Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
Phantom Spring Awakening My Fair Lady NEWworks tour (hated the show but the sets were awesome) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Shrek (sets were pretty much the only standout)
Dracula (1977) - the production that starred Frank Langella, had a black and white set with one red item such as a rose or a glass of wine in each scene. It was amazing. Edward Gorey was the set designer. One of my all time favorite productions.
Sorry, no photos. But the original design of TITANIC was fascinating...very spare in one sense, and yet still pretty impressive with the 3-story ship, the views from down below looking up, and the ship deck tilting with things and people sliding off it was relatively terrifying.
Boris Aronson's work on the original PACIFIC OVERTURES was remarkable. (Of course, his original FOLLIES set, when the gossamer fell and "Loveland" appeared was, for its time, breathtaking. And the elevator and plexiglass of his COMPANY set was every effective. Of course, in the first two cases, Florence Klotz' costuming was as much part of the scenic design as were the sets themselves. Brilliant work.)
On the downside: As for SUNSET BLVD., I never thought it made sense for the material. She lives in a falling-down old place, not a movie palace. Ah well.
Bob Crowley's sets for Carousel were pure poetry. Surprisingly simple, but always beautiful. As if it came right out of a painting. If I can, I will try to scan some pictures. The picture of Julie and Billy on the carousel with the huge Mullin's sign overhead is simply breathtaking, one of my favorite pictures ever taken.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
Here's a pic of the Sunset Boulevard Set (please excuse the dodgy scan)
Personally I feel that Norma is faded but still full of pride, hence the movie set house. The set also included the backlot of Paramount etc.however none were as stunning as the staircase. Scene changes were made using complex hydraulics, and a funny story is that immediately before opening in London the scene changes were malfunctioning randomly due to radio interference, causing set pieces to be flying about all over the place.
My favorite has to be Sunset Boulevard. I never saw On twentieth Century by Robin Wagner but saw photos of it in some Book on The American Musical from Hollywood to Broadway. If anyone has that book I would love to see those photos again. It was a great looking set.
The Vivian Beaumont always seems to have beautiful set designs, despite its weird shape. Michael Yeargen is a bit hit or miss but both South Pacific and The Light in the Piazza's scenic designs just *melted* into the Beaumont.
I really don't get Eugene Lee - Sweeney Todd and Wicked look like two sides of the same contrived industrial vomit pile to me. The scale is nice but otherwise eugh...
"I really don't get Eugene Lee - Sweeney Todd and Wicked look like two sides of the same contrived industrial vomit pile to me. The scale is nice but otherwise eugh... " While I do love the Sweeney Todd set design, I could not agree more about Wicked's set. The clock concept is not incorporated into the story at all and the set is just plain ugly in my opinion.
My favorite sets would definetly have to be Sunset Boulevard, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is the best set I have seen for a Broadway musical.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
One of my favorite set designs is the Act One closing scene in the original production of GYPSY. Jo Mielziner's railway station design has the railroad tracks going off into infinity--just where will June and Tulsa and the other "farm boys" end up? Where will Rose, Herbie, and Louise end up, as Rose sings "Everything's Coming Up Roses"? The Daily News critic was so taken with the set that he bought the design drawing from Mielziner. I wish I had it!
"(in a sweedish accent) Oh! What a lovely T-shirt you are wearing!"- Catherine Zeta-Jones refering to my ALNM shirt at the CD signing.
Say NO to drugs and YES to Jackie Hoffman Live At Joes Pub!
"ITS THE DAY OF THE SHOW YA'LL!!"-Bwaynerd