Best theatre magic? — Page 2

The Amanda Thripp throw scene in Matilda is amazing.

I'm a big fan of onstage transformation. One of my favorites with tech was Alan Cumming's Macbeth, where he turned upstage and the three tv screens above the stage became the three witches with three camera feeds. Simple and effective.

Even simpler (but much harder for the actor) was Jefferson Mays' performance in I Am My Own Wife. To craft so many distinct characters with small costume/prop adjustments, physicality, and vocal inflection was mesmerizing.

On the tech heavy side, the use of drop panels in the first mansion scene in A Gentleman's Guide to Love And Murder made me so happy. That production used so many old-school haunted house techniques that have survived for the better part of a century for good reason: they work. That they worked from the tip of the mezzanine to the front row of the orchestra is even more impressive. Those gags are all about perspective (they did the Disney following statue trick, as well) and every viewing angle was somehow accommodated.

Wonderland was not a great show, but the use of projections at the end of Act One to get the core cast through the looking glass was impressive. The different frames and back panel cracked open and exploded, and the cast seemed to disappear right in front of your eyes.

Also just remembered the revival of Side Show pulled off some fantastic shadow play during Cut Them Apart and as much as I hated the shoe-horned Houdini elements of the revival, I vaguely remembered being wowed by some of the tricks that happened during All In The Mind.

The helicopter during Kim's nightmare in Miss Saigon, I know it's not really that "magical" but I think it looks incredible onstage

Updated On: 5/11/16 at 05:58 PM

Here's the handkerchief scene change from the original PIPPIN.

...the revival of Side Show pulled off some fantastic shadow play during Cut Them Apart and as much as I hated the shoe-horned Houdini elements of the revival, I vaguely remembered being wowed by some of the tricks that happened during All In The Mind.

Interestingly it seemed that the shadow play of Houdini escaping from a straight jacket while hanging upside down was actually a prerecorded FRONT projection of a presumably different person performing the trick.

morosco said: "Here's the handkerchief scene change from the original PIPPIN.

"

Is that the video you meant to post? That is NOT the original "Pippin." (As Bob Fosse would be delighted to tell you, were he alive)

You guys are great for finding that moment in Pippin. I remember it differently at The Imperial but I appreciate you finding it and showing me when it happened during the show. Thanks to In Front and Wizard.

Updated On: 5/11/16 at 10:35 PM

In terms of high tech magic, Dracula's transformation in "Dracula" has always impressed me. In terms of lower-tech, almost not a trick at all, the scene in the 1998 "Little Me" when Martin Short appears to be in two places at once, talking to "himself" while one of his characters is onstage and the other one appears to be in the restroom, was amusing.

How about that flying suitcase in Bright Star though ...

The Phantom's disappearance at the end.

Elphaba's lift in Defying Gravity.

Sam slipping through solid doors in Ghost.

Sylvia's death scene.

Neil Patrick Harris's magic trick during the Tonys where he disappeared onstage and reappeared halfway down through the audience.

The entire production of Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream....seriously proved she really is one of the best stage artists working in the field today, despite the hiccup (albeit large) of Spider Man.