Each month, Jason Fortner spotlights one or more musical theatre composers and/or lyricists, offering his own unique perspective on the songwriting legends of musical theatre. Send your comments/questions on this column to happgood@aol.com.

With all the nail biting and gnashing of teeth over the short runs of most new Broadway musicals, I can’t help but rejoice in the satisfaction that even if it flops by financial standards, I’ve still got a new score to examine, explore and digest.

Talk all you want of your Phantoms, I’d rather discuss PHANTOM 2: LOVE NEVER DIES. Coney Island? Automatrons? I’m there!

LOVE NEVER DIES star Ramin Karimloo in "Till I Hear You Sing"

Think back nostalgically of ANNIE and I can’t stop dwelling on the evil robot Annie of ANNIE 2: MISS HANNIGAN'S REVENGE or Donna McKechnie’s showstopping rendition of But You Go On from ANNIE WARBUCKS. Or better yet let’s discuss which songs were in both versions and which ones were left behind.

Harve Presnell & Kathryn Zaremba perform "Annie Aint Just Annie Anymore" from ANNIE WARBUCKS at the 1993 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Give me your BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS and I’ll want to discuss when the whorehouse went public instead. And the three balled tomcat Mona kept singin’ about, or that cheesy infomercial where they showed very little of the actual show but kept stressing how better elevated the new seats were.

Ah… memories.

But this affliction isn’t new.

You can go back to the Pulitzer Prize winning musical OF THEE I SING, a show I adore and can recite by memory, but after a few bars of corn muffin numbers I’ll start to wax nostalgic over LET 'EM EAT CAKE too, and it’s dictators, guillotines and union strikes. Fascism just isn’t as funny as Capitalism, I guess.

But maybe it’s not just the flop aspect, but also the flop sequel aspect.

THE BOY FRIEND is an utterly charming valentine to the roaring twenties, complete with Charlestons, flappers, tangos and beach numbers. I love Polly and Bobby and Lord Brockhurst and the lot, and I love the goings on at Madame DuBonnet’s Finishing School. But no matter how many times you whistle I Could Be Happy With You, that thrill can’t compare to the chills I get when the overture to DIVORCE ME, DARLING begins, despite the fact most people know nothing at all of Sandy Wilson’s charming 30’s sequel. But does anyone besides me know Someone To Dance With as well as Won’t You Charleston With Me?? Does On The Lose tap as many toes as It’s Never Too Late To Fall In Love? We may never know.

And speaking of favorite flop sequels, I just can’t get enough of BRING BACK BIRDIE, the “20 happy years” later sequel to the highly successful BYE BYE BIRDIE. And though I loved seeing Chita Rivera sing Spanish Rose and An English Teacher, I really went wild when I saw her sing the country & western A Man Worth Fightin’ For with a passel of dancing cowboys. Or what about Donald O’Connor singing The Middle Age Blues?  Or the show-stopping Inner Peace number?

Chita Rivera in "A Man Worth Fightin' For" from BRING BACK BIRDIE.  Terrible video quality but the audio is pretty clear.

I could go on.

Flops provide such pleasure, just as Garbage does in Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD. Or the Tea Party with Dickie the invisible dog. Or the silly silly title song that includes the following lyrics:

Someone has wounded you, dear world,
Someone has poisoned you, dear world.
And those who love you defiantly insist
That you get off that critical list.
So make your recovery quick, world,
We're sick of having a sick world.
We want you dancing tomorrow afternoon,
So be a dear world,
Take the stitches out, dear world,
Rip the bandage off, dear world.
And get well soon!

Ouch… but what a delightful ouch it was.

Just as much fun as WHOOP-UP or ANKLES AWEIGH or OH, BROTHER! Or maybe even a flop of GOLDEN RAINBOW proportions.

I loved Ben Vereen in PIPPIN but I adored him even more in GRIND. The enchanting Georgia Brown was an incredible “Nancy” in OLIVER!, but did you see what she did in ROZA? And Faith Prince? You can talk all you want of GUYS & DOLLS but I’ll always recall her turn as the ever dying “Lorraine” in NICK & NORA. And there’s more…

Angela Lansbury in PRETTYBELLE? From Manic Depressives Don’t Do Rewrites to When I’m Drunk I’m Beautiful with stops at the No Tell Motel in between, I can’t get enough of the score.

Keep your popular Rodgers & Hammerstein shows, I want to talk about PIPE DREAM and ME & JULIET.

If you want to talk Jule Styne, let’s focus on SAY DARLING or FADE OUT FADE IN or even BAR MITZVAH BOY! And THE RED SHOES has bits of them all!

And we can’t forget Leonard Bernstein. I love WEST SIDE STORY, thrill to ON THE TOWN and WONDERFUL TOWN,  but I absolutely adore CANDIDE in all its convoluted variations. And ANY talk of 1600 PA AVE will get me engaged for hours and hours.

Patti LuPone in "I Am Easily Assimilated" from CANDIDE

So what does this mean?

Why does WILDCAT drive me wild? Why do A MOTHER'S KISSES smother me with musical flop love? Or RAGS? Or SMILE? Or THE BAKER'S WIFE? Or THE GOLDEN APPLE? WE TAKE THE TOWN? SOPHIE? CARRIE?

Excerpt of Betty Buckley & Linzi Hateley in "Evening Prayers" from CARRIE.

Just this past season we added THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN to the ranks, both with scores filled with wonderful new show music. Who knows what other new scores will be branded flops soon?

Laura Benanti in "Model Behavior" from WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (excerpt from promo reel)

I can’t wait.

I think maybe we need a support group.

I’ll be taking applications at HAPPGOOD@AOL.COM

First online support chat session to be announced…

Until then, put on a flop CD and enjoy… Like in BAJOUR… Or PORTOFINO or THE FIG LEAVES ARE FALLING… Or so many more…