Favourite Stage Effect Ever Seen?- Page 2

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:11am

And I am pretty sure it's not a double in LB.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:11am

How exactly did the earthquake effect for Shogun: The Musical work?

[jmh7940]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:18am

Lol. The sister in LB is a guy in drag when she's up on the balcony with the face mask. The line is mouthed to a recording. But it's a girl who slides down the pole. I still have no clue how they do it, though, because I don't see where or how the girl can go down the same pole.

[winston89]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:29am

I had always thought that they did the pole thing in Blonde like this.

That the girl in street cloths gripping on to it half way. And when the one in the robe slides down and gets to that point the girl fully dressed slieds the rest of the way down.


When I sat there in the front row I was right. When I was sitting there I was able to see the bit of the skirt hanging down.

[John Murdock]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:36am

Mine is rather simple.... but i just loved it...

In Grey Gardens when Big Edie is on the outside porch singing her song and then the house breaks away to reveal the younger big edie (Ebersole) finishing the number....

simply astonishing :)

[wicked91]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 12:53am

That legally blonde affect is puzzling. I've heard it was two people, and i've heard that it's one girl. It's so mysterious.

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:21am

The earthquake-like effect in Young Frankenstein before "Join the Family Business". Actually, pretty much the whole show was visually amazing.

Obviously doubles are used in many stage effects...but I really want to know how Sutton and Roger get up there so quickly to come down those labratory stairs!

Well, it wasn't so fast that they couldn't have run up a set of stairs or used a lift of some sort. I don't know how much room they have back there, but the lift seems like the most likely choice. (When I say lift, I mean a platform that rises, not an elevator.)

[Robos89]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:21am

It's definitely two...there's a video on THAT site...and the first girl witht he mask jumps on to the pole but we never really see her slide down. Not to mention there's also a banner covering the pole so as to hide something.

[dry2olives]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:26am

The blasts of steam shooting from the orchestra pit to the ceiling of the St. James at the beginning of the overture of On The 20th Century.

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:39am

It was mentioned to the audience who were there before cameras started rolling on the Legally Blonde taping.

The ensemble guy, I think his name was Paul, comes out with the mask on and he slides down the pole a bit and crouches behind the banner out of the audiences view, while the girl all done up slides down from behind the banner where she was stationed.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 1:52am

I forgot all about Dracula. In the La Jolla Playhouse production the coffins were made of glass and when Dracula bit Jonathan the coffin they were on filled with blood. That was pretty neat.

[burntplains]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 2:09am

In Grey Gardens, at the end of act two during "another winter in a summer town".. When she sings "it's difficult drawing the line" and her younger self is pulled off stage right behind her and the "past becomes the present".

chills

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 2:36am

Even though it is so simple, the Phantom appearing in the mirror will always be special to me (Phantom was the first Broadway show I ever saw...eighteen years ago!)

I also agree that Tom Hewitt dropping thirty years onstage and mid-song as Dracula was pretty cool. But then again, when the best part of the play is a makeup effect, you know your show is in trouble.

[ggersten]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 10:27am

The flying car in Chitty. (London)
The helicopter in Miss Saigon. (Broadway)
The aging of the Newsboys in Gypsy with the strobe lights.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 11:07am

This wasn't so much of a stage effect as it was a gorgeous theatrical picture, but I loved in Light in the Piazza during Clara's interlude when the entire back of the stage is one bright yellow-white light and she runs across the back. I remember being so impressed with the simplicity and beauty of it.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:21pm

My favorite visual scenes are:

Carousel: the end of act 1 with the boats going to the clambake

Showboat: the arrival of the Cotton Blossom and the progression of years in Chicago with the revolving door

Miss Saigon: the helicopter landing sideways then flying up in the Manila production; the Ho Chi Minh statue in the London production

Phantom of the Opera: the chandelier in Las Vegas

Whistle Down the Wind: the train and tunnel in the London production

Young Frankenstein: Roll in the Hay

BATB: the transformation of the beast

Titanic: the sinking of the multi-level ship
Aida: its simple but I love the stars appearing after the tomb closes

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:56pm

Favorite recent one?

Ariel destroying Ursula's magic shell which kills Ursula.

Spectacular and people were asking after the show how on EARTH was it done.

God bless Sierra for having to endure that effect 8 performances a week.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:39pm

Brody, was that sarcastic, or does something actually happen?

And how did the Titanic sink on Broadway? In a local production, the boat was there and a blue curtain was pulled up from the floor. Blackout.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 4:47pm

I will always think Elphaba flying (even if it IS a cherry picker) is amazing.

Also, I think that Mary Poppins flying through the audience is absolutely amazing. I saw the show in London and I did NOT see that comin'. I just thought she was gonna fly across the the stage and that was it.

[Broadwaynut81]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:02pm

The opening scene of the revival of Show Boat with the ferry coming right on stage (I think that was one of the only things I liked about the show).

As much as I like Elphaba flying, I like Glinda's bubble entrance just as much. Kind of sets the tone for the show.

But the single coolest thing I saw was the opening scene from the Lion King with all of the animals entering from different ways (not so much a special effect but it was cool for me).

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:14pm

Yes, what is the thing with the shell?

When I saw it, all that happened was Sherie sunk into the stage.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:16pm

All this talk of Dracula and no one mentions that gigantic baby thing in the cemetery?

[broadwaytourist]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 5:17pm

The first curtain call to Journey's End - not really a "special effect" but what an effect it had on me!

[Anti-Romanticist]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 6:04pm

The Beast's transformation in Beauty and the Beast--not the one from Broadway though. WAAAY too many lights when you're sitting just a few rows away from the stage! The transformation I saw at the Northern Stage production in White River Junction was MUCH better (and easier on the eyes). The Beast died near a "fountain" onstage, so when he was presumed dead, he fell/was pulled into the "fountain" while fog spewed from it with a little of the strobe lights. The fog covered most of him up, so when he came out, he was the Prince.

It's MUCH better than it sounds and much more visually interesting!

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 8:50pm

Surprised that no one has mentioned INTO THE WOODS and the Witches Transformation... and the witched final disappearance in the revival.