Bad or odd set designs

[ChiChi]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 4:07am

Anyone have any examples of shows with bad or odd set designs?

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 6:04am

The original production of "Merrily We Roll Along" The set was just ugly and the costumes, while I understand the idea behind them, were just stupid.
Updated On: 4/12/11 at 06:04 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 6:12am

Practically any musical that opens nowadays, with How to Succeed and People in the Picture being two egregious examples of eyesores.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 6:27am

Again: it's all opinion. I loved the set design for How to Succeed. (not so much the costumes).

[Skywalker3]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 7:31am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_WONDERLAND_Production_Shots_20110411

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 8:30am

Merrily's set design was indeed ugly - but it did some very interesting things, bending and being reconfigured rather ingeniously for all of the various locations. Given the time span it covers, that show poses a lot of challenges for the scenic designer. I'm not sure I've ever seen a really beautiful Merrily set for any of its major productions.

[once a month]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 8:34am

Sideshow, Women on the Verge, High, Curtains, Story of My Life, Spring Awakening, Sweet Smell of Success and Jersey Boys are just a few I found to be underwhelmingly forgettable. Just "eh"...

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 8:58am

reNt

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 9:55am

Wicked. I find the whole cogs, gears, and clockwork theme to be rather ugly. The Clock of the Time Dragon is referenced once in the show, yet acts as the basis for the entire set.
I also was not a fan of the set for the most recent Beauty and the Beast tour. I found the excessive painted vines that choke stage to be distracting.

[Jon]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 10:47am

BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE GOES PUBLIC - enormous revolving units made to resemble Las Vegas showroom banquettes, upholstered in electric blue glitter vinyl.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 12:40pm

I seem to recall In My Life had a giant lemon as part of the final setpiece, intended as some symbol for overcoming adversity. Instead, it read as "WTF why is there a lemon and where did these people come from?" They also used really awful Windows 98-quality projections of dancing skeletons and had a catwalk integral to staging that was so high up the first ten rows of the orchestra couldn't see what was happening on stage.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 12:48pm

I thought Robin (usually brilliant) Wagner's designs for SIDE SHOW were a disappointment.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 12:55pm

Peggy Sue Got Married's set was pretty awful. And yes... I really didn't like the RENT set at all...

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 12:57pm

The Little Mermaid

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:01pm

I also really dislike Wicked's set. I agree that it's ugly as sin.

Promises, Promises also comes to mind here. I found that set to be mighty unattractive, though I ended up liking the show itself.

[James885]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:09pm

The Little Mermaid was definitly one of the ugliest shows I've seen in recent memory. Those two monolithic bong towers were huge eyesores that served no purpose and the plastic scenery, while I understand the intent, just came off as cheap.

Also not a fan of Wicked's set.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:13pm

Priscilla. Grease and Mamma Mia on tour.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:21pm

Last Five Years. The idea was that things had "exploded". But it takes awhile to figure that out when all you see is a table and chairs hanging sideways on a wall.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:33pm

WOMEN ON THE VERGE... had one of the worst sets in recent memory. A dizzying mess.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:40pm

Parade. During the court scenes, there were cardboard cutouts to represent the jury. I get the image, but it still looked stupid.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:47pm

Ah, yes, the legendary Little Mermaid bongs...when I try to describe the set to people, I never can quite do it justice. Then I get to the costumes...

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 1:53pm

I hated the set for Compulsion. It just didn't seem to be used in anyway. There was a whole side of the stage that was decked out like his apartment that wasn't you, and all these puppets, none of which were used in the production.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 2:04pm

I'm a bit surprised that two posters have named "Women on Verge..." I didn't see the show but remember that problems with the set caused delays in previews, and that the director explained the glitches by calling the design "revolutionary" (I think he did). I assumed from the reviews that the design did not serve the production well, but I have no concept what the set did that made it so unseccessful. Somebody please explain!

I too, am among those that think the set and costume designs for the original "Merrily We Roll Along" were pretty dreadful. I also remember seeing a terrible flop called "But Never Jam Today" (yet another adapation of Alice in Wonderland) that looked like it all took place on a giant picnic table. Atrocious.

"The Gospel at Colonus" had a very strange and distracting backdrop that pushed the actors far downstage and was covered in hallucinogenic images such as giant bumblebees, etc.

"Platinum" (a godawful mess) took place in a recording studio that also had a jacuzzi built into the stage floor. Huh???

I'm sure most of you have read about the infamous "Dude" (1971) in which all the orchestra seats of the Broadway Theater were removed and replaced by a round playing area and arena seating. The show took place on a circular mound of dirt (yes, dirt!). When the dust kicked up by the actors caused the audience members to cough, they tried to remedy the problem by watering down (yes, they did) the dirt. At the next performance, actors were falling down in the mud and splattering folks in the closest seats. Between the set nightmare and the utter incomprehensible libretto, the show became the ultimate Broadway landfill.




Updated On: 4/12/11 at 02:04 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 2:12pm

OMG. Egghumor, I've heard about how bad Dude was but somehow never knew they performed it on a pile of dirt. That's brilliantly bad.

I cannot stand the set for Mamma Mia. I know they're going for sun-bleached and Greek, but to me, it's just a big eyesore. And I agree with those that mentioned Wicked. It's an impressive set, but it's also deeply unattractive.

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/12/11 at 2:42pm

From YouTube videos, the Broadway set for Baby looks very odd -
(and for Best Set - Company (Los Angeles, 1971 with George Chakiris)