Opposite of this thread
Jesus Christ Superstar was not done well on stage, but Norman Jewison’s movie is really a good representation of the 1960’s.
Rocky Horror Show did not do so well its first time on stage. The movie is a phenomenon
What others?
The original Broadway production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” ran for 711 shows which was probably fairly successful, although reviews were mixed. At the time the album was very successful.
Musicals that were unsuccessful on stage are rarely made into movies at all.
Higher and Higher could only scrape together 108 performances in its two Broadway engagements in 1940, but I would guess that the 1943 movie was fairly successful, especially since it was Frank Sinatra’s first acting role and he was still a wild favorite of the bobby-soxers. Most of the Rodgers & Hart score was jettisoned, so it wasn’t exactly a faithful filming, if that affects the criteria.
Cabin in the Sky ran for 156 performances in 1940-41, a moderate showing by the standards of the time, but the MGM movie in 1943 did quite well according to the IMDB’s box office figures.
Hazel Flagg did an OK, unspectacular run of 190 shows in 1953, then was made into Living It Up, a Martin & Lewis vehicle, in 1954 (with Hazel now Homer). I don’t know exact figures but again, I’d have to think it did well, given the team’s popularity.
I don’t think this is a very good example. According to Wikipedia, the stage show ran in London for seven years and won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical. It also did fairly well in Los Angeles. It wasn’t a hit on Broadway, but that was two years after its “first time on stage”.
The movie didn’t initially do well in theaters but began to gain a cult following after it started being shown as a midnight movie.