Favorite jaw-dropping or hilarious moments onstage

[Mark Loves His Scarf]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 4:58pm

So sorry if this has been done before, but I'm new to the board. I've searched through pages and haven't found a topic like this, but I figure that most of the topics on here are recycled anyway.

Anyway, the first time I saw a Broadway show was not too long ago. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. And I will always remember that wonderful feeling of that first-time experience and how much of an impact it makes. And I'm just wondering... what were some of your experiences that made your jaw literally drop because of a scene, line, plot twist? Or maybe made you laugh involuntarily?

My moment: One of the bellboys in DRS stepping on the bag and hearing a loud bark from a dog inside. That had me in tears.

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:02pm

Oh my gosh, I remember that dog part..my friend and I were in tears!! It was SOOOO funny, gosh.

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:06pm

i COMPLETELY forgot about that part!! that part was HYSTERICAL too!

[Musical_nerd]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:06pm

Welcome to BWW! Be sure to read the FAQ:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=858987#1633383

And I love that part from DRS. :)

Updated On: 1/22/06 at 05:06 PM

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:33pm

I'd say the first time I saw Sweeney Todd. It was a regional production very much in the Hal Prince style, I was just getting started in theater so I didn't know much about Sondheim or the story, when I heard Mrs.Lovett saying "You know me, bright ideas just pop into my head..." and when she says "And a ****'s good for maybe six or seven at the most," I went hysterical, I could not believe they were singing about eating people. Throughout the whole song I was cracking up and filled with surprise at Sondheim's lyrics, then when she said "And we've got some sheperd's pie peppered with actual sheperd on top" I think I almost died of surprise, delight, amazement. I was so shocked.

[jasobres]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:38pm

I think what came close to jaw-dropping was when I saw Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. To me, this was a departure from what she has done earlier. (Sure she has done Marian the Librarian in Music Man, but that doesn't count, because it wasn't Broadway.) Anyway, before she had mostly, because of her speaking voice, done musical comedies (Strike Up the Band, Charlie Brown, etc.) and she was typecast as the pint-sized girl who could stop a show anywhere. But this was different. She was singing opera, she was belting, she was doing the whole kit-n-kaboodle. Her performance was, in Seth Rudetsky's terms, ahmaaaaazing!

[BluCat500]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:44pm

Patty with the tuba.

Nuff' said.

[Mark Loves His Scarf]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:44pm

Thanks for the welcome and for the FAQ.

I thought of another one. This was also a regional theatre production, but not sure if many people have seen it. It's called Caught in the Net, the sequel to Run For Your Wife. Most hilarious play I've seen yet.

Anywho, the man's a bigamist and he's trying to keep the secret from each wife (he has two). Well somehow his story gets mixed up and one of the wives is asking where he is, but he can't be there so he hides in the closet while his friend tries to cover for him. Well, the wife, no doubt, wants to check the closet for something and they're arguing for a good two minutes when all of a sudden SWISH! the door flings open, and the husband walks out calm, cool, and collective with the funniest disguise ever. He has a long trench coat with a hat to match, a purple scarf wrapping the bottom half of his face, and dark sunglasses. PLUS he's smoking a cigarette. He just walks out, sort of bobbing his head a bit while the others stare in shock and confusion. He enters and exits in three seconds, but that three seconds where everything was silent and all you could see was this crazy man coming out of the closet- hilarious.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 5:48pm

1. Patty with a Tuba - SWEENEY TODD
2. Michael Potts in a KKK hat - LENNON
3. Terrance Mann as Mike Douglas - LENNON
4. "I Am a Catholic" - ALTAR BOYZ

[EVIE]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:09pm

The very first show I saw on stage ever was Les Miz in London. The finale sbsolutely blew me away. It was so powerful and beautiful. I had never felt or seen anything like it before. Another jaw dropping moment for me was Circle of Life in The Lion King. It's one of my favorite movies ever, and Circle of Life is my favorite part in it. Seeing it on stage was incredible!

[Katurian2]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:11pm

Patti with tuba!!
Basically the last 15 minutes of Sweeney Todd...

[Attendthetale331]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:35pm

The final sequence of Sweeney Todd when there is so much tension and everything is reaching its climax, it is an unbelievable experience.

