Turntable Staging
Turntable Staging
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#1Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 11:44am
I just saw Coram Boy and (setting aside how I liked the show itself) every time there was a big turntable change I thought, Les Mis...
Has Les Mis pre-empted turntable staging?
Has it become passe, cliche?
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#2re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 11:46amI saw it used very effectively in a production of "Wizard of Oz" once...worked nicely for the tornado, the fast scene changes in Act 1 on the Yellow Brick Road and made for a neato Poppy Field set too.
#2re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 11:50am
While it wasn't a turntable in the respect of Les Mis, "Coast of Utopia"'s circular thrust was perfect in using various trap doors to change and alter scenery in a simple and efficient fasion.
But yes, I'll admit that whenever I see traditional turntable staging, my mind immediately goes to Les Mis, but it doesn't really exhaust the concept. It's really just a theatrical allusion to me.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#3re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:05pmPerhaps the parody of the Les Mis turntable in Forbidden Broadway has doomed me for watching a turntable on stage...
vmlinnie
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/06
#4re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:05pm
Les Mis certainly wasn't the first, of course, but it did make Turntable stging a memorable feature, and so it's to be expected that when you see it elsewhere you'll think of Les Mis, because it's just such a famous show.
At least it's a bit less unlikely that we'll be seeing ten different shows on Broadway with barricades, or flying cars...
deep-delving, dark, deliberate you would say
browsing on spire and bogland; but today
our sky-blue slates are steaming in the sun,
our yachts tinkling and dancing in the bay
like racehorses. We contemplate at last
shining windows, a future forbidden to no one.
Derek Mahon
"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."
Arthur Miller
timote316
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
#5re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:28pm
At least it's a bit less unlikely that we'll be seeing ten different shows on Broadway with barricades, or flying cars...
I kinda hope they keep the flying car in GREASE. That'd be hilarious.
When I saw The Color Purple, I thought of Les Mis as well.
lightguy06222
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/06
#6re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:30pm
i must say i agree that i often think of Les Mis- but SOO many broadway shows use turntables that it has become very common- some that come to mind are the color purple, dirty rotton scoundrels, thoughrally modern millie, and many more... it has become a theatrical convention often used.
Was les mis the first??? quite possibly
#7re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:34pmWoman in White also used a turntable, while mentioning last season.
To Kill A Mockingbird
#8re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:36pmThorougly Modern Millie used a turntable? I don't remember that for some reason.
#9re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:43pm
LES MISERABLES was certainly not the first show to use a turntable. Turntables have been used forever. MY FAIR LADY quite famously used two turnables, side by side. The 1981 revival replicated that staging and it was quite effective visually. In the 40's, I REMEMBER MAMA used 3 turntables for its many settings. The Metropolitan opera has a huge revolving stage that can slide into place in a matter of minutes, Radio City Music Hall also has a huge revolve.
Yes, there was a technically proficient world before LES MIS.
#10re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:46pmI do not remember one being used for Millie. I know a theater near me used one for Bye Bye Birdie....random much?
#11re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 12:52pm
In the Broadway production, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE's sets were on a huge turntable. The only thing about that show that worked, frankly. It was most spectacularly used when the scene shifted from inside Muzzy's penthouse to out on the terrace.
I don't know about the various tours of the show. I only saw the Broadway production, and only the first act of that.
#12re: Turntable Staging
Posted: 4/21/07 at 2:15pmOH!! I so remember now. that was quite great.
#13SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 2:23pm
A new play in SF from the ACT is showing "After the War" and it uses the turntable all through out.....
After the War
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#14SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 2:27pm
The Lord of the Rings had 4 revolves, and I never even thought of Les Mis during the times I saw it. Perhaps that was because 17 lifts were constantly going up and down in each revolve...hmm
I also saw a production of Fiddler on a thrust stage with 2 revolves (one inside the other) and it was very effective, especially during large ensemble scenes, with the milk cart, the dream, etc.
#15SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 4:46pmThe original FIDDLER used a turntable. LADY IN THE DARK used two, side by side. There have been countless shows that have used them, even going back to the days of Hellenic tragdies, because, handled properly, theyre one of the best ways of getting from scene A to scene B. To say LES MIZ "popularized" turntables is, frankly, absurd.
#16SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 4:48pmOliver! also used multiple turntables.
notyourself
Chorus Member Joined: 5/21/06
#17SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 4:50pm110 in the Shade is using two turntables, one within another, for effective staging in the current revival.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#18SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 5:03pm
Didn't you hear, even if My Fair Lady 'claims' to have had two turntables all those years ago, it couldn't have.. Turntables, or revolves, didn't exist until Les Mis... just like Musical theatre didn't start with "The Black Crook" as evil rumor has said.. it started with RENT.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#19SF After the War
Posted: 4/21/07 at 6:02pmIn fact, one ofthe main reasons Les miz has a turntable is because the theatre where it was first produced in London already had a turntable built into the stage floor - from back in the 1920's.
#20My Fair Lady Turntables
Posted: 4/21/07 at 6:35pm
"Didn't you hear, even if My Fair Lady 'claims' to have had two turntables all those years ago, it couldn't have.. Turntables, or revolves, didn't exist until Les Mis..."
They were used in My Fair Lady, they were used in Oliver, in Fiddler on the Roof, in multiple classic musicals. You are quite incorrect.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#21My Fair Lady Turntables
Posted: 4/21/07 at 6:41pmGeez... I didn't think I'd need to explain that my post was sarcastic.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#22My Fair Lady Turntables
Posted: 4/21/07 at 7:50pm
Hmmm...
No one has said that Les Mis was the first to use turntables nor has anyone claimed that it "popularized" them.
I'm wondering instead if it has worn them out?
If we are wanting new and different staging techniques?
Just opinions, and if it works for you, fine. I find I'm kind of tired of them, now.
#23My Fair Lady Turntables
Posted: 4/21/07 at 8:03pm
Broadwayguy-
My appologies. I guess I wasn't in the sarcastic mood today.
#24My Fair Lady Turntables
Posted: 4/21/07 at 8:36pm
Nom, from this thread:
"Was les mis the first??? quite possibly"
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