Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
#1Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:37pm
And are we really seeing it?
Saw 3 shows this weekend:
Whorl Inside a Loop
Hedwig
Hamilton
All three of them appear to show you the back (brick) wall of the theater building behind the stage. Now I know there have always been a few shows with minimalist sets, but three out of three bare stages seemed odd to me.
I know the Hedwig back wall is fake, because they open the door to hear Tommy Gnosis (but then I think you DO see the real back wall behind that). The back wall on Hamilton looked to be real, and at 2nd Stage it appeared to me that they had painted the back wall to make it look like a prison.
Is this a trend? Should set designers be looking for new kinds of work? Am I the only one who cares?
#2Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:41pm
The design of these productions fit the pieces very well. It's not like you're seeing the back wall of The Gershwin.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#3Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:42pmI'm not sure what you're asking. Christine Jones used a similar aesthetic with Spring Awakening, and she is the designer of Whorl. Other than that, it's just a coincidence.
#4Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:46pm
Since all three were intentional and fit the show/story, what's the issue exactly?
#5Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:50pm
No issue at all, just thought it was odd that all 3 shows we saw this weekend had that feature. One could see dozens of shows without that occurring.
#6Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 1:11pm
There's a theatre here in Pittsburgh that is a gutted former library and certain productions choose to leave the back brick wall visible, to varying degrees of success.
It worked for A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA not so much.
#7Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 1:27pm
"there have always been a few shows with minimalist sets, but three out of three bare stages seemed odd to me."
I can't speak to Whorl because I have not seen it but the other two have neither minimalist sets nor bare stages. at all. Not to mention that you really seem to misapprehend what a set designer's work is all about.
#8Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 2:03pm
Boris Aronson's set for the final scene of the original Follies feautured the back wall:

#9Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 2:12pm
"Minimalist" was not a good choice of words on my part.
Set designer comment was a joke.
It was really just a commentary on three out of three, perhaps signalling a trend.
#11Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 2:23pm
John Doyle's Company revival also had a brick wall at the back of the stage that I wondered whether it was the actual back wall of the theatre or just installed as part of the design.
Then, of course, there's Pippin.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#12Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 3:07pm
Now that you mention it, I could see the brick wall in Godspell back I the '70s *behind* the chain link fence.
#13Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 5:36pm
And, of course, the granddaddy of back-wall productions: the original set design for Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN:

#14Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 5:44pm
Thanks for that, Paljoey, and especially for the Aronson pic. I did a quick count in my head of shows with exposed brick (on broadway, so not counting off-B) and I stopped when I got to 50. It's just not that unusual and certainly not something new.
The real brick walls provide set designers with a texture that is hard to recreate as effectively (not that there is a reason to recreate it obviously). And that texture can sometimes be used to astonishing effect by a lighting designer. (Just look at what Howell Binkley has done with it at the Rodgers. Stunning.)
#15Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 9:10pm
I was told by someone in the set design field that the back wall for Hamilton was built for the show. I'm not sure if it was downtown, but for the Broadway production.
#16Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 9:14pm
In a high school production of into the woods I saw this past summer they had the brick wall in the back shown and they wrote all the lyrics from the show in white on it and I was just thinking to myself what a terrible design choice it was.
freewilma
Leading Actor Joined: 2/18/15
#17Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 9:25pm
Didn't the stage get stripped down towards the end of Pippin? I think I remember begin amazed with how huge the space was and seeing the back brick structure. Shortly after that I saw something similar in a staging of college productions of both Carousel and Hair. Recently I also saw a high school production where they painted the back cinderblock wall purple for Next to Normal...and they plan to paint graffiti on the same wall for this fall's production of American Idiot. Maybe there is a trend to be noted?
#18Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/8/15 at 9:33pm
Oh yeah pippin! That was one of the scariest/emotional/thrilling ending I've ever seen just all the set being taken down gave me goosebumps.
#19Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/9/15 at 12:51am
I remember being really "awed" by the end of [Title of Show] when the set flew out and you could see the bare stage with the brick wall of the Lyceum. It was so powerful and beautiful.
And I would think in a big musical like Hamilton the back wall would be fake. I mean, they're going to tour the show, so they need to be able to recreate the look everywhere. Also, if we're seeing the back wall that really hinders crossovers, etc. But I guess most shows probably use the space under the stage for crossovers.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#20Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/9/15 at 9:11amThere's no trend. This thread is absurd.
Islander_fan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#21Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/9/15 at 9:46pm
Once also had the back wall of the theatre as part of its set too. Though, I do remember reading somewhere (maybe an old thread here) that when Once was on Broadway, part of the actual back wall of the Jacobs was in use and the rest was artificial and installed.
#22Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/10/15 at 12:23am
I forget the play, and it's Ionesco my fav, but didn't the Geoffery Rush play at the Barrymore lower the set to reveal the whole stage?
Wilmingtom
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/11
#23Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/10/15 at 2:30am
Using the back wall of the theater has been going on forever. Of course it depends on the production but I've used it at theaters all over the country when appropriate.
#24Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?
Posted: 9/10/15 at 9:24am
neonlightsxo said: "There's no trend. This thread is absurd. "
Thanks very much for your well considered thoughts.
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