On-Stage Accidents? — Page 2

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#26

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 7:31pm

The only thing that really springs to mind is a pretty strange incident that happened in the london phantom last year. When the phantom is at the top of the building just before the chandelier went down a large piece of hard plastic backing fell from one of the stage lights hitting a lady in the second row on the head! She and her family left in the interval and i'm assuming the left after being compensated. Was totally wierd.

#27

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 7:50pm

I was at Damn Yankees at the Fifth ave two nights ago and the show stopped after a flat was be brought in. We heard a crack, the flat reverberated and all the actors ran off stage. THen they brought down the show curtain and proceeded to stop the show for 20 minutes

My friend on the stage management team said the automation messed up. Two flats were brought in instead of one and the second one hit the lockers and the lockers fell into the fly rig, messing up the rigging for the rest of the show. The fixed what they could for the rest of the show and then came in really early the next day to fix the remaining damage.

[believe]

#28

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 8:18pm

The first time I saw The Book of Mormon, Lewis Cleale’s Jesus mustache was half-falling off of his face when he entered during Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.

#29

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 8:49pm

I've mentioned this WICKED incident from 2004 quite a few times on here... but it's interesting, so I'll tell it again:

During Elphaba's entrance at the end of "No One Mourns the Wicked", Shoshana Bean ran out to make her entrance from the back of the stage. About halfway downstage, she stumbled a little and, holding her suitcase, began to fall forward. Since the stage is raked, she was unable to stop herself and kept on stumbling right into the orchestra pit. There was a collective gasp from the audience as she fell. Luckily, she was able to do a 180 and catch herself on the stage with her arms and the suitcase.

The rest of the cast did NOTHING for a good 10 seconds as Shoshana struggled to pull herself up. Eventually, Megan Hilty broke character and ran downstage to give her a hand. After literally pulling her up, Shoshana went on with the performance without a hitch. I'm sure they had a good laugh about it after the show. But what the eff, why didn't any of the ensemble members pull her up? It would have made way more sense than Glinda from the future stepping into her own flashback.

Also, for the rest of the performance - and apparently for a few days after - there was a big hole in the tarp that covers half of the pit at the Gershwin where Shoshana's leg went through. I found out later that the tarp was there to protect the instruments from the bubbles that come out during the opening song.

#30

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 9:52pm

I saw Laura Bell Bundy's wig come off during bend and snap she turned to Paulette and asked her to help put her hair back on it was really funny

I forget where I was for this maybe West Side Story? however someone got shot but the gun shot didn't go off so whoever it was just turned and screamed BANG!

And last there was Wicked when the 2 of them are running away with the lion I don't know what the heck happened but he hit a puddle or something and he was on the ground the lion cage broke open with the stuffed animal on the floor and she turns to him and says "don't shake him" we were in stitches but I felt really bad cause he did hit the ground hard

#31

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 12:11am

I was at a Saturday matinee early in Rosie's "Grease" run when as the curtain came down for intermission, Rosie came out in front and tearfully said that Marsha Lewis had fallen thru an open trap door and they were attending to her and they'll see how to proceed. Intermission over and the show resumes and Trouper Marsha went on with the show. A few months later, I talked to her about it and said it was scary and she was still seeing a Chiropractor because of it.

#32

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:07am

I personally witnessed:

-Idina Menzel falling through the trapdoor at Wicked
-Shoshana Bean's foot getting caught in the trapdoor at Wicked
-the car breaking down for 45 minutes at Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
-fire alarm going off during the show at West Side Story in DC
-fire alarm going off at a regional production of Next Fall

Also, the day I decided I was going to see Spiderman, Christopher Tierney fell, so I decided to skip it, for the safety of all involved.

It doesn't happen all the time, but it tends to happen more often to me than anyone else I know.

Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how

#33

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:39am

In Caroline O'Connor's recent run in Gypsy:

She flung her arms out during "Some People" and caught her long, beaded necklace, which flew up and hit her in the face. She barely flinched.

In "From New York to Seattle", she tried to whistle to one of the boys, and no sound came out. Then, she almost fell when taking a seat on a suitcase right in the middle of "goooodbyyyyyyyye"; forcing her to stop singing mid-note while she steadied herself.

She also had a wardrobe malfunction at the beginning of "Rose's Turn", where her dress was unbuttoned at the front, revealing a black bra. She quickly did up the buttons as she sauntered to the catwalk.

