Gypsy 7/19 Matinee - FLYING PLATES MISHAP

[dshnookie]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 6:58pm

I did the student rush today for Gypsy, and in "Together Wherever We Go" with Patti, Laura and Boyd - Boyd throws his plates in the air and one bounces off stage, takes out one of the light bulbs that lines the stage and falls into the orchestra. There was a look of surprise and shock on all of their faces, as Laura looks into the wings and makes a sweeping motion with her hands and mouths "broom", Patti does the same at the other wing. Laura then runs off stage, grabs a broom and starts sweeping it up as Patti instructs her, "Here Louise, There Louise, Some over here Louise". Finally, two stage hands run onto the stage and Patti says "Now give it to these men over here". No one could keep a straight face, with Patti laughing the most. The audience ate it up. Then, they all get back in their places, and resume right where they left off. The lines that came right after the incident were Boyd's and Laura's and I'm not sure if these were the actual lyrics to the song, because I googled the lyrics and they were different from the original cast but Boyd sang something along the lines of "Hope the audience doesnt boo", and Laura sang right after with "We remember our cues" something to that effect, (perhaps the song was rewritten for this revival, if not what a great ad-lib). It made this fantastic, cant-miss show that much more special.

The stage is VERY VERY high for the student rush front row seats. Im 5'9 and had trouble, but being THAT close to Patti is incomparable. This is my 11th show in the 3 weeks I've been living in New York and it blows everything else out of the water - and everything I've seen before. GO SEE THIS! :)


Updated On: 7/19/08 at 06:58 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 7:22pm

The broken dates, the endless waits
The lovely loving and the hateful hates
The conversation with the flying plates
I wish I were in love again!

- Lyric by Lorenz Hart

[tgn915]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 7:31pm

That sounds so great.
Yeah, they added a verse for the revival.

"If the audience boos,
we don't drop our cues.
We always could use what they throw!
The fruit may fly, but why complain?
Tomato sauce goes great with chow mein.
Togethuh whehevuh we guh-oh."

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 7:44pm

I will be in the city in about 2 weeks and was thinking of doing student rush tickets for Gypsy, can I ask what time you got to the box office to get seats? Was there a huge line? Or plenty of seats?

Thank you!

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 8:21pm

The flying plates, Patti ripping up the letter from June and throwing it into the audience, etc are a bit ridiculous. Is this Laurents' cheap shot at "interactive theatre"?

It all started with a subtle walk down the aisle from the Merm...

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 8:25pm

Ridiculous?

Why don't you sit in first row center and have Patti throw and aim those letter pieces right in your face and you'll be terrified.

[kathy selden]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 8:41pm

The plates flew into the audience Thurs 7/17 night as well. They handled it amazingly - ran up to the audience member, and worked it in and even changed the lyric to something like "whenever we mess up" or "screw up" or something. It was so hilarious. Patti's "Isotoner" slipped off one of her heels, she pulled it up, and then Boyd pantomimed the same motion. Just a great song, by true artists having a ball on stage.
Great theater.

[Chance]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 8:42pm

I LOVE the "interactive element." It really enhances the experience. When i saw the show I got one of the velcroed apples handed to me and it just made it that much more interesting.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:06pm

-- "The flying plates, Patti ripping up the letter from June and throwing it into the audience, etc are a bit ridiculous. Is this Laurents' cheap shot at "interactive theatre"?"


Um, the plates going into the audience is accidental when it happens. It's not an element added by Laurents; sometimes things just don't go as planned when you're tossing props.

As for the letter ripping, it's an incredible moment. Our hearts were pounding in our chests by that point. The curtain comes down on that last note and people are shaking. Trust me, it's a good thing.


-- "It all started with a subtle walk down the aisle from the Merm..."

Really? Subtle? The Merm? HA!

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:07pm

The producers of the show must have a hell of an insurance policy. If I were hit in the face with a plate, I'd buy Patti Lupone with my settlement $.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:14pm

The lyric about "audience boos, drop our cues, use what they throw" have been part of GYPSY since the Lansbury revival. They might have been in the Merman production but it wasn't included on the LP.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:19pm

Higgins...it was a joke. Relax. Bring that heart rate back down.