In Wicked during "Popular" when Kristin Chenoweth had the mirror she was playing with it and the mirror reflected off the mirror and hit the eyes of the people in the audience, she realized that she just blinded half of the audience she played with it and continued to play with the reflection and shined the light all over the place, it was halarious.

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:37pm

theatretrash... you reminded me of one:

the end of "Something About You" from Altar Boyz

the whole show makes you feel like you have a dirty mind... it's so great!

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:47pm

Heh, I saw Altar Boyz last night and nearly fell out of my chair laughing when they brought a woman from the audience onstage during "Something About You." The audience woman was very pregnant, which was quite funny given the message of the song.

[ihearttheatre]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:50pm

I don't know if this is my absolute favorite, but I just saw Spelling Bee today, so it's fresh in my head. The wording my not be exact, but this part just struck me as so hilarious:

"I was just thinking...if you took the 'w' in answer, the 'h' in ghost, the extra 'a' in aardvark, and the 't' in listen, someone could be saying 'what' over and over, but no one would ever hear them because the entire word would be silent."

[jennykett89]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 8:09pm

I love all things Putnam County Spelling Bee and the funniest moment that comes to mind for me from the shows I've seen is when Ms Paretti is talking to the audience and saying
"This is a very difficult time for girls..."
*Coneybear falls off the bleachers*
Leaf: "I fell."
Ms. Paretti: "and boys."

I just laughed SO hard... I mean the expression on his face was BEYOND priceless. I think I cried for like 5 minutes I was laughing so hard... and like after that when i thought of it i would just randomly start laughing so people were looking at me like I was crazy...

[ihearttheatre]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 8:12pm

haha There are so many great moments in that show! I definately cried a little from laughing so hard.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 8:13pm

The last note of One Day More in Les Miz is absolutely amazing, and did in fact, make my jaw drop (slightly).

Almost all of The Drowsy Chaperone is hilarious times ten.

[Mark Loves His Scarf]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 8:14pm

jenny I ALWAYS have those moments where I randomly start laughing because of that one precious moment. For example, another DRS one because that show's so funny, is when Ruprecht starts kissing him then licking him and then... oh dear, need I say more? I would laugh in the middle of something serious and this nice old couple would shoot me awkward stares.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 8:41pm

thoroughly modern millie- harriet harris and leslie uggams doing the scenes with muzzie "in disguise", it was hard for me to see how those jokes could have landed with sheryl or and understudy in for the role (since all of the abouve look rather young)

rocky horror show preview- alice ripley mortifying my classmate (school trip to rocky horror... oh so "family values")during toucha touch me, said girl was singing along... alice heard her, stopped, turned to her and goes "are you done? can i finish now?" and did the rest of the song

Trailer Park.. betty's monologue about the guy in white castle, and lyn's definition of rendez vous, both in "this side of the tracks", pippi's incredibly long bleep in "...tv show"

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 11:27pm

Sweet Charity:

Ir's Charity's wededing party, and she unwraps a really special present: a baby uniform.
CHARITY: Oh... uh...
A FANDANGO GIRL: What? I thought she was pregnant. Isn't that why she's getting married?

My, my, my...

[overthemoon419]

Posted: 1/23/06 at 2:49am

**Possible Spoilers**

1. Jarrod Emick's last night at Rocky Horror. If you were there, you truly got to see a... different side of Jarrod, if you will.

2. Terrence Mann calling out drunken hecklers at Rocky Horror. "Peace, brother. But shut the f*** up!"

3. Puppets having sex in Avenue Q.

4. Jaw-dropping? Elphaba and the trap door.

5. John Jellison speaks at the end of All Shook Up. Got me every time.

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 1/23/06 at 5:32am

1. "May I take your hats, coats, swastikas?" (something to that effect) from The Producers.

2. Pretty much Spamalot in its entirely.

3. Not exactly hilarious, but I love watching all the different versions of "Tango: Maureen".

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/23/06 at 6:05am

In My Life....whole thing.

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 1/23/06 at 7:00am

Avenue Q, when Trekkie Monster donates $10 million for the monster school: "In volatile market, only stable investment is PORN!"