I should point out that these weren't all at the same performance.

I was struck by O'Connor's sense of fun in the face of mishap. She could clearly laugh at herself (she almost cracked up during the non-whistle, and the near fall), yet remained very professional (she took them all in stride, and held it together). The lady knows what she is doing.

#34

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:45am

I just thought of another one. I was at LuPone's final in Sunset in London. Right before the set comes down the stage went dark and the curtain came down. They could not get the car to move to bring the mansion down. After a wait of a few minutes they made an announcement about it and said the bars are open and drinks are on the house. I never saw so many people get up so fast.

I would say it was about 30 minutes and the show resumed. I believe it also happened at the matinee the same day.

"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter." Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.

#35

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:22am

I was at the same PATTI & MANDY performance as Curtis B. After Patti's fall, she did the rest of the show in her newly ragged hose, which I found charming and natural. In fact, the whole show became so free-wheeling, even her dogs were brought out. That was one of the best concert performances I've ever seen.

During one performance of THE BOY FROM OZ, Hugh Jackman cut his hand on a piece of moving scenery. You could see the blood pretty clearly against his skin and the white top-hat-and-tails costume he wore.

Back in my student days, I remember during the opening waltz of the original production of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, I began to smell something acrid in the air. Sure enough, they stopped the show for about 15 minutes. Firefighters came in, inspected, presumably tended to whatever had been amiss, and pretty soon William Daniels and crew were again blithely waltzing and changing partners.

Also, I recall Fritz Weaver--one of my all-time favorite actors--going up on the admittedly complex lyrics to "A Hymn to Him" ("Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?") in a City Center production of MY FAIR LADY. He seemed to go blank and then very smartly used the exasperation of Higgins' character at that moment to make his muttering and storming off into the wings perfectly in character and believable. A few moments later, he came back on stage and picked up the song at the proper point. A very deft save.

Updated On: 5/7/12 at 09:22 AM

#36

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:31pm

I remember Aida had an accident in Chicago prior to Broadway. Where Heather Headley and Adam Pascal both fell about 8 feet to the stage when the tomb carrying them malfunctioned.

#37

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:58pm

Grease needed a trap? Why?

Marla: I have to go sing about a life I never led.

#38

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 2:45pm

Didn't a dancer in Allegro lose a foot or something when it got caught in the elaborate on stage tracks the screens slid in and out on?

#39

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 3:18pm

The person who said the AIDA problem.. Was that in DC? I remember that too when they did it at the Kennedy Center.

I remember seeing a tour of Dreamgirls at Hershey Theater where Roz White literally lost her voice during the finale of Act One. She couldn't sing any of And I am Telling You... It was so bad, I had heard she was replaced the next day.

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

#40

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 3:19pm

Chicago: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117758064?refcatid=15&printerfriendly=true

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#41

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 3:20pm

Penny Reilly allegedly broke her vagina in a harness accident in the Mean Girls national tour.

See Submissions Only!

Updated On: 5/7/12 at 03:20 PM

#42

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 3:34pm

Beauty and the Beast (Houston Tryout) - Harness wasn't attached to the Beast for the transformation. He simply got up and took of his mask.

Witches of Eastwick (West End) - One of the harness didn't descend for the flying sequence at the end of the first act. All three women remained seated on the sofa and just waved their arms around.

Legally Blonde (Broadway) - Trap opened for a set to rise up and got stuck for a few minutes. Annaleigh bounced on stage and exclaimed, "Omigod, you guys! There's a big hole in the floor!"

My Fair Lady (West End) - Martine McCutcheon and Jonathan Pryce got a bad case of the giggles during the "teaching" sequence.

Kiss Me, Kate (Broadway revival) - Curtain got snagged on one of the sets as it was rolling on and a stage hand had to come onstage to fix it.

Kopit & Yeston's Phantom (Houston Tryout) - Richard White got laryngitis and performed the spoken dialogue, but lip-synced the songs while Stephen Lehew sang from the pit.

Jekyll & Hyde (Pre-Broadway Tour) - Giant mirror descended for In His Eyes at an alarming rate and SLAMMED loudly onto the stage behind Robert Cuccioli causing him to visibly jump in his chair.

City of Angels (National Tour) - Curtain got stuck a couple feet from the stage as it rose for the opening and all that could be seen during the City of Angels Theme were the Angel City 4 from the knees down.

