Mark Swed thinks so: Bernstein “devoted four years to the musical. He wrote more music for it than for any other theater work. The show had a $900,000 sponsorship from Coca-Cola. It was billed as the musical of the decade. The show closed on Broadway after seven performances. It was the biggest artistic disaster of Bernstein’s life. The reviews were just awful, all of them. Critics called it ‘simplistic,’ ‘sophomoric’ and ‘a Bicentennial bore.’ Bernstein thought he had written his greatest show. He was right, and the simplistic, sophomoric critics were wrong.” – Los Angeles Times
