"bloopers on stage" stories?

[cserannie]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 12:14pm

Like when one of the performance of DRS: at the opening number John Lithgow was supposed to drop the earrings to Greg Jbara's palm and they missed it. Therefore they laughed through almost the whole song.

[Jon]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 12:19pm

In a production of SWEENEY TODD for which I was Musical Director 20 years ago, during the Finale, the Judge is supposed to sing:

"They went to their makers impeccably shaved"

Well, the actor got a case of mush mouth, and what came out was:

"Mumble mumble pecker impeccably shaved"

Who knew Sweeney did that kind of barbering?

[neocomposer]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 12:35pm

Sondheim is good at making people get mushed mouth-so many WORDS!! I love that man.

In a production of the Hobbit during my senior year in high school, Gandalf did not even ENTER during last scene...and that's pretty much a scene that requires him to say a lot!!! The entire cast had to make up for him not being there, as the last scene includes the entire cast. FUNNY stuff!!

Updated On: 11/12/05 at 12:35 PM

[moowithme111105]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 12:40pm

Haha, i was lucky enough to see Wicked when Shoshana fell off the stage, glad she wasn't hurt though.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 12:53pm

At a performance of Phantom over the summer, instead of the line "Miss Daae will be playing the pageboy," it was said as "Miss Daae will be paying the playboy."

[Steve2]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 1:45pm

Also at DRS:

Sara Gettelfinger during her number where she is shooting at John Lithgow. She pronounces to the audience "This is a gun", holds her fingers in the "gun" position and then commences to shoot, sound effects and everything. Then 15 seconds later, John Lithgow goes off stage and then comes back with a gun.

I thought it was part of the show but my friend told me it was a missed cue.

[roquat]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 2:18pm

I was music directing a production of SWEENEY five years ago. During the finale, I stood up at the keyboard, sweeping my arms passionately in the excitement of the moment, and my glasses flew off, hitting the keyboard and changing the setting from "piano" to "guitar". I couldn't correct it midsong and couldn't see anyway, and the cast and orchestra couldn't hear me and each got lost (in different ways) and the song and the show ended in cacophony.

[defying_gravity2]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 2:52pm

I saw the tour of Wicked in SF. During the scene after the house falls on Nessa, Glinda is supposed to kneel down and place flowers on the ground, then she gets up when Elphaba enters. Kendra got on the ground and placed the flowers there, but when she tried to get up, she was standing on her dress. Everytime she tried to stand up, she fell back down. Eden came on for the big confrontation, and started laughing. She said something along the lines of "You okay? Do need some help?" very sarcastically. Kendra was finally able to get up, went to the side of the stage, crossed her arms in a huff, and said "No, I've got it" laughing. The audienced laughed for a few minutes, and Eden and Kendra were laughing through the scene until they got to the fight, which is funny on its own. The whole thing was hillarious.

[HatBoy]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 2:58pm

Eh, it wasn't really a huge blooper.

When I saw Wicked in NYC on September 1st with Gene as the Wizard, right before Defying Gravity, he was having problems with his gloves. Half way through the scene his glove fell out of his pocket and onto the ground. But he covered this easily by picking it up when he went to call the guards.

BUT-- When he bent down to get the glove on the ground, and started walking away, his other glove fell out. So he ran behind the Wizard head, then ran out, grabbed the glove, and then went back. He had to rush because the music cue for Defying Gravity already started.. and yeah.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 2:59pm

I recall a tale of Tallulah Bankhead onstage with Estelle Winwood when in this play and not on cue, a ringing phone sound effect started. The evil Miss Bankhead said to Miss Winwood "Get the Phone Daahhhling!" - Winwood went over, picked up the phone and then said to Tallulah "It's for YOU!"

[wickedfreak]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 3:19pm

I saw wicked in dallas and the first time that GAlinda and Fiyero meet, Kendra did something with her purse and a coin or somthing came out and fll on the ground. They laughed through the whole scene.

Not a biggey but oh well

[Gingersnap]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 4:52pm

During a September performance of "The Phantom of The Opera," there were tons of mishaps in Act One.

The boat ran into a candelabra during the title song.

