Favorite Set

#1

Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 12:48am

I did a search for people's opinion's on their favorite settings in shows. Either musical/straight play. Didn't find anything relating to the topic so I started this thread.

Mine personally are
-Wicked (you cannot deny that set is unbelievable, it always takes my breath away)
-Avenue Q, for its sheer simplicity
-The Producers set was really vibrant, fun and interesting
-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels set just sparkled to me..literally

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#2

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:13am

I like the sets for Mary Poppins. That house just dazzles me. I like the simplicity and symbolism of Spring Awakening's set, too.

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#3

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:19am

I actually didn't like the DRS set. That purplish bluish glittery theme gave me a headache. It's the only Broadway show I've seen where I have really disliked the design.

Loved Light in the Piazza. It was breathtaking. I felt like i was looking through a window to a world thousands of miles away. (The lighting helped of course.)


I am more about sets that seamlessly aid the storytelling rather than distract from it.
I love the Tale of Two Cities set for that very reason.

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#4

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:21am

son of a gunn-I thought the overall design for DRS was clever. But I do agree with the purple and sparkliness of it...sometimes it gave me a headache

Forgot Piazza, that set is BREATHTAKING!

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"We need people not to come to Broadway shows wearing shorts and flip-flops. We are working hard up here folks. Find a pair of socks."-Joanna Gleason "I hear L. Ron Hubbard is gonna blow the ladies...and all that jazz! C'mon babe! We're gonna unicorn hug, I bought some NyQuil down....at Wal-Mart?!"-Bebe Neuwirth singing ATJ to Musical Mad Libs at DQYNJ :)

#5

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 1:36am

I do take part of it back. I did enjoy the double revolve. But I really had trouble getting past the purply buishness of everything. I don't remember any of the set pieces striking me as especially interesting though I probably have written off in my memory anything that had the purply bluishness.

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#6

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 2:49am

I loved the Dance of the Vampires sets! Especially the Act 1 overture curtain of skulls and bones. I thought they had made a curtain out of silver balloons. We sat trying to figure out what the hell we were looking at until on of us tramped down to the stage then came back and told us! Didn't matter though, the show still was entertaining to us.

For some odd reason, the set of Triumph of Love seems to stick in my head, too.

Not Broadway, but I saw a regional production of Starmites that had a set that really evoked a comic book feel and also had the special effects to make the show believable!

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Updated On: 11/9/07 at 02:49 AM

#7

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:40am

Sunset Blvd. Mind-boggling.

#8

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 7:04am

The Phantom of the Opera--- Say what you will about the show, but Maria Bjornson’s set and costume designs are amazing and among some of the most beautifully lavish designs ever created for the Broadway stage.

On the other end of the spectrum

Caroline or Change--- for their simplicity and suggestiveness, each piece was just enough to establish how something looked then left the rest to your imagination. Unlike Legally Blonde’s whose sets just look like sets, Caroline’s conveyed a very realistic world through a stylized design.

#9

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 8:17am

I was very impressed with Colour Purple, esp. with the saturated lighting colours.

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#10

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 8:26am

Believe it or not, the best sets I've ever seen were at the Papermill Playhouse in NJ. Their sets are always amazing, in particular for My Fair Lady and Singin' in the Rain.

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#11

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:01pm

i agree w/ sunset blvd, but only when it was raised. otherwise, it was "just" beautiful.

#12

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:17pm

I'll never forget AN INSPECTOR CALLS.

#13

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:22pm

chicago oh wait there isn't one hahahahahah jk jk i hated that show.

fav:
wicked
spring awakening
les mis

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#14

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:28pm

I really liked the sets for:
Wicked
La Cage Aux Folles - Revival (the penis lamp is what did it)
Rocky Horror - Revival
Into the Woods - Original AND Revival
The Wizard of Oz - Kansas City Starlight set
I saw a gorgeous set for a college production of The Old Boy
And any of the sets that Carey Wong designs (See his designs for "Time Again in Oz" and "Sleeping Beauty")

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#15

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:37pm

The Phantom of the Opera--- Say what you will about the show, but Maria Bjornson’s set and costume designs are amazing and among some of the most beautifully lavish designs ever created for the Broadway stage.

Absolutely. What's more amazing is that for such a "lavish" set, so much is still left to the imagination. It's essentially a very simple black box with some very elaborate tricks up its sleeve. As visually stunning as the film version was, its very nature forced it to flesh out all the settings...and that just doesn't serve the story nearly as well as Maria Bjornson's terrifying black spaces do.

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#16

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:39pm

LOVED the set for the La Cage revival (yes that was very funny husk charmer! hahaha)

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#17

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:41pm

chicago oh wait there isn't one

I think this is a very ignorant comment. The set, in my opinion, is genius. It's perfect for that production.

#18

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:41pm

Marry Poppins.

#19

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 5:50pm

I loved the levels of the aparment in LaCage (Revival) so pretty.

A Little Night Music, with the action moving around the trees and the large mansion. I ofund it so funny when looking at the pictures of the Sondheim musical tribute they did on the ALNM set, everyone singing on stage in front of this big-ass mansion, priceless.

#20

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:02pm

I love the set for Cyrano. It really worked great with the show. I especially loved how they used the curtain for the scene changes, but since you could see through it, you could see what was going on behind it. The set was great. I also liked the Mary Poppins set.

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#21

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:03pm

Sunset Boulevard could be the best set ever, and could be for a long time.

Personally, I didn't think Wicked's was too much to say about, even the set designer himself said it was an extremely simple design. I did like the lighting, which i something I usually never say anything about.

I haven't seen the show in person, only bits and pieces and of course have listned to it and seen pictures, and I'm suprised no one said it yet but MiSS SAiGON. They landed a helicopter on stage! How could anyone forget that!

#22

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:12pm

Sunset Blvd. (Saw it on tour)
Showboat - revival (tour)
A Chorus Line (simple but effective!)

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#23

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:34pm

i have to say Aida's set was gorgeously simple, and perfect for the piece. It was a great blend of modern architecture and vibrant colors...and who could forget the eye opening with fire inside the pupil?

#24

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:37pm

'An Inspector Calls' set was hands down one of the most brilliant sets I've ever seen in theatre.

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#25

re: Favorite Set

Posted: 11/9/07 at 6:41pm

I agree with AN INSPECTOR CALLS. Best set I've ever seen on Broadway!

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