Best and Worst Bway Sets?

[BwayDreamer00]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 10:43pm

Whenever I see a show on Broadway I ALWAYS love to graze around at the set and then after the show see if I liked it or not. I know that the set shouldn't really matter because it's truly about the show itself and the cast but I'm in a snobby theater critic mood so I wanna know, what's been your favorite (and least favorite) sets on Bway and why?

Mine:

Favorite: 

War Paint, Wicked, Kinky Boots, King And I (2015 Revival), Matilda, Cinderella

Least:

Curtains-Just bleh and kind of tacky 

The Book Of Mormon-Don't get me wrong I LOVE BOM but the set? Not sure if it was Tony Award winning worthy....

Charlie-The West End version had a LAVISH set......but the Bway version, what happened??


Anastasia-It was fine but kind of plain. I wish it could've been more set and maybe a little less projection?
 

Updated On: 10/2/17 at 10:43 PM

[Rainah]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:18pm

It would be remiss not to mention what was done to the Imperial for Comet. That moment when you walk through the big doors and onto the stage...

[Alfie6]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:44pm

The best in recent memory for me are Present Laughter, It's Only A Play, You Can't Take It With You, The Front Page. I really hated the set of the Porgy and Bess revival. Even though I fell asleep during Hughie the set for that production was pretty beautiful. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:47pm

This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen the Annie 2012 set get a positive review 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:52pm

Best set: 

ALL the sets in the original 1995 Broadway production of SUNSET BLVD (yes, there were more than just Norma’s levitating mansion set). 

Worst: 

COME FROM AWAY. 

[michaelhale]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:54pm

Very new to theater, so I am mostly just very dazzled by big sets that change- Bandstand and Miss Saigon (despite not liking the latter as a show overall) were definitely very impressive and had me leaving the theater gushing over them (when bandstand changes to the NYC setting! it was the first time I had seen something like that, a really memorable moment). Dear Evan Hansen's is so fitting for the show I can't help but love it despite it not being much.

I wish Hamilton's was either simpler or more? Whenever they moved around the single moving stairwell it felt a little weird to me? Like, superfluous?

Definitely not any best/worst rankings since I've seen so few shows (BoM on tour and Great Comet were my only other shows) but just me favorites and least!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:55pm

I agree about BOM. Awful set design. Just looks cheap and tacky. I guess it's never going to be a "big" kind of show, but I just wish there was something more creative done. 

Currently: Time and the Conways had a really gorgeous set. 

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 10/1/17 at 11:58pm

Best-Sunset Boulevard, Act One, Great Comet, Hamilton, Hedwig, Drowsy Chaperone, She Loves Me, American Psycho, Curious Incident, A View From the Bridge 

Worst- Charlie, Disaster, Prince of Broadway

Updated On: 10/1/17 at 11:58 PM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 12:14am

The one that immediately sprang to mind for worst was the On A Clear Day revival...the entire thing was an ugly eyesore. 

[Rainah]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 12:37am

I also dislike the BOM set. It feels like it doesn't match the tone of the show at all, with the possible exception of "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" or whatever it is, that was lovely. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 12:50am

Here are my favorites, only from Broadway productions I've seen live: 

-The Audience (I'm a sucker for forced perspective)

-Blackbird (also a sucker for sets that extend into the wings)

-The Glass Menagerie - Tiffany Revival

-The King and I (2015) - Somehow sparse and enormous at the same time

-The Last Ship

-The Little Foxes

-Matilda

-Great Comet 

-Rocky

-She Loves Me 

-Spider-Man

-Therese Raquin (that RIVER) 

-This is Our Youth (I loved the way they kind of built the city outside the apartment) 

-Tuck Everlasting

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 7:31am

Count me in with BOM. The stage looks lovely pre-show, but the actual sets are very cheap. 

Favorites: She Loves Me (the dollhouse-like design is my favorite set in any show period), Anastasia, Hello, Dolly! (those sets absolutely blew me away, they're so lavish and rich), Gigi 2015, Bandstand, Great Comet, Love Never Dies, Matilda

Least Favorites: BOM, Come From Away, Color Purple, Spring Awakening, Beautiful (it isn't specifically bad, it's just very meh)

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 7:44am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Best set:

ALL the sets in the original 1995 Broadway production of SUNSET BLVD (yes, there were more than just Norma’s levitating mansion set).

Worst:

COME FROM AWAY."

Sorrry, what? Come From Away has LIVE trees. Their running an ecosystem on that stage. NEXT.

 

Haven’t seems this show, but from promos and pictures the set for a Bronx tale is not only ugly, but it’s also a copy of the Newsies set.

Despite the quality of the show, I really enjoyed seeing images of the set for tuck everlasting. I hope that tree was tre(e)ated well when that show closed.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 8:02am

BEST

Great Comet - I don't even need to explain this one.

Matilda - Magical, whimsical, and beautiful. It really captured the world of Roald Dahl.

The King and I (2015 Revival) - Austere and simple, but also enormous.

Therese Raquin - Say what you will about the play itself, but that river and the descending apartment...

Bullets Over Broadway - HUGE gorgeous set pieces just kept appearing.

ROCKY - A technical beast of a show. Plus, those last 15 minutes were something else.

She Loves Me (2016 Revival) - One of the prettiest sets I've ever seen.

Hello, Dolly! (2017 Revival) - Stunning and old fashioned.

WORST

A Bronx Tale - the Bronx should not look sleek and glitzy.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Not much a set, but the pieces they did have were so ugly and cheap.

On Your Feet! - Cheap and ugly. Especially those huge panels of shutters.

Prince of Broadway - Rickety and awkward.

Anastasia - It looked like they were in the corner of a ballroom the whole time.

The Bodyguard (US Tour) - Just plain tacky.

 

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/2/17 at 8:31am

Call_me_jorge said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Best set:

ALL the sets in the original 1995 Broadway production of SUNSET BLVD (yes, there were more than just Norma’s levitating mansion set).

Worst:

COME FROM AWAY."

Sorrry, what? Come From Away has LIVE trees. Their running an ecosystem on that stage. NEXT."

I agree with BrodyFosse123 about the original Sunset Boulevard set; by all accounts, it was breathtaking.

But I also agree with Call_me_jorge about Come From Away; I think the set suits the show perfectly.