Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?

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?

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.

"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.

"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.

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.

And, of course, the granddaddy of back-wall productions: the original set design for Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN:

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.