I obviously know that the plates going into the audience sometimes are NOT planned. I was just playing off of other audience interaction bits during the show.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:25pm

Nevermind.

The heart rate is just fine. It's no secret that there's a lot of hating towards this revival on this board and I took your comments at face-value and simply responded as such.

Peace.
Updated On: 7/19/08 at 09:25 PM

[Studmuffn520]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 9:54pm

his plate flew into the audience on the 17th too. they all looked at eachother then walked up together as the audience member handed it to boyd. and as he sang "as the audience boos.." he pointed to the person it was funny.
and during that song patti's slipper was coming off so she picked her foot up and fixed it and as boyd walked near her he lifted his leg and hopped over to her. it made everyone crack up.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 11:10pm

Hey Broadwayfan7, I got there right at 10AM - a little later than I had wanted and there were about 25-30 people in front of me. They all got tickets, and I got the last front row center seat for the matinee. I believe the evening went pretty quickly, but I wanted the matinee so it wasnt a big deal. I was on the aisle for the center orch. I was actually last in line, and when I was 3 people shy of the window, 3 more girls lined up behind me who had lost August rush, so if you're thinking of seeing that as well, I'd also arrive 9-930, as they were saying - not sure if they got seats though [for Gypsy]. I would show up 9-930 and you should be fine. Enjoy.

[TDavis09]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 11:22pm

The stage is pretty high. I'm 6' and I was sitting in row A (front row on the side). The tickets were marked partial view and I'm guessing that's why. If I was one inch higher I would have been level with the stage, but my view wasn't obstructed in the least. I arrived at 9:30 when the box opened at 10 and got two tickets for the matinee in Row A seats 2-4. First two seats on the aisle. I wouldn't want to sit past the fourth seat in though, good luck seeing anything from those (I sat down there for a second after intermission just to sneak a peak.)

Enjoy the show!

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 11:39pm

The "Audience boos..." verse wasn't in the original production. They sang what is now the reprise as the final verse for the song. After the scene with Agnes, they just repeated this verse for for the reprise.

"Through thick and through thin,
all out or all in.
And whether it's win, place or show.
With you for me and me for you,
we'll muddle through whatever we do.
Together, wherever we go."

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 12:29am

Thanks dshnookie!

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 1:07am

I'm a little confused. So does the box office open at 9:30 or 10?

[snl89]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 1:26am

Ok, very amusing story from when my sister, my mom and I went to Gypsy (basically another flying plates mishap):

So it was basically a similar situation. They threw the plates, they bounced, and one flew RIGHT off and into my sister's lap! (we were front row rush tickets). So my sister was thinking that they just wanted to get them out of the way, so she took the plate and layed it right beneath the stage. Well, then Laura actually came up to the front of the stage and motioned, asking for the plate back. So my sister got it again and gave it back, but yeah, we were all CRACKING up. It was great I mean, nothing huge, it was just kind of a typical silly thing (no stagehands on stage or anything), but it was mostly just funny because it was my sister it happened to! lol


And can I just say, front row Gypsy is INCREEEEEEEDIBLE. Granted, I'm 4'11 and my sister is 5'1, so we were like "heck no" and we got booster seats lol. So we actually got the advantage of being a bit higher. But honestly, I didn't feel like we missed a thing (there's very little that doesn't happen far downstage anyway), and to see THOSE performances INCHES away from us? Completely something I will never forget.

Updated On: 7/20/08 at 01:26 AM

[Here I Am]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 2:59am

Somebody posted something about Patti pulling up her isotoner on 7/17. Is she STILL wearing those? She was wearing those when I saw the show over a month ago.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 3:08am

mormonophobic, the box office opens at 10AM every day except for Sundays, when they open at noon.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 5:21pm

I'mm sorry, but I am a little confused. If the box office opens at 10, how were there people already in line for student rush? Does the line form before it opens? I only ask because I want to see Gypsy again this coming up Saturday in the evening and I was wondering roughly how early one might suggest I get there. Thank you all so much for your help.

[tgn915]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 5:27pm

Yes, people line up before the box office opens.

[Patash]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 5:55pm

Flying china? Nothing new. I actually have a very tiny scar on my left cheek from a piece of flying coffee cup thrown by Maureen Stapleton many years ago in The Rose Tattoo. I was in the first row.