Whenever I see a show on Broadway I ALWAYS love to graze around at the set and then after the show see if I liked it or not. I know that the set shouldn't really matter because it's truly about the show itself and the cast but I'm in a snobby theater critic mood so I wanna know, what's been your favorite (and least favorite) sets on Bway and why?
Mine:
Favorite:
War Paint, Wicked, Kinky Boots, King And I (2015 Revival), Matilda, Cinderella
Least:
Curtains-Just bleh and kind of tacky
The Book Of Mormon-Don't get me wrong I LOVE BOM but the set? Not sure if it was Tony Award winning worthy....
Charlie-The West End version had a LAVISH set......but the Bway version, what happened??
Anastasia-It was fine but kind of plain. I wish it could've been more set and maybe a little less projection?
The best in recent memory for me are Present Laughter, It's Only A Play, You Can't Take It With You, The Front Page. I really hated the set of the Porgy and Bess revival. Even though I fell asleep during Hughie the set for that production was pretty beautiful.
This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen the Annie 2012 set get a positive review
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
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
Very new to theater, so I am mostly just very dazzled by big sets that change- Bandstand and Miss Saigon (despite not liking the latter as a show overall) were definitely very impressive and had me leaving the theater gushing over them (when bandstand changes to the NYC setting! it was the first time I had seen something like that, a really memorable moment). Dear Evan Hansen's is so fitting for the show I can't help but love it despite it not being much.
I wish Hamilton's was either simpler or more? Whenever they moved around the single moving stairwell it felt a little weird to me? Like, superfluous?
Definitely not any best/worst rankings since I've seen so few shows (BoM on tour and Great Comet were my only other shows) but just me favorites and least!
I agree about BOM. Awful set design. Just looks cheap and tacky. I guess it's never going to be a "big" kind of show, but I just wish there was something more creative done.
Currently: Time and the Conways had a really gorgeous set.
Best-Sunset Boulevard, Act One, Great Comet, Hamilton, Hedwig, Drowsy Chaperone, She Loves Me, American Psycho, Curious Incident, A View From the Bridge
I also dislike the BOM set. It feels like it doesn't match the tone of the show at all, with the possible exception of "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" or whatever it is, that was lovely.
Count me in with BOM. The stage looks lovely pre-show, but the actual sets are very cheap.
Favorites: She Loves Me (the dollhouse-like design is my favorite set in any show period), Anastasia, Hello, Dolly! (those sets absolutely blew me away, they're so lavish and rich), Gigi 2015, Bandstand, Great Comet, Love Never Dies, Matilda
Least Favorites: BOM, Come From Away, Color Purple, Spring Awakening, Beautiful (it isn't specifically bad, it's just very meh)
ALL the sets in the original 1995 Broadway production of SUNSET BLVD (yes, there were more than just Norma’s levitating mansion set).
Worst:
COME FROM AWAY."
Sorrry, what? Come From Away has LIVE trees. Their running an ecosystem on that stage. NEXT.
Haven’t seems this show, but from promos and pictures the set for a Bronx tale is not only ugly, but it’s also a copy of the Newsies set.
Despite the quality of the show, I really enjoyed seeing images of the set for tuck everlasting. I hope that tree was tre(e)ated well when that show closed.
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
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement