COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
cambell22
Chorus Member Joined: 12/29/18
#2COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 4:50pm
Trunchbull picking up Amanda Thripp by the pigtails and throwing her made me gasp lol
#3COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 4:54pmFairview. So many wildly effective rug-pulling moments!
inception
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/13
#4COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 4:57pm
After reading your comment in the Starlight Express thread, I'm guessing your meaning some kind exciting set piece?
This weekend I saw the newest Cirrque Du Soleil touring show Echo, which has been traveling about since 2023. At the end of the first act it has
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
an amazing massive puppet that breaks out of a part of the set.
It was very cool. It isn't much more than cool, as there isn't really a story, so it doesn't add to any story.
...
xoxobwayjohndoe
Swing Joined: 9/13/22
#5COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 4:58pm
The set transformation in Wet Brain at Playwrights was truly something else. I've never seen anything else like it.
#6COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 5:46pm
A LIFE by Adam Bock at Playwrights Horizons back in 2016. It managed to pack 2 huge surprises into the production- the ostensible main character, played by David Hyde Pierce whose charm was used to devastating effect here
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
dies midway through the play, after thoroughly endearing himself to the audience with a lengthy monologue and a scene.
It thoroughly upended what the play had appeared to be about.
And befitting such a shift, the hitherto unremarkable apartment set itself shifted and turned inside-out and in on itself.
A remarkable coup from the writer, director, and designer.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 10/15/24 at 05:46 PM
#7COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 5:52pm
Chéreau’s separation of act one and act two in The House of the Dead.
JasonC3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
#8COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 6:10pmI know there once was a lengthy thread on this topic, but despite several attempts, I could not discover the right search parameters. Maybe someone else will be more successful.
SeanD2
Featured Actor Joined: 5/2/17
#9COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 6:36pm
The pool table (IYKYK) and final sequence in Black Watch. Those have stayed with me for years now
Jarethan
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
#10COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/15/24 at 11:30pm
I think there was a topic on this not so long ago. Nevertheless, these immediately come to mind:
- Transition to Loveland in Follies in the original production was the greatest for me. Although staged a little too close for comfort, I would probably site the transition to the City on Fire Number in Sweeney Todd, when all mayhem breaks loose. ST may not represent a coup de t’ so much as a brilliantly staged transition.
- Candles emerging from the floor as the Phantom of the Opera crescendoed.
- The amazing scene in Miss Saigon that culminated with the helicopter lowering from the scaffolds. The combination of music, orchestration, direction and scenic design were incredibly effective to me.
- The house coming apart at its foindation in An Inspector Calls.
- The staging of A New Argentina in the original production of Evita.
- The overture in the Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific, when the stage floor peals back to show the orchestra.
- Sylvia's death scene in Finding Neverland, when the cast of Peter Pan perform it for her as she transitions to the afterlife. Not a great show, but an amazing scene.
- The staging of ‘And I am Yelling You’ transitioning to the first performance of the new Deena and the Dreamettes (I think that is what they were called).
Those are the ones that come immediately to mind.
#11COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 12:08am
That scene in Finding Neverland was simply breathtaking. It was simple, but the effect was stunning, I couldn’t tell you anything else about that show.but the scene is forever etched into my soul.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
Dreamboy3
Stand-by Joined: 10/8/18
#12COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 7:12am
In addition to the act I finale in Dreamgirls, the scene where Effie sings I am changing where the theater goes dark with the spotlight on her face and then reveals that she is singing dressed up in a club. It lasts a few seconds and yet communicates an entire trajectory in Effie’s resurgence.
inception
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/13
#13COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 9:21am
"And I am Yelling You"... LOL sometimes typos tell the truth
...
#15COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 10:18am
Even though it didn't really have anything to do with the storytelling, the reveal of the orchestra in LCT's South Pacific was really something thrilling to experience in person.
carolinaguy
Broadway Star Joined: 10/13/06
#16COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 11:15am
Big fan of the Miss Saigon helicopter staging too.
