Big musicals you'd like to see done small

#1

Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 12:22am

As we've seen by the recent work of John Doyle on Sweeney Todd, Company, and Mack and Mabel, often a show really benefits from being stripped down to a minimalist, intimate production. Ever seen a show done on a mammoth scale and feel that it would benefit from a much more intimate setting, with lesser production requirements? What shows would you like to see stripped down sometime?

I would love to see Carousel, JC Superstar, Miss Saigon, Evita, Gypsy, and Oklahoma! done in this fashion.

Anyone else?

#2

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 12:51am

Wicked

Elphaba: Violin
Glinda: Flute
Wizard: Bassoon
Fiyero: Harmonica
Morrible: Glockenspiel
Boq: Clarinet
Nessarose: Cello on Wheels

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Updated On: 6/6/06 at 12:51 AM

#3

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 12:57am

I did a VERY minimalist JCS last summer. It was really good! It was one of those "once you see it done this way you cant imagin doing it in a different way" kind of things. However, it was my first experiance with the show, so...yeah.

Btw, Bigrab, your list for WICKED could possibly work! I have o admit that I laughed whenI read "Nessarose: Cello on Wheels"!haha!

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#4

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:01am

Don't know if either of these have been done small, but OLIVER! and SWEET CHARITY

#5

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:03am

Double Post

Updated On: 6/6/06 at 01:03 AM

#6

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:04am

I would love to see a minimalist commercial production of Kiss of the Spider Woman. And another minimalist production of Ragtime, it just really works.

#7

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:06am

Of course, Wicked is the first joke.

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#8

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:06am

I agree with Ragtime.

I liked Little Shop of Horrors better as a minimalist/stripped down type show rather than a big Broadway blow-out.

#9

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:09am

I think Gypsy would be really amazing if it was done on a scaled down production. Or perhaps Into The Woods, I think Into The Woods would gain a lot with a stripped down production.

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#10

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:10am

Definitely Ragtime.

#11

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:11am

ITW was also the first one that came to mind...but I honestly just can't imagine it being scaled down.

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"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA

#12

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:15am

It would work well with a bare stage and few props, and with a string quartet instead of a full orchestra. It could be amazing

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#13

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 1:16am

I have an obsession with "Beauty and the Beast's" score. For me, the score carries the show and could carry the show in my mind in a stripped down version. I even had an epiphany on how to stage it in a stripped down version the other day. However, I worry that the show might not be able to carry itself for others who aren't such rabid fans of the music. I hate seeing all of these amateur and even regional productions of the show that try to emulate the multi-million dollar Broadway production with a few thousand dollars. Folks need to get creative with the show and scale it down and do it well rather than doing a piss poor job copying Disney.

#14

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 2:04am

i dont think ragtime could work scaled down. i saw a production that was inbetween huge and small... i guess that would make it a medium production, hah. and it just didnt work at all. but perhaps it needs to be a huge broadway blowout or a minimalist production to work. no in betweens.

in response to an earlier post, i have seen a scaled down carousel and it was stunning.

#15

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 2:46am

Last summer I was in a sort of minimalist production of Ragtime. The only set piece we had was the car, and there was minimal blocking, and it really focused on the music. It was the best production in the area that season.

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#16

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 3:04am

I've always thought that a small production of Les Miz could work - and very well. But it would have to be considerably re-imagined and likely wouldn't be accepted - no matter how good - for quite some time. It could work.

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#17

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 9:10am

I would like to see Les Mis done on a small scale.

I also think the Lion King could be done smaller.

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#18

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 9:30am

"i dont think ragtime could work scaled down"

Oh boy it does work SO well scaled down. They did a version in London that didn't have any huge moving scenery and nor a cast of thousands and it was MUCH more moving than the Broadway version.

Broadway felt like it was all about the spectacle, cold, sterile and distant, in london you REALY conected with the characters.

Maria Friendman was Mother in this by the way.

#19

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 9:54am

I don't want to see the minimalist version of anything.

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#20

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 10:15am

i saw a minimalist production of Kiss of the Spider Woman and i HATED it. it loses so much without the lighting...

#21

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 10:42am

Why would a small wicked be a joke...the book is very dark and when I read that they were doing a musical of it and I hadn't heard that Schwartz was attached...I figured it would be a very chamber like show based on how dark and complex the book is. I think a scaled down Wicked would be very interesting.

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#22

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 10:43am

a scaled down Wicked seems to me like it'd just be a bunch of screaming...

#23

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 11:07am

I must jump on the ITW bandwagon. I think it could be an excellent production, especially if done with a string quartet such as mentioned below.

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#24

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 11:12am

ITW would be very cool scaled down, though it might come off as weird since you still have to incorporate some of the "magic" in the show like the witch's transformation.

#25

re: Big musicals you'd like to see done small

Posted: 6/6/06 at 2:25pm

I'm on the board of a small theatre here in Richmond, VA. We did KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN in a 65-seat theatre and it works extremely well, especially in focusing the story back on Molina and Valentin, and less on the spectacle associated with Aurora. The only regret is that the entire score had to be pre-recorded, or we would have had to do it with piano only. But it was an amazing production.