Best use of a revolve?

What are some of your favourite usages of revolve? When has it been used expertly to aid the storytelling? 

I thought the original production of Rabbit Hole which revolved the house was very effective. Becca was living like a hamster in a wheel so it added to the notion that she wasn’t moving on. 

The original Les Miserables and Groundhog Day immediately come to mind.

American Psycho. 

The Band’s Visit made great use of it, particularly when Tewfiq reluctantly leaves Dina, standing still but pulled away.

Early during the out-of-town tryout of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA in Chicago, the turntable was overused in Act 1, spinning non-stop between the fashion magazine and then to a scene with the roommates, then back to the magazine, then back to the roommates, then back to the magazine. I can’t recall any other show that attempted 900 degrees of spins (5 x 180) in one number.

 

Certainly the Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto (2006) and London (2007) has to be one one of the most complicated with a 42' revolve with16 hydraulic scissor lifts and a center lift. The staging and tech of the battle scenes must have taken forever.

My personal favorite is the Shaw Festival 1995 production of Noel Coward's Cavalcade, especially the final moment with the cast of 46 in a revolving montage of 30 years of history.

As for current productions, Awakening at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas looks amazing and a technical marvel.

Updated On: 1/15/23 at 05:24 PM

The revolving Pride Rock in Lion King was probably the best (as in grounded in the story) use of a revolve I've seen; the Hytner/National Theater "Carousel" the most poetic and beautiful; David Cromer's "Sweet Bird of Youth" at the Goodman in Chicago the most overwrought and annoying, he managed it with much more control and understatement in "The Band's Visit". The Leveaux/Rachel Weisz revival of "Plenty" at the Public Theater the most awkward and ill-timed. The technique can be very showy,  forced and without a competent (or even solely dedicated) technical staff, unsuccessful.

Updated On: 1/15/23 at 05:35 PM

Bill Snibson said: "RippedMan said: "Seeing the original Les Miz on the West End before they changed it. Very simple and effective.

Shrek was the first show, to my knowledge, to use the double turn tables.

To me, in Hadestown it felt overused.

"

I know that "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" used a double revolve and I kinda feel like the short lived "Thou Shalt Not" used a double-revolve but don't quote me. But yes, Les Miz, to me, feels like the OG when it comes to turn tables."

Touche! I only saw Dirty Rotten, but was more impressed with the performances and don't really remember the staging. 

But maybe Shrek was the first to use the two revolves with a center lift, which creates some cool experiences like the "I Know It's Today" sequence. I'm not sure what the above poster is confused about though with that sequence. 

The Masquerade staircase revolving in the Vegas version of Phantom was pretty magical.

Well Rippedman, you’re probably gonna get your wish for an updated Phantom!  Even though the Bjornson/Prince production is/was perfect in every way, CM knows there are enough people like you who will just go “oh cool they updated it” when they hear the inevitable announcement that Phantom is returning in its scaled down oops I mean UPDATED current West End version. 

I think POTUS made great use of the revolve.  I was at a performance that had a 45 minute intermission where we were told the revolving stage was t working.  I remember saying that they could improvise if they couldn’t get the set working…better than can elli g the rest of the performance.  Act 2 started and it became clear immediately that the show could never be improvised without the revolve.

Coco also made effective use in the final (dream) fashion show.  Very effectively staged.

Les Mis made great use, but I saw a production that did not use it, and IMO it missed nothing.

Phantom4ever said: "Well Rippedman, you’re probably gonna get your wish for an updated Phantom! Even though the Bjornson/Prince production is/was perfect in every way, CM knows there are enough people like you who will just go “oh cool they updated it” when they hear the inevitable announcement that Phantom is returning in its scaled down oops I mean UPDATED current West End version."

To be fair, I don't mean change anything. Just update it. Faster chandelier, better pyro. I remember seeing it around 2018 and the dead guy that falls from the ceiling was laughably bad. The horror factor could have been updated, to me. But I think the design/staging are quite gorgeous. 

And Hamilton just always felt like they used a turntable given the confines of the Public. So I'd love to see what they would have come up with otherwise.