Dream Sequences
Dream Sequences
#1Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 10:03pm
Does anyone else despise dream sequences in plays or particularly musicals?
I still have nightmares about the dream sequence in Oklahoma! It was never my favorite musical to begin with, but I find the dream sequence particularly painful.
I saw Hair at a local theatre (see the Dallas Board for my opinion on that). It was my first time seeing a production of Hair, and I loved everything minus the VERY long dream/hallucination though I understand the point of that sequence in the show.
Anyone else despise dream sequences?
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#2re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 10:08pmFrumah Sarah is one of the best musical theater sequences ever created.
#2re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 10:54pmthe dream sequence in Miss Saigon was the highlight of the show for me. Though it is really more of a flashback, but it's staged as both.
Theatreboy33
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/03
#3re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 10:57pm
As i recall, there was a pretty horrible dream sequence in The Woman in White, though all I recall from it was the sound of Michael Crawford with that Italian accent echoing "I am a doctor, I am a doctor..."
Why i recall this, i have no idea. But I do recall thinking, wow, these just don't work onstage. In fact, any sort of film-like montage effect, like dream 'sequences' (not necessarily dreams, but 'sequences') often fail quite miserably onstage.
#4re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:03pmWhy do you have nightmares about the Oklahoma! dream sequence? I think it's brilliant.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#5re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:08pmThen there's the daydream or flashback in CATS where Gus relives his performance of Growltiger. I've seen some productions where Gus stays on stage, enveloped in fog, and others where he leaves. The latter is a bit confusing.
-At CATS rehearsal-
Chuckie: "I'd love to sit Andrew Lloyd Webber down and ask where the Hell this came from."
Me (as Andrew Lloyd Webber): "...I wrote CATS? Dude, I am so sorry!"
Spacedog78
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/06
#6re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 11:25am
CATSNYrevival
I hate when people call it a flashback, a flashback is when you remember something while you are awake. The dream sequence in Saigon is a nightmare in which Thuy comes back from the dead to haunt Kim and she re-lives what happened before.
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#7re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 11:27am
Only when pointless...
Didn't they turn "The Trolley Song" into one for the stage version of "Meet Me In St. Louis"?
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#8re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:07pmwest side story dreams sequence is beautiful
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
#9re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:12pmThere are no general statements to be made on this. Like flashbacks, they work if they're appropriate and well done. If not, not.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#10re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:16pmWell, the Dream Sequence in Oklahoma is usually the first cut made by directors in high schools and community theatres. Just as well when Dancing Laurie is too often played by the local ballet school teacher or teen diva who wants to reinvent the choreography and do 'Swan Lake Comes to Kansas' behind a poorly lit scrim. OK, guess dream sequences can be nightmares too!
sidjones09
Leading Actor Joined: 1/4/07
#11re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:36pmYou can say the same about 'Carousel' Shakespearean.
"If you've got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you're learning to say it better." - David Mamet
gymdudeva
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/07
#12re: Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 1:31pmThere's a really nice one in Avenue Q. It's done very straightforward, no fog or hallucinations....I don't even think it's during a song.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#14Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 4:55pmSecret Garden has the Cholera opening.
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
goldenstate5
Featured Actor Joined: 5/8/06
#16Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 6:02pm
"There's a really nice one in Avenue Q. It's done very straightforward, no fog or hallucinations....I don't even think it's during a song."
I know you're talking about Princeton's nightmare, but ironically, "Fantasies Come True" involves a lot of fog, and yes, it's a dream sequence...
maybethistime
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/04
#17Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 6:05pmEven though it's making fun of dream sequences, I love it in "Drowsy."
#18Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 6:15pmI have to like the dream sequence in Oklahoma! I was Dream Laurey, so it would suck if I had to play a part in a part I hated.
"For example, if I should paint my fingernails green -
and it just so happens I do paint them green. Well, if anyone should ask me why, I say: 'I think it's pretty!'"
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#19Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:58pmim a fan of the dream sequence, ha. it has to be done right or else they can become really akward but it can often give a show depth. i hate when shows ad dream sequences though, it really irks me.
Colle
Broadway Star Joined: 2/13/06
#20Dream Sequences
Posted: 3/21/07 at 3:33pmI thought the dream sequence/flashback in "Miss Saigon" was done really well too.
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