Back Walls of Theaters: Are we seeing something new?

[Wee Thomas2]

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?

[TotallyEffed]

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]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:42pm

I'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.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 12:46pm

Since all three were intentional and fit the show/story, what's the issue exactly?

[Wee Thomas2]

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.

[Mr. Nowack]

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.

[HogansHero]

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. 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 2:03pm

Boris Aronson's set for the final scene of the original Follies feautured the back wall:

 

 

[Wee Thomas2]

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.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/8/15 at 2:21pm

Or a coincidence.

[CATSNYrevival]

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]

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. 

[PalJoey]

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:
 

 

[HogansHero]

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.)

[phantomcrazy14]

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. 

[Call_me_jorge]

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]

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?  

[Call_me_jorge]

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.

[RippedMan]

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]

Posted: 9/9/15 at 9:11am

There's no trend. This thread is absurd.

[Islander_fan]

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. 

[RippedMan]

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]

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.

[Wee Thomas2]

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.