Biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage. — Page 3

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#51

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:38pm

ALL SHOOK UP

About two weeks ago when Natalie arrives as "ED" you hear a rev of an engine and Chad and Dennis React but then no ED on a motorcycle. "Ed" came around the groud row to finish her song and then in the middle of it the ground row lowers and we see her bike center stage. In the next scene they bring out the Shoe Store and a Crew person in blacks and headset and all tried to sneak out behind the shop and pushed the bike off stage. All my friends and I could do was look at each other and laugh it was so hysterical. The crew person was doing the "If I put my head down no one will see me routine"

Hysterical!

"It's like children's theatre for 40-year old gay people!" - XANADU THE MUSICAL

#52

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 1:40pm

what an awesome story best12bars! I can't imagine how nervous that chorus girl was.

anyways, the only big mistake that I can think of was when I saw the LSOH tour. At the end of "Now (It's just the gas)" the dentist set wouldn't go off into the wings. So during the Act I finale, the flower store was still upstage, the dentist set was downstage with stagehands trying to push it, and the plant going crazy (as it should) but no one could see it. After Audrey II's evil laughs, the dentist set still wasn't out and when the curtain tried to come down for intermission, it caught on to the set. so finally a stagehand manually closed the curtain and the house lights went on.

"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

#53

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:00pm

best12bars- that was an awesome story. I would have loved to be there.

<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre- You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel.
~Curtains~
It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.
~A Tale of Two Cities ~

#54

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:02pm

Nothing too huge, the occassional dropped line or fall in Hairspray...Off the top of my head, the only two big screw-ups I ever witnessed on Broadway were two trap-door problems. Back in 2001, I saw Sharon Wilkins half-fall into one at the very end of the show, right before the line where she says "How true! Yes, how true! Said the sour kangaroo. And, from now on, you know what I'm planning to do? From now on, I'm going to protect them with you!"
But, instead Natasica Diaz (one of the three bird girls) along with Sara G and Catrice J jumped in and covered for Sharon, saying "How true! Yes, how true, said the sour kangaroo. And, from now on, you know what she's planning to do? From now on, she's going to protect them with you!" Truthfully, they were all really lucky that it was able to be covered that easily.

My second mistake I saw was also a trap-door incident, the infamous melting Idina performance, which everyone has heard about ad nauseam so I won't go into details with that one.

If I think of more I'll post..

Oh oh, a funny mistake that Matt Morrison made towards the end of his run in Hairspray, "Tracy, if I don't kiss you now, I just may....bust a....nut!" Now, of course the line is "bust a gut" and most people realize that it's innuendo really meaning "nut", but that one day...Matt just let it slip out. He turned red and everyone cracked up in an "omgggg what did he just DO?!" sorta way....He just went with it, and then on his true last performance, he purposefully said "bust a nut"...but nothing was as funny as the time he let it slip. hahaha

#55

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:25pm

The lion King story just made me really happy :) how fantastic!

I don't have any...most of them are really little things that only I would notice! or someone else whose seen Wicked 5 times or more ...ahha...

and all that I could do because of you was talk of love...

#56

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:48pm

LENNON

Unfledge them of their...perriwigs, And they appear like bald-cootes, in the nest. Beaumont, Knt. Malta, (1616).

#57

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:57pm

camthom, I so agree!!!!!!!!! You have an awsome sence of humor!

you say i'm weird! look at everyone you're sitting with! and hey, those guys over there just threw napkins up in the air like they were on something! it's contajous! you can't help it!

#58

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 3:03pm

This one time I saw Cabaret.
It was during the 'Two Ladies' song and they did the thing from the movie where they dance under a picnic blanket. Everything went well untill they tried to get out.

THEY HAD GOTTTEN STUCK IN THE BLANKET!!!

#59

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 3:19pm

The biggest "mistake" I saw was during Les Mis on Broadway. Valjean was being tossed out of the chain gang during the prologue and we saw a little, um, plumber's crack. So, fast forward to his soliloquy and he's singing away and suddenly gets this look of panic on his face. Having seen the show before, I noticed that the blocking was a little different and he seemed to be sort of "hunching" himself. We found out later (talking at the stage door) that his pants had somehow come undone and as he was singing he was trying his best to keep the damn things from falling down. The actor handled it really well, although I was a little surprised to learn that Valjean went commando.

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around...

#60

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 4:00pm

Well I didn't witness this, but LizzieCurry did, so if she reads this thread, she can probably elaborate.
But...
The turntable breaking down towards the end of Act One in the Les Mis tour in Las Vegas last November.
And then it still being broken for all of Act Two.

