance details, driver’s license, birthdate, and home address—onto the internet, intensifying her distress.

7 Diane Goodman

Sean C. visited Ocean Avenue Books in San Francisco and found the store a chaotic mess of piled‑up books. He posted a Yelp review urging the owners to close temporarily for a deep clean.

Owner Diane Goodman retaliated with a barrage of threatening messages, calling Sean a “p‑y boy,” promising to contact his employers, and hurling insults. When Yelp shut down her account, she created a new one and continued the harassment.

Goodman eventually tracked Sean’s home address, showed up at his doorstep, and tried to force entry. Sean fought back, pushing her down a set of steps. Police arrived; Goodman was cited for battery and placed in a mental‑health intervention.

6 Kathleen Hale

Publisher Kathleen Hale sent copies of her novel No One Else Can Have You to book bloggers. Reviewer Blythe Harris slammed the book, calling it one of the worst she’d read that year and condemning its treatment of statutory rape, PTSD, and domestic violence.

Hale became obsessed, obsessively monitoring Harris’s Instagram and Twitter, and even paid for a background check, discovering Harris had used a pseudonym. Determined to confront her, Hale located Harris’s address, rented a car, and drove to her home, merely peeking into the car and house before leaving without a knock.

Hale then called Harris’s workplace under the guise of a fact‑checker, demanding answers about her true identity. Harris blocked Hale on all platforms, ending the harassment.

5 Zhang

Xiao Li ordered clothing online and grew angry when her order remained unshipped. Seller Zhang, fearing a lowered rating, sent death threats via text.

After finally shipping the items, Xiao waited at the pickup spot. While scrolling on her phone, Zhang ambushed her, kicking and slapping her repeatedly until she collapsed. He fled the scene.

At the hospital, Xiao learned Zhang had traveled over 800 km (500 mi) from Suzhou just to “teach her a lesson,” warning she could be attacked again. Police arrested Zhang, and his seller profile was removed from the platform.

4 Andrew Szakaly

Katrina Arthur booked a weekend at the Abbey Inn, advertised as a private retreat in southern Indiana woods. Upon arrival, the room reeked of sewer, the AC failed, water pressure was weak, and the sheets were filthy with hair and dirt.

After a futile search for staff, the Arthurs cleaned the room themselves, slept poorly, and checked out the next morning, leaving their key in a drop box. The inn later emailed Arthur, requesting a review. She posted a scathing, honest assessment.

A month later, Andrew Szakaly—representing the inn—claimed her review caused “irreparable injury,” threatening a libel suit unless she removed it. Arthur complied, only to discover a $350 charge for “negative review damages” on her bank statement. The Indiana Attorney General sued Szakaly, resulting in the policy’s termination and a new manager planning to purchase the inn.

3 Owner Of A Barbecue Shop

Yu ordered barbecue chicken and beef for her friends, then posted a harsh review criticizing the price, packaging, freshness, and overall taste. That night, a caller asked if she’d written the review; after confirming, the line went dead.

Later, seven or eight men armed with clubs stormed Yu’s mah‑jong parlor, interrogating and threatening her. Her husband rushed in to defend her and was brutally beaten, sustaining serious brain injuries and being rushed to the ICU. Yu suffered broken bones.

Police traced the assault back to the barbecue shop’s owner, who admitted to hiring the thugs to silence the review, claiming the competitive delivery market justified his drastic actions.

2 Norman Auvil

Diana Walley visited Daybreak Diner for a birthday meal, only to be told she needed a companion because of a prior fall. Upset, her daughter Monica posted a Facebook review accusing the staff of “unnecessarily rude” behavior toward a disabled patron.

Michael Johnson, the diner’s son, along with roommates Jesse Martin and Norman Auvil, plotted revenge while drinking. Martin identified Monica’s address from her post. The trio drove to the Walley home, intending vandalism.

Auvil drew a gun, firing three shots into the house, one piercing a window and narrowly missing Kenneth Walley’s head. Surveillance captured the vehicle, leading to their arrest.

1 Yang

Taiwanese blogger Liu ate dried beef noodles at a restaurant and found the food overly salty, the venue infested with cockroaches, and the owner a bully who caused traffic chaos by allowing haphazard parking.

Customers read Liu’s blog and questioned its accuracy. Owner Yang, angered, sued Liu for libel. The court sided with Yang, deeming Liu’s claim of excessive salt unsubstantiated, though it affirmed the cockroach observation as factual, despite health officials finding the conditions less severe.

Liu received a 30‑day jail sentence, two years probation, and a NT$200,000 fine to compensate the restaurant for lost business.

Why These 10 Crazy Reactions Matter

These stories illustrate how a simple negative review can ignite a cascade of extreme, sometimes violent, responses. From courtroom battles to physical assaults, the fallout shows that criticism can provoke the worst in some people. Remember, when you leave a review, you’re not just sharing an opinion—you might be setting off a chain reaction you never imagined.