Best Set You've Ever Seen?- Page 4

[Sant]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 9:36am

Yes, CHICAGO's set is very effective. I love the way it ties the cast & orchestra tightly together making each and every person on that stage an important part of the show.

[GClef2]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:00am

I was blown away by the set of Last 5 Years. It was really simple, but the rocks made it seem almost biblical in a way. The mosaic tialed floor looked like a sun dial in the middle of the stage and it was just so innovative.

[Anne_here]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:03am

LES MISERABLES. Everytime I see it, although I know it by heart now, I still cry.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:07am

Les Miserables
Wicked
An Inspector Calls

and, the best set design I've ever seen on a Broadway stage or any stage for that matter? The fantastically intracate, breathtaking sets of The Light in the Piazza. They are simply phenomenal.

[mikewood]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:08am

I'd have to go with Beauty and the Beast.

Food for thought: It's odd how a post about set design can't NOT lead to a slap toward a particular show.

[zepka102]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:14am

Light in the Piazza... throw in the lighting and it's amazing to see

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:27pm

SUNSET BLVD's was pretty impressive!

[Lome2]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 2:57pm

Whistle down the Wind
Light in the Piazza
Les Miz
Beauty and the Beast

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 2:59pm

Piazza.

Stunning.

[renthead1223]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:40pm

Wicked
Sweeney Todd
I love the versatility of RENT's set. It leaves so much to the imagination but can be used to represent so many different settings.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:12am

The Light in the Piazza

~Steven

[Steve2]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:58am

Dance of the Vampires
Sunset Boulevard
Phantom of the Opera
Les Mis
Dracula

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:53am

oklahoma (revival)-well until the last few scenes in which they turned aunt eller's house which worked so beautifully in perspective to face front thus revealing the slopeing architecture used to pull that off

glengary glenross
drs
spamalot(cheesy funny)
the rocky horror show (i wanted that couch so bad, especially since it came apart)

[Blair]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:18am

My favorite broadway set is definitely Piazza's.

But the hand's down, most gorgeous, intricate set I've ever seen was for Dead End at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA a few months ago. They filled the orchestra pit with water to symbolize the East River. I honestly couldn't describe the rest, you just had to see it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any pictures online. The thing I most remember was that inside everyone of the windows of the buildings there was a furnished room, even though half of them were not even used for anything.

I saw it a few days before closing and the only thing I could think was "I can't believe that they have to destroy that set!"

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 10:17am

I liked the sets and lighting for Light In The Piazza very much. I'd never realized how absolutely huge that stage is.

I think Phantom Of The Opera has wonderful sets and costumes. I was very impressed by the scenic design for the Assassins revival. Some others:

The revival of Into The Woods
The revival of A Delicate Balance
The revival of She Loves Me

A student production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Penn State University, set in the swamps of Louisiana. The fairies were swamp sprites, there were moving trees, and more than 20 years later I still remember it as the loveliest production I've ever seen.

[cathyhyatt]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 9:50pm

dracula - in my opinion it should have won for best scenic design

all shook up - I thought everything about the set was perfect. I especially loved the run down amusement park. Oh, yeah and Cheyenne riding down those grassy hills. (well, maybe I just loved him...)

yes, apparently I love broadway "flops". and what do you have to say about it, hmmm? heheh.

oh, and les mis. because everything about the show is beautiful to me. it is and always will be my all time favorite broadway show. I could sit here and list the reasons why but that might take awhile...so I'll pass.

anne_here - I cry EVERYTIME too. Although there are so many reasons why I love that show...the real reason I love it so much is because of how it makes me feel everytime I see it. I have this strange emotional attachment to it. And it will forever be my favorite show.

oh, and AuditioningWaitress I LOVE your screenname because that's what I aspire to be when I grow up! In all seriousness I could see my life going in that direction...and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Craig]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 11:45pm

DD

I can't agree more. I have also seen hundreds of shows since and no set has ever stuck out in my mind more than An Inspector Calls. I would go as far to say that it was another "character" in the show with a life all its own and that's so rare.

Many of the sets in this thread are gimmicky or supposed to be "awe inspiring" or "specatacle". I don't think for one second that was the intention for An Inspector Calls. It was just an amazing artistic vision for the show.

Posted: 11/28/05 at 12:15am

I will add my vote for "An Inspector calls" as one of the best set designs I've seen, but not the only. I actually saw the London production though. If it didn't win the Tony, I hear that the set for Carousel was also quite wonderful. Lincoln Center also had a great set for Twelfth Night.

However, the single most spectacular set design I've seen, and definitely one of the best, and I CAN'T believe I'm the first one mentioning this after 4 pages of posts, is Baz Luhrmann's LA BOHEME. The entire set was spectacular, but I will never forget the beginning of Act II - absolutely magical!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 1:27am

What happened at the begining of Act 2 - you can't tease me like that! haha

Anyone have any pics of some of the sets your talking about. Id love to see them.

[twogaab2]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 9:53am

Little Night Music-OBC
Pacific Overtures-OBC
On the 20th Century-OBC

Posted: 11/28/05 at 10:15am

Rentboy - the first act is set in Rodrigo's flat, which has no heat (ala Roger & Rent, of course), but the audience could see the surrounding neighborhood. The set pieces were on movable platforms (almost like cubes) so that during the last scene of Act 1, when Roger & Mimi declare their love for each other, the central platform revolves to reveal the neon "L'Amour" sign (a version of which also appeared in Moulin Rouge).

Then intermission starts, and the stage crew starts to rearrange the platforms and set pieces - there was no set curtain, so all of this is done in full view. Luhrmann used a very clever grey lighting scheme during the set changes, so that it appears that the set almost appeared to be black & white. Then quite suddenly a switch is thrown, and the set is a full city square outside the Cafe Momus, in full color and fully populated with the people of Paris' Latin Quarter.

This transition is hard to describe, but it was simply breath-taking - an amazing design by Catherine Martin!

[thez914]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 2:13am

A lot of my top picks have already been mentioned...but allow me to add a few notables:

*I thought URINETOWN was impeccably designed, especially in suiting the show. I loved how the entire space (lobby, theatre, bathrooms...) was run-down, but my favorite part was the ceiling - how it gave the feeling you were watching it all played out in a sewer. Plus the ways they portrayed Bobby falling off the building and the 'secret hideout' were hilarious.

*Some of the design elements in AIDA impressed me...mainly the way the tent was created. Brilliant. I also thought the final moments in the tomb were especially effective.

*I thought the revival of THE MUSIC MAN was stellar (kudos to the designer for bringing an entire house on and off stage), as was the revival of 42ND STREET (that mirror was awesome).

*Also, the production of FINISHING THE PICTURE at the Goodman in Chicago was incredible. The opening sequence of having multiple projection screens gliding across the stage was highly effective, and when the set was revealed, I was sure it was a unit set. But NO...the massive walls and doorways (the set was a 1960's penthouse in LA) began to shift and tangle into another configuration. That massive white sheer drapery was stunning as well. And then in the final act where live action footage of what was going on on stage was projected on a screen in front of the actors - amazing. This was a show that was constantly rejuvenated by the scenery.

Updated On: 11/29/05 at 02:13 AM

[NackteRenner]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 2:34am

John Napier's brilliant set for the Original Broadway production of STARLIGHT EXPRESS.

[CompanyGuy]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 2:39am

I LOVE Sweeney Todd.
I am surpised Ragtime wasn't mentioned.
Sunset... huge... yet kick ass.
I really liked the A Little Night Music set, directed by Susan Stroman.
Assassins.. 2004

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 1:36am

know any good places to see pics of some of these sets?