"And suddenly I'm flying flying like a bird, like electricity, electricity, sparks inside of me, and I'm free, I'm free" -Billy Elliot

#61

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 4:04pm

During our production of the Music Man..when the Quartet does the Ice cream thing ...harold "hits" the xylophone on our ice cream cart while the pit plays the notes.... the pit was 10 seconds slow with every note it was hysterical

#62

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 4:14pm

a funny mistake i saw, it was my first time seeing DRS, and Norbert was late coming into the train scene, however John L kept saying like 'i'm reading a paper in german.... this will come into play later, it will all make sense'.... *cotinued to read*... 'well if my partner was here, this scene would make sense'.... and then Norbert comes running on and the waiter goes over to him, and asks if he wants anything, and he said 'give me a few minutes, i'm still stuck in my dressing room'.

so then after the show, we asked what happened - and he said his monitor was down, but it was just hilarious!

#63

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 4:27pm

re: Lion King performance on Broadway... It was an amazing show that could never be repeated. (I'm sure Heather Headley is grateful for that!) You can't beat live theatre for the unexpected.

I had the chance to see the show again in Los Angeles a couple of years later, and as good as they all were, it certainly wasn't the same (very special) show that I had seen on Broadway. I will hold the memory of that unique performance forever. It's now a part of "The Lion King," for me.

As far as the gutsy chorus girl who rose to that very daunting challenge (stepping into a principle role on Broadway, with no rehearsal, mid-performance... and very successfully)... I can't remember her name! I knew it for a long time after, because they did announce it from the stage. (Again, she wasn't listed in the program as an understudy, because she wasn't one.) I'm going to look for a picture from the souvenir program. I remember there was a group shot of all the "lionesses" together, and she is standing in the back row on the left side near the end. If I find it, I will share it with you on another post. She truly was heroic! Maybe some of you know her, and could tell her what an incredible job she did. I do remember that this peformance was about a week before the Tonys, when they won many awards.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 04:27 PM

#64

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 5:10pm

OH I JUST REMEMBERED...

When I first saw DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS I thought... "Wow the double turntables are cool!" Halfway throught the show I started thinking "look at all those girls in stilettos... I wonder when...." And then Just as John Lithgow is going to approach Sherie Rene at the Roulette table one of the Chorus members got her heel stuck in the turntable. All the other chorus members came up to her and tried to cover by talking to her as she tried to get her heel out of the turntable. Thank God she got it out before the thing started turning again! I know how mad women get when they break a heel!

"It's like children's theatre for 40-year old gay people!" - XANADU THE MUSICAL

#65

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 5:13pm

I thought of another summer stock problem. I was doing King Lear and one of the specials (which is a down light that's used instead of a spot) would not go down. This was maybe half way through the second act, so we had to keep doing the show with the spot on. We never went to full black, plus there were scenes on the opposite side of the stage with this one light left on.

Another one from that same production of Into the Woods that I mentioned earlier. It was one of those summers with constant above 90 degree heat and high humidity, and in the second performance the lighting system overheated. So, the light would go out, and then they'd kick back in. Normally in an emergency black out like that I've been taught to freeze, but it was so constant that we coulen't. At times it was almost like a slow strobe effect. Oh, and it came at some very funny times (like when one of the Princes says to the other "It's so good to see you brother, and they are in the dark, or when the Baker's Wife sings, "Hold him to the light now" Black Out "Let him feel the glow").

Then there's Cinderella where the horse decided to do his business on stage (luckily in a dress rehearsal) right after the Fairy Godmother says, "Be careful what you wish for" and Cinderella turns and sees the carriage and says "Look Fairy Godmother!"

Oh, and I recently saw a production where they had to change a mic on stage, in scene. It was an amazing change. Most of the audience didn't even notice.

And once at a production of Your a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the baseball bat broke and half of it flew out over the audience.

#66

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:03pm

When I saw POTO, Hugh Panaro sang "And now, how you betray me, deny me and betray me" lol i make that mistake all the time, dont blame him lol

when i was in birdie i had to push in about 10 suitcases, and dropped them all over the stage. We didn't break character though and I just started yelling at Albert to pick them up lol

We broke two swords during the Pyramus/Thisbe sequence in A Midsummer Night's Dream

"No two shows are alike in the making. Each show is a living piece of your life in a small unreal world with its own character and integrity; its own new set of memorable experiences and incredible happenings. You begin to love and adapt to its strangeness. Dreams harden into substance. Values come into focus. You wish it would never end. The dream world vanishes like mist before a rising sun; part of you vanishes with it. And back you land in the real world with a thud- fogged, uneasy, jittery, difficult to get along with. There is only one cure. A new show. A new, small unreal world; new visions, experiences, incredible happenings. Again you love it, adapt to it, wish it would never end. But end it does. Another part of you vanishes. That's show business."-Anonymous

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 06:03 PM

#67

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:09pm

i guess its not really a mistake, but it was funny...I saw Rent just two days after the blackout, and if you havent seen it i wont go into detail, but at the end when the "power blows" it was funny to see the whole theater start to gasp and scream...after the third time, you know its gonna happen. very funny.

i trust my soul...my only goal is just to be.

