>>
has anybody phoned John Napier yet? Is this in reference to his MGM Grand fiasco?
For those who might not know, Napier came off the heels of designing the film version of CAMELOT with being given the plum assignment of designing the first major show at the then-new MGM Grand in Vegas. The production was to showcase every major MGM musical for the last four millenia, I think.
Problem was, Napier's a *film* designer, not a stage one, so he designed everything as though it were part of a movie. As a result, everything was *very* concrete in its approach. So the story goes that he was working on the tribute to Esther Wiliams and had this marvlous idea of this gigantic tank of water where we would see this underwater ballet. So they build this thing, fill it with water, and roll it out on the stage...
... at which point, the sheer weight of the thing causes it to crash through the stage floor and destroy the elevator drive mechanisms for the hotel (not to mention just about all of the surrounding infrastructure), setting back the opening of the hotel by at least eight months.
http://docandraider.com
.jpg?format=auto&width=365)
