Many of you had a lot to say about my feeling that the incoming Shrek had, as I called it, “a lousy logo.” Bill Rosenfield disagreed: “I think the new Shrek logo is great. I hated the first one but this one is clean and direct and in no way evokes the movie. But that's just me; a lot of my friends feel the same as you. “ I wonder if Tony Janicki is one of Bill’s friends, for he wrote, “The new Shrek logo is just plain awful. I hope that someone sees the light and gets it changed.” Chris Van Ness suggested, “What about the ogre's face with a cutout mouth blowing smoke rings? It's been a few years since Broadway has had one of those, and think of all the commentary it might engender.”

Others rose to my rallying call and question, “What are the worst logos you’ve ever seen?” Jeremy Fassler wrote, “I'm not a fan of the Spring Awakening logo. It's kind of become iconic by this point, but it's never really done anything for me. I guess it just bugs me that I can't see their faces.” Mark Dereng offered, “Home Sweet Homer. All there is is an Al Hirschfeld illustration. Of course, that's all we got with My Fair Lady, but THAT Hirschfeld illustration has become a popular culture icon. THIS Hirschfeld illustration depicts co-stars Yul Brynner and Joan Diener peering out from behind a central figure of dubious identity. Is it supposed to be Homer, himself? Does anyone know - or care? Does anyone know - or care - as to just what the real Homer looked like? (Actually, Hirschfeld lived long enough to probably have known what the real Homer looked like!)”

Jeff Walker: “How about the original London logo for Lend Me A Tenor versus the first Broadway version? A whimsical, well-dressed man fluttered into the air, under an eye-catching treatment of the title. For Broadway, a strange, impressionistic double face logo did not cry out silly farce.”

Chris Van Ness also said, “The logo which most turned me off to a show--at least in recent memory--was the marquee for Side Show which I could not look at without being reminded of a soiled tampon.”

Frank Pickus brought up a good point about a Broadway double-bill: “The first half of A Day in Hollywood -- A Night in the Ukraine elicited such a warm sense of nostalgia. While the Marx Brothers send-up was delightful, it failed to build on the goodwill that came before it. And yet, the logo stressed the Marx Brothers and never captured the delight, and utter creativity of the first half.”

Tom DiMaggio opined that “one of the worst was La Cage Aux Folles. Black and Red and Absolutely No Other Color to show how colorful the characters and show really were. Reallllly ugly. As for Henry, Sweet Henry, I distinctly remember another ad in the Sunday Times that had Henry and a lady necking on a Central Park bench while Gil and Val looked over from behind, covering their mouths while giggling. I remember it because I gave the whole ad to my parents, telling them I wanted to see it for Christmas. But Henry closed, so I got The Happy Time instead on Opening Night! I LOVED it, so it all turned out well in the end!”

Joe Frazzetta and Matthew Murray took issue with my listing The Education of Hyman Kaplan – and not because they disagreed with my thinking the loog was lousy; both just wanted to point out that the official title is The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. Yes, indeed, I knew that, but I hate writing it that way. Frazetta admitted, though, that the asterisks in between the letters were uglier than the little blackboard logo.

Peter Alfano decreed, “I always had a theory that a bad logo meant a bad show --but look at the logo for Carrie; it’s a great one. And Bring Back Birdie was pretty bland -- like the show. Pipe Dream looks as if it’s from a kiddie’s book.”

Josh Ellis included one of those in his Top 10 Least Favorites: 1. The Gospel at Colonus. The title was illegible in black and white newspaper ads. 2. The Sound of Music. The original logo was so generic we have to assume the only reason the show sold so well was because the names (Martin, Rodgers, Hammerstein) were more impressive than the artwork. 3. I'm Solomon. Sandals and a crown? It reeked of flop. 4. A Doll’s Life. The logo told you the musical would be boring even before the curtain went up. 5. Bring Back Birdie. No logo pleased anyone on the team, and those TV screens were a bad compromise. 6. Jimmy. It looked like a cheesy movie. 7. High Spirits. Great show, lousy logo. Why is Tammy Grimes standing on Beatrice Lillie's head? Consolation: the London logo is even uglier. 8. Flora, the Red Menace. Does Flora have to be that ugly in the logo? Poor Liza! 9. Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. Musical fans could decipher the title, civilians couldn't. Too clever by half. 10. H2$ (The How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying revival). I’m in total agreement with you. The logo made sense to about 1% of the ticket buying public. It was clever without being smart."

Rick Thompson wrote, “How about the original 1943 Oklahoma! -- just the name on a diagonal with a bunch of dancing cowboys and cowgirls? No cast names, no authors, nothing to indicate it's even a musical. It could just as easily be an evening of Oklahoma square dancing, or square dancers from Oklahoma. The 1979 Revival, however, had a gorgeous piece of work by Hilary Knight. It’s by far and away the best Oklahoma! window card, outclassing 2002's by a (country) mile."

Lest Bill Rosenfield seem too accepting of Shrek, he did say, “I hate The Lion King logo; after all these years, I still find it too hostile. I hated the Wicked logo in NYC but they refined it for London and I like it that one. Similarly, I hated the original Into the Woods logo but loved the London one. But I always found a soft spot for ANY Tom Morrow logo. Always.”

Peter Alfano also moaned, “Where are the Hilary Knights and Tom Morrows of today?” – though not everyone had something good to say about them. Thought Bob Gutowski, “For awfulness, though it’s not strictly speaking a logo, I’d nominate the Hilary Knight cover of the Paper Mill Follies CD, which looks like “Eloise Goes to a Musical.” To be fair, though, it does depict one of the things wrong with the production, which was that too many of the ladies were too well-dressed. I don’t think Hattie is supposed to be wearing designer pajamas.”

And Howard Gradet said, “Tom Morrow’s original Fiddler with Zero Mostel dancing on the roof was certainly interesting, and revealing of what goes on behind the scenes—I hear that Mostel insisted on a ‘big Zero,’ not a big girl (the later logo) dancing on the roof. But if someone insisted there be a roof in the picture, why not just go all the way and have the fiddler dancing on it?”

Gradet had a few other observations: “I always thought the ad for Fosse looked like a dancer trying to scratch an itch she couldn’t reach – not to mention the other Fosse campaign that made the dancers’ pieces look like a swastika. I’ve never liked the Really Useful art designs, which are often muddled or bland. The Les Miz logo worked, and so did the dancers in the Cats eyes, but I suspect the Phantom logo mask was designed without the artist having seen the show: the Phantom wears a vertical half-mask, not the one shown in the ad. The Really Useful artists sometimes aren’t satisfied with one image, they need two, so you get the mask and a rose (pick one); and for Miss Saigon you get a girl’s face and a helicopter in calligraphy. Again, pick one. And their ad for Mary Poppins is just boring.” But don't accuse Gradet of being old-world, for he did say, “The 1989 3Penny is a beauty, perhaps the last show to feature striking poster art. They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. There are many shows I’ve loved in the last couple of decades, but not one of them had artwork I’d want to own. Where is style? Where is skill? Where is forethought?” Yes, Howard – as logos go, so go the shows!

You may e-mail Peter at pfilichia@aol.com