I remember being gobsmacked by the opening of Nicholas Hytner's 1994 Carousel revival at Lincoln Center as well, with the set transforming from a factory floor to a carnival, with a huge carousel assembling before our eyes over the course of the Carousel Waltz overture.
Just remembering you've had an "and"
When you're back to "or"
Makes the "or" mean more than it did before
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#17COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 12:02pm
Kad said: "A LIFE by Adam Bock at Playwrights Horizons back in 2016. It managed to pack 2 huge surprises into the production- the ostensible main character, played by David Hyde Pierce whose charm was used to devastating effect here
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
dies midway through the play, after thoroughly endearing himself to the audience with a lengthy monologue and a scene.
It thoroughly upended what the play had appeared to be about.
And befitting such a shift, the hitherto unremarkable apartment set itself shifted and turned inside-out and in on itself.
A remarkable coup from the writer, director, and designer."
Truly unforgettable. Great play, too.
The third act reveal in Cromer’s OUR TOWN was a stunner as well.
#18COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 12:46pm
The overture of Phantom. The rising chandalier might get most of the attention, but the series of drops rising and being whisked away to slowly reveal the full depth of the Majestic's stage was something spectacular. Hal Prince creating time travel out of light and shadow. A classic for a reason.
I'll never forget National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch, with the ghosts of Soldiers emerging from a pool table, and a drop falling to the floor to reveal bodies dangling mid-air from an explosion.
The finale of Mary Zimmerman's Argonatika, with actors turning into constellations.
A truly spectacular production of the Rake's Progress at San Francisco Opera, directed by Robert LaPage that made it seem like I was watching a movie live on stage.
And I gotta mention the mirror coming down from the flies to reveal the Buzby Berkeley Swastika in "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers.
Ensemble1728379893
Swing Joined: 10/8/24
#19COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 12:54pm
Ivo van Hove's "shower" scene in "Death of a Salesman." The true definition of a coup de théâtre.
#20COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 1:03pm
The transition from Baby Joey to Joey in War Horse was breathtaking. Really everything about the Joey puppet was.
#21COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 1:26pmChairinMain said: "The overture of Phantom. The rising chandalier might get most of the attention, but the series of drops rising and being whisked away to slowly reveal the full depth of the Majestic's stage was something spectacular. Hal Prince creating time travel out of light and shadow. A classic for a reason."
There was so much going on there. I've often wondered how many people noticed one particular drape draw-back, near the upper left corner of the stage, that was timed to occur on a cymbal shimmer. That little, largely unnoticed touch gave me shivers.
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
#22COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 1:51pm
WiCkEDrOcKS said: "
Truly unforgettable. Great play, too.
"
It was a great play- and one that got unfortunately sideswiped by a truly nasty review from Isherwood in the Times despite being praised everywhere else.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
merle57
Chorus Member Joined: 9/9/24
#23COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 2:02pm
You named so many great theatre moments. I would add Mary Martin's Flying in through the nursery windows in Peter Pan which was breathtaking. I would also cite the original Nicholas Nickelby staging with the cart going off under the bridge. The London Bridge sequence on the revolving set in the original production of Oliver! Hal Prince's original staging of the final scene in the original Cabaret where the characters repeat key lines. Hal Prince's and Boris Aronson's arrival of Commander Perry's ship in Pacific Overtures. The rising mansion in the original Sunset Blvd. The original stage picture of Ascot Gavotte in Moss Hart's production of My Fair Lady.
#24COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 8:17pm
A much more subtle, smaller one but when J. Robert Spencer cleaned the floor with a sponge in next to normal while he sang “I’ve Been.” It started out clean and when he dipped it in the bucket and squeezed the sponge it gushed red. I’ll never forget that.
cambell22
Chorus Member Joined: 12/29/18
#25COUP DE THÉÂTRE's - favorites?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 8:34pm
The King and I at Lincoln Center when Anna's steamship enters the harbor!
Updated On: 10/16/24 at 08:34 PMVideos