91. RAGGEDY ANN (1986)

And the Tony Award for “Just what the hell were they thinking?” goes to…

In the annals of ill-conceived musicals, Raggedy Ann was a doozy.  The show originated as a little-seen animated film called Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure with songs by Joe Raposo, best known for writing many memorable songs for Sesame Street.  He later joined The Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts and was encouraged to turn Raggedy Ann & Andy into a stage musical (which means that Beauty and the Beast was not the first animated film adapted for the Broadway stage). William Gibson, author of The Miracle Worker was then brought in to write a new book.  Putting it mildly, he took things in a different direction.

Gibson dove into the backstory of the Raggedy Ann books, concentrating specifically on how author Johnny Gruelle wrote the stories while his daughter Marcella was dying from diphtheria.  His book had a young girl named Marcella traveling to an enchanted world full of macabre imagery which included the girl’s mother committing suicide after abandoning her, a forest made from skeletons and a character named the Doll Collector (played by the same actor who played Marcella’s alchoholic father) who tries to seduce the young child.

The show was first shown in Albany, New York where it ignited controversy after a mother took her children to see the show.  School groups canceled field trips to see it and it looked like Raggedy Ann was going to die in the New York State capital. 

Alas, the show was revived when it was sent to Moscow on a cultural exchange program.  The Ruskies seemed to like the dark subject matter and Raggedy Ann was picked up for Broadway.  Not surprisingly the show was panned by critics and school groups were told to stay away.  Raggedy Ann closed after just five performances.

Why anyone thought such a dark subject matter would appeal to a family audience is anyone’s guess. Prior to William Gibson’s involvement a stage adaptation of the animated film was written and to this day is available for stock and amateur productions.  However saccharine that version may have been, it would have no doubt fared better than the pitch black one that played on Broadway.