After Hugh Panaro and Rebecca Pitcher had stepped from the boat at the end of the title song, the boat nearly ran Hugh down. Later, as he was about to remove his cape, the pole swung free from the boat and hit him in the back.

He was having a rough day off-stage, too.
Then, at the first unmasking, Rebecca dropped the mask on the floor by Hugh's feet. As he jumped to chase her in that scene, he had to step clear of it and ended up falling hard instead of the usual staged fall at that point. There was no real way to retrieve the mask and he had to ad-lib the scene from there.

[cut_loose]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 4:58pm

when i saw wondeful town, when Raymond Jaramillo McLeod (wreck) was putting on his pants onstage before his song, he accidently tore them right down the seat. everyone cracked up for a few minutes, then he put them on and did the whole song with his underwear hanging out.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 5:39pm

during "Thoroughly Modern Millie" tour when Darcie roberts does the whole flailing under the desk bit, she gets stuck and cant quite configure herself, so the bit was a lot longer then it should have been

[defygravity2]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 6:16pm

In the LA run of Wicked, the bubble malfunctioned, they actually stopped the show, Galinda walked offstage, and the curtain came down. After a few minutes, the curtain rose, but the bubble never returned.

In DRS, Buzz unexpectedly dropped his fork in the bedroom scene, and was having a hard time picking it up. Norbert and Sherrie were laughing throught he entire scene.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 6:32pm

When I saw the Wicked tour in Toronto, Glinda was trying to give Elphba her pink flower out of her hair in Popular, and it was stuck. Kendra pulled and pulled and eventually broke character. The audience cracked up too. Her and Steph ad-libbed a little then finally got it out and got on with it.

Akiva

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 7:27pm

When I saw "All Shook Up" in April (during the second week of performances,) Cheyenne flubbed a line and looked to the audience and ad-libbed something, directed at a woman in the front row. I forget exactly what it was, but it was hillarious.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 8:23pm

This was in the RENT tour. During the opening scenes, and the song, there was a cereal box on the table. It fell off and someone picked it up. That happened about six more times. The box would fall and someone would pick it up, and it would happen again. It was hilarious.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 8:29pm

When I saw BKLYN in April, after she sang "Once Upon a Time," Eden's skirt got caught on the pole thing on the stage, and she couldn't get it off.

[CJR]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 8:36pm

There's a line in Razzle Dazzle "Give em an act that's unassailable".... one night Bernard Dotson sang "Give em an ASS that's unassailable"... I found it pretty amusing considering he has quite the nice ass

[cate_w]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 8:52pm

In January 2004 I saw Wicked while Taye Diggs was in it. The particular performance I went to must have been an off day (I've seen it several times since and never had near as many bloopers in one show). First, the hair on Kristin's wig was practically going straight out to the side due to static (they joked about her having a bag hair day), Kristin and Idina were in hysterics during Loathing. Then, when Elphaba is caught by the guards and Fiyero swings in to save her and then tosses her her broom, Taye threw the broom several feet away from Idina and it landed on the ground. He ran to pick it up, said "Sorry Elphie" and threw it again. Kristin was holding Idina's hat at that point and she covered her face with it as she laughed. Everyone else just laughed out right.
It was really hilarious, but crazy!

[roquat]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 11:10pm

This is one I heard secondhand, but it's too good not to include, even if it isn't true:

During a performance of ANNIE, the dog playing Sandy relieved himself on top of a light fixture backstage. The instrument exploded, killing him and propelling him through the air. He landed onstage in the midst of the "Hard Knock Life" number, traumatizing all the orphans for life. The curtain fell and did not rise again.

[30/90 Playout]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 11:13pm

is that a joke?

[roquat]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 11:18pm

No, it apparently really happened at some regional theatre. Of course I heard it secondhand, from someone who probably heard it from someone else, so it might be urban legend. But it's still too good a story not to share!

[OddExoticCreature]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 12:04am

My freshman year of high school we did The Wizard of Oz and used two dogs for Toto. Well one performance the woman brought another dog for some reason (she bred cairn terriers) and it would not stop barking at the ruby slippers.