Best theatre magic?- Page 2
Best theatre magic?
#25Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 9:01am
I don't know how they did it, but the transformation of princess Fiona into ogre Fiona in Shrek was pretty cool
verdigris
Stand-by Joined: 7/20/14
#26Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 9:26am
The Amanda Thripp throw scene in Matilda is amazing.
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
#27Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 9:31am
The thing for me has been the witches transformation and the carpet bag from Mary poppins and the "bed" from Mary Poppins
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#28Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 10:07am
I'm a big fan of onstage transformation. One of my favorites with tech was Alan Cumming's Macbeth, where he turned upstage and the three tv screens above the stage became the three witches with three camera feeds. Simple and effective.
Even simpler (but much harder for the actor) was Jefferson Mays' performance in I Am My Own Wife. To craft so many distinct characters with small costume/prop adjustments, physicality, and vocal inflection was mesmerizing.
On the tech heavy side, the use of drop panels in the first mansion scene in A Gentleman's Guide to Love And Murder made me so happy. That production used so many old-school haunted house techniques that have survived for the better part of a century for good reason: they work. That they worked from the tip of the mezzanine to the front row of the orchestra is even more impressive. Those gags are all about perspective (they did the Disney following statue trick, as well) and every viewing angle was somehow accommodated.
Wonderland was not a great show, but the use of projections at the end of Act One to get the core cast through the looking glass was impressive. The different frames and back panel cracked open and exploded, and the cast seemed to disappear right in front of your eyes.
#29Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:35pm
Maybe not "magic," but one recent example of a time I was completely mesmerized by onstage action was the transformation of the She Loves Me set where it goes from Maraczek's Parfumerie to the Cafe Imperiale. It was just so flawlessly executed, I was in awe the entire time watching the set transform.
Also recently saw Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and some of the set changes in that were also magnificent. The first time the TV comes out in Act 1 to introduce one of the kids who finds the golden ticket comes to mind, as well as the glass elevator. The elevator effect, paired with the song being sung in that moment brought out my inner child and almost had me in tears. Beautiful!
#30Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:40pm
Also just remembered the revival of Side Show pulled off some fantastic shadow play during Cut Them Apart and as much as I hated the shoe-horned Houdini elements of the revival, I vaguely remembered being wowed by some of the tricks that happened during All In The Mind.
#32Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 5:58pm
The helicopter during Kim's nightmare in Miss Saigon, I know it's not really that "magical" but I think it looks incredible onstage
Updated On: 5/11/16 at 05:58 PM
KnewItWhenIWasInFron
Leading Actor Joined: 6/23/14
#33Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:05pm
Old-school, but I love the original "Magic to Do" with the hands coming out of the dark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNyAqqEkoV8
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#34Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:29pm
Here's the handkerchief scene change from the original PIPPIN.
#35Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:33pm
When the band isn't there in cabaret
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
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morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#36Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:42pm
...the revival of Side Show pulled off some fantastic shadow play during Cut Them Apart and as much as I hated the shoe-horned Houdini elements of the revival, I vaguely remembered being wowed by some of the tricks that happened during All In The Mind.
Interestingly it seemed that the shadow play of Houdini escaping from a straight jacket while hanging upside down was actually a prerecorded FRONT projection of a presumably different person performing the trick.
#37Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:45pm
I'll second the cotton ball moment in An Octoroon- simple, but it completely took my breath away.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
KnewItWhenIWasInFron
Leading Actor Joined: 6/23/14
#38Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:58pm
morosco said: "Here's the handkerchief scene change from the original PIPPIN.
"
Is that the video you meant to post? That is NOT the original "Pippin." (As Bob Fosse would be delighted to tell you, were he alive)
#39Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 7:05pm
I know that video wasn't of the Broadway production and there are odd cuts made in the video itself, but is that substantially different than what Fosse directed? I wasn't aware of any major changes in the staging.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#40Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 10:35pm
You guys are great for finding that moment in Pippin. I remember it differently at The Imperial but I appreciate you finding it and showing me when it happened during the show. Thanks to In Front and Wizard.
Updated On: 5/11/16 at 10:35 PM#41Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/12/16 at 10:36am
morosco said: "Interestingly it seemed that the shadow play of Houdini escaping from a straight jacket while hanging upside down was actually a prerecorded FRONT projection of a presumably different person performing the trick."
That makes sense, in the moment it was still kinda cool. More specifically I remember really loving it in Cut Them Apart when the doctor, the aunt and the surgeon all become one giant person, it was just a cool and creepy effect. Also, I've always loved that infamous moment that nearly decapitated Barbara Cook in Carrie (don't all jump on me at once) after Carrie destroys the prom where the giant staircase flies over her and the mom appears at the top. So gaudy and unnecessary, but still pretty cool.
#42Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/12/16 at 2:41pm
In terms of high tech magic, Dracula's transformation in "Dracula" has always impressed me. In terms of lower-tech, almost not a trick at all, the scene in the 1998 "Little Me" when Martin Short appears to be in two places at once, talking to "himself" while one of his characters is onstage and the other one appears to be in the restroom, was amusing.
KnewItWhenIWasInFron
Leading Actor Joined: 6/23/14
#43Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/12/16 at 6:20pm
wonderfulwizard11 said: "I know that video wasn't of the Broadway production and there are odd cuts made in the video itself, but is that substantially different than what Fosse directed? I wasn't aware of any major changes in the staging.
"
I was mostly reacting to "original Pippin," since the Katt one was, in fact, almost a decade after the original "Pippin," but my recollection from the Fosse biography is that there were some pretty substantial cuts and that Fosse was not happy with that production at all.
#44Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:03pm
How about that flying suitcase in Bright Star though ...
I like a good rhyme more than a good time
#45Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:20pm
Ella's onstage transformation in "Cinderella" of course!
They/them.
"Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#46Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:59pm
The Phantom's disappearance at the end.
Elphaba's lift in Defying Gravity.
Sam slipping through solid doors in Ghost.
Sylvia's death scene.
Neil Patrick Harris's magic trick during the Tonys where he disappeared onstage and reappeared halfway down through the audience.
"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
#47Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:32pm
I second the costume changes in Cinderella. We've seen quick costume changes, but the wigs too!!
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#48Best theatre magic?
Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:34pm
The entire production of Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream....seriously proved she really is one of the best stage artists working in the field today, despite the hiccup (albeit large) of Spider Man.
