Shows with the best Scenic Design?- Page 2

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 5/27/17 at 11:58pm

RippedMan said: "Uh, the Miss Saigon set is incredibly bad. It's boring and banal. For most of the show it doesn't do anything exciting. Even the helicopter left me a little "eh." I thought the whole thing was rather ho-hum. 

 

"

Uh, this thread is entirely subjective and your opinion does not = fact. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/28/17 at 12:14am

I'm very aware thanks! Please tell me, where, in my original post, I stated that as fact? 

[Lot666]

Posted: 5/28/17 at 2:05pm

I saw 1984 at the Hudson last night. I thought the set was sadly small and uninspired for the first half of the show, and then came the big reveal. Wow. You could feel the collective mind of the audience going, "OH MY EFFING..."

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 5/28/17 at 3:46pm

The original production of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY made me actually believe that you could leave a show "humming the sets"...

The original production of SWEENEY TODD looked like a portion of 19th Century London crashed into the back of the then Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre and got wedged there. Spectacular.

The most recent revival of SHE LOVES ME...the set was perfection.

The original production of FOLLIES. The "Loveland" sequence made the most recent revival look like a high school production.

LOVE NEVER DIES, in London, had pretty amazing sets. It was a shame that not much else in the show was anywhere near amazing.

The original production of RAGTIME. There were so many fluid set changes, etc. that I almost thought I was watching a movie.

NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812

WICKED

I have to throw in the Zeffirelli production of Puccini's TURANDOT at the Metropolitan Opera. Massive.

 

 

[Clyde15]

Posted: 5/28/17 at 3:53pm

While it isn't the most detailed or incredible set, I think the fact that Come From Away has live trees growing on the set is pretty incredible

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/28/17 at 6:43pm

MichelleCraig, Sweeny Todd, Ragtime, Wicked, all Eugene Lee. He also did Showboat. He seems to know how to deal with the barn that is the Gershwin. (I know Ragtime wasn't there, that was at The Ford but still a barn).

 

 

[brian1973]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 12:38pm

 

They aren't growing on the set . They are real trees chopped down and put on stage- it happens ALL the time.

 

miss Saigon is ugly as hell and Comet is just some walkways and curtains.. that's not great scenic design. It's well done.. but it's not the best thing ever like lots of people on here are saying. 

There is no great set design this season in my opinion. Dolly was quite fun in how old fashioned and ugly it was.. but it kinda worked for this production.

Groundhog day was probably the best I'd say.

Clyde15 said: "While it isn't the most detailed or incredible set, I think the fact that Come From Away has live trees growing on the set is pretty incredible

 

"

 

[Ziva56]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 12:54pm

brian1973 said: " 

They aren't growing on the set . They are real trees chopped down and put on stage- it happens ALL the time.

 
They were cut down but they are still growing due to the conditions of the theater. They have moisture stored in them and receive some nutrients from the lighting grid. The scenic designer talked about it one of his interviews. 

Updated On: 5/29/17 at 12:54 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 2:00pm

They are growing!

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 3:52pm

ARTc3 said: "As we're listing all-time favorites, I'd like to add the original, On the Twentieth Century. Robin Wagner's sets were magical.

And, if we're including non-Broadway, I'd add KA (Las Vegas) to the list of spectacular.

 

Thank you for mentioning KA. In all of my theatre-going years I have never seen anything so stunning. We went back a few years later and it was just as impressive the second time. Anyone who appreciates great scenic design really needs to see this production. 

 

"

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 4:42pm

Eugene Lee really is a genius, and probably my favorite. The amount of layering that goes into Wicked just gives the whole thing so much depth and nuance. I saw it in London, and could probably stare at it for a few hours. 

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 10:44pm

RippedMan said: "Eugene Lee really is a genius, and probably my favorite. The amount of layering that goes into Wicked just gives the whole thing so much depth and nuance. I saw it in London, and could probably stare at it for a few hours. "

 

Really? I could list my top 250 set designs that I've seen and Wicked would not make the list.

 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 11:00pm

Starlight Express is sort of a ridiculous show (and my childhood guilty pleasure), but it had a hell of a set.

Also, I think Great Comet should win the Tony this year without question, but I want to give Groundhog Day a shoutout for exceptional set design. So innovative.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/29/17 at 11:40pm

Tag said: "They are growing!

 

"

This is honestly so RAD!

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 12:22am

The Great Comet is going to win hands down for it's stunning set; but I also loved Santo Loquasto's sets for Hello, Dolly! that were equally beautiful that I hope either of them wins the award.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 1:04am

South Fl Marc, no, I get that. It doesn't have a lot of substantial set pieces, but I just love the way he layers his backdrops and the little details around the set. When I was in London we sat 3rd row, so I could really take it all in. There's just a lot of little details that I think are really gorgeous, and something that I see lacking in a lot of other shows. 

I'd have loved to have seen the original Sunset on Broadway. Those lavish sets sound amazing. 

[Dysquith13]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 1:07am

MATILDA's set, especially from its extension out in the theatre, never fails to amaze me. Wow.

Doubt it'll come to Broadway, but I have to admit: the set of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL is pretty awesome. Then I saw that David Zinn worked on it, and it explains so much.

[Lot666]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 8:02am

RippedMan said: "I'd have loved to have seen the original Sunset on Broadway. Those lavish sets sound amazing."

<sigh> Me too. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 12:59pm

Doesn't seem like we get any big, lavish musicals like that anymore. Natasha is big, but not in that way. And the other musicals are all pretty small. Even Groundhog Day, while technically a marvel, doesn't have these huge pieces coming in and out. It's just a big turntable with smaller turntables inside it, which we've seen before.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/30/17 at 2:54pm

"Starlight Express is sort of a ridiculous show (and my childhood guilty pleasure), but it had a hell of a set."

Curious to know if you saw the Broadway or London production of STARLIGHT EXPRESS, Judy? I actually drafted on the Broadway incarnation but I've got to admit that I thought John Napier did a much more beautiful job on the London designs (which came first). In London the set was all abstract plexiglass and steel machinery, with loops that swung way out across the seats in the stalls. Don't know who thought adding all those topographical slices of Americana for the NY production would be a good idea, but miles and miles of carved styrofoam dioramas clogged the entire stage perimeter at the Gershwin. Even though I spent months drawing those up, I thought the show looked its best when it was just a futuristic roller rink with a giant spinning bridge at its center.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 5/31/17 at 8:13am

RippedMan said: "Doesn't seem like we get any big, lavish musicals like that anymore. Natasha is big, but not in that way. And the other musicals are all pretty small. Even Groundhog Day, while technically a marvel, doesn't have these huge pieces coming in and out. It's just a big turntable with smaller turntables inside it, which we've seen before."

I miss the fantastical sets as well.

The Great Comet really doesn't have much of a set at all; it's just a bunch of interconnecting ramps and platforms, similar to the revival of Sunset Boulevard. The only real difference between the two is Comet went for shiny and put the audience in the middle of it, while Sunset went with industrial and placed the orchestra in it.