#68

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:31pm

At the final performance of the OBC at Chorus Line, Donna McKechnie fell during "The Music and the Mirror."

#69

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:40pm

I haven't seen one in a professional show i've gone to. but when i saw They're playing our song at a high school everything went wrong girls were being dropped during dips, and mic mishaps went on throughout the entire show! When i did Cinderella we didnt have afly system so we had to hurry and change the set to cinderella's house, while taking out the fireplace a girl ran it into a platform and right under a drop mic. Yelled obscenities; as plates, fire wood, and utensils fell to the ground in a huge clattering, clunk. Mine aren't so good but hey they were mistakes!

#70

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:52pm

I'm still laughing hysterically at the "POISON BOOT" story from WSS. I wish I could've seen that, except I probably would've peed my pants or gotten dirty looks from rolling on the floor laughing. Oh well.

I don't really have too many good stories as I've only been in 4 shows. My very firts play however, Our Miss Brooks, started with this kid Ted writing on the chalkboard with Miss Brooks at her desk, and Ted's supposed to start talking but never did. So he wrote random sayings on the chalkboard for about 5 minutes while the audience shifted uncomfortably. Then, all the kids kept talking downstairs and didn't hear the stage manager calling them up to go on so there was a lot of "I wonder where Susie is.." going on. Also, I played the bitchy daughter whose mom is president of the school board and makes Miss Brooks' life miserable for not giving me the lead in the school play, and at the end my 'mom'is supposed to be all whining about how all our relatives are coming and won't see me being fabulous as the lead, and then she's supposed to walk out but stop and turn around and go "COMING?!" and I'm supposed to be like "OF COURSE!" , then turn to Ted and go "Are YOU COMING?" and stomp out. So the 2nd show she forgets to say coming, and I'm looking after her horrified for a sec, and then I just yell out "I'm Coming!" then turn to ted and go "are YOU coming?". It was funny I guess you had to be there. THen the next night when mommy dearest remembered to say 'coming' I wasn't thinking and I was just like "you bet!" and ran out leaving poor Ted staring after me. Then I walked backstage and smacked myself in the head. It was funny/embarassing, but I guess you had to be there.

"It breaks my heart to see a grown man dressed as a Taco." -David Sedaris
I love Les Miserables.
My new pic is me(on the left)at my last dance recital:(

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 06:52 PM

#71

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 6:54pm

I saw a tour of Millie and Stephenie Pope's mic went out during the first half of only in new york. But, like the diva she is, kept right on singing and made her voice heard in a 1500 seat theatre, all the way up to the nosebleed seats. She has one powerful instrument.

Also, I saw the Ragtime with Marin, and during nothing like the city, she must have choked on something becuase when she should have been saying have a pleasant day, sir, all there was was her choking on something. She could'nt really finish the scene, becuase there was some dialogue that she had some trouble getting out. The funny thing was, it was for a school trip and we were all told that one of the main characters would die at the end of the first act. We all just thought that the coughing was an excellent use of foreshadowing mother's untimely death. So it was an even bigger surprise when Sarah, and not MOther died.

"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."

#72

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 7:59pm

This isn't really a mistake but when i saw wicked on june 11th during something bad shoshana "the love of my life, yea right!" started choking and choughing and stuck oput her toungue odly and missed half her line. that same perf. jeff as boq, coughed through his whole nessa .... uh ness... surely now ill matter less to you during wicked witch and skipped half and talked really fast through the rest.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird

#73

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:16pm

I can't believe I forgot this earlier-

So last year my school did Oklahoma, and if you know it, at the part at the big dance thing Jud is supposed to show Curly the "Little Wonder" which is a kaleidoscope with a knife on it, and the knife is just about to come down and get Curly when Aunt Eller comes running on. Anyways, the 2nd night Jud is walking up to Curly and I'm like hmm, the Little Wonder's not in his pocket tonight, maybe it's in his hand. But no. So he's randomly just like "hey Curly, I got something to show ya.." and starts fake punching him, and we all react with fake AHH's! but everyone's like wtf..? And then they just kind of ran offstage I think, leaving us all standing there.
Apparently some stage crew kid was playing with the Little Wonder and never put it back on the prop table. Way to go.

"It breaks my heart to see a grown man dressed as a Taco." -David Sedaris
I love Les Miserables.
My new pic is me(on the left)at my last dance recital:(

#74

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:19pm

When I saw "Rent" last week, at one point during "Over The Moon," the recorded voices that say "Leap of faith" etc. didn't come on, and Kelly was jsut kinda standing there with her arms out, waiting for it to come on, and then she waved at the guy and he pressed the button.

http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!) I chose, and my world was shaken- So what?
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda "And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler

#75

re: biggest mistake you've witnessed on stage.

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:55pm

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