On the Putting It Together DVD, there is a bonus feature of Carol Burnette's skirt falling off during a performance.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

Updated On: 5/7/12 at 03:34 PM

#43

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:54pm

Cabaret (1998 revival) back in about 2001 or so:

For those who didn't see it, the basic set consisted of a large platform with three doors in the front of it, on top of which the orchestra sat. For the final scene, the orchestra has disappeared, however their chairs and music stands remained. The front of the platform flies out as the chorus girls begin entering from beneath it.

Well, on this particular night, one of the music stands was too close to the edge, and when the front of platform flew out, it caught the stand and lifted it about ten feet in the air before the stand fell, shattering into pieces on top of the platform and sending chunks of metal flying down from above, mind you as the chorus girls are continuing to enter directly below. Miraculously no one was hurt and most actually kept their composure, although as soon as the show ended the entire backstage crew was out there as though they were responding to a fire.

Also, at a dinner theatre in Orlando about 20 years ago (I believe the show was called "Capones"?) One of the main actors completely lost his lines, trying to ad lib and eventually flat out saying he had no idea what his line was supposed to be. What made it so funny though is that he began wandering through the audience (as actors in this show did) and then accidentally knocked over a patron's coffee, spilling it all over the poor audience member. So not only do you forget your lines, but you spill coffee all over someone in the process.

#44

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 12:23am

In a recent Newsies performance, in the scene where Jeremy and Kara kiss, a little kid called out loudly right after their kiss, "that was disgusting!", and the whole audience started cracking up and Kara was visibly trying to suppress some major giggles, which made the audience laugh harder. After about a minute of that, Jeremy looked out at the audience with a "seriously?" expression that made everyone laugh harder at the fourth wall breaking down some more, and then he held up his hand to try to get the audience to settle down before continuing with the scene.

#45

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 7:13am

During the 10th Anniversary performance of Les Mis on Broadway, Robert Marien was hit in head by the turning barricade after the 'fall' of the barricade (above his eyebrow, if I remember right -- I have a picture somewhere)

He did the rest of the show with a little white bandage on his face (I thought it was part of his costume at first), but at the stage door afterwards he said what had happened

You don't go to the dragon without a present - Mark Rylance

#46

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 7:45am

One evening during NICE WORK previews one of the chorus girls' zipper on her dress was stuck and she was forced to wear it for the rest of the number. At the same performance during "Fascinating Rhythm" when Micheal McGrath builds the barricade in front of the door he pulled the little truck carrying the tea table and chairs out of alignment and during the height of the number two crew guys in blacks had to very quickly run out and pull it off.

#47

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 9:18am

"Grease needed a trap? Why?"

When Sam Harris is singing "Magic Changes" the chorus is behind him in a pit simulating an audience in front of a stage. I'm assuming the floor didn't close and in she went.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3g9iTwftso

#48

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 10:49am

i was at a performance of Spring Awakening when the movable part of the stage malfunctioned and moved bckwards when it was not supposed to. it ran over poor Lea Michele's foot and she was injured. the show stoppd for a couple minutes while they had someone look at her foot. She then came back out and finished the show which impressed me because I am a baby when it comes to pain, and I know it was her job to perform but after that I would have just let my understudy go on.

#49

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 11:13am

I saw American Idiot four times after Stark Sands (Tunny) left. Out of those four times, his replacement made mistakes during three performances.

The first performance, he totally blanked during "City of the Damned" and then mixed up his lines during "Before the Lobotomy (Reprise)"

The second performance, he mixed up lines during "Are We the Waiting" and I could see the ensemble behind him suppressing their laughter.

The third performance, he mixed up lines during "City of the Damned" which caused Van Hughes (Johnny) to mixed up his lines.

Theo Stockman got lines mixed up in the show every once in a while, too, but he went on with conviction and that it unless you were really paying attention to lines, you wouldn't have noticed.

One performance, John Gallagher Jr. (Johnny) smacked himself in the face during "Jesus of Suburbia" and started to bleed. Before he, Stark & Michael Esper (Will) went up on the scaffolding, Michael got a rag and gave to John to wipe/stop the blood.

#50

On-Stage Accidents?

Posted: 5/8/12 at 11:15am

Well if we're talking tech mis-haps, I recently posted one.

I went to see The Best Man. In Act 3, Eric McCormack and John Laroquette are seated having a discussion. The lights go out and the audience thought it was the end of the scene. A few seconds later, the audience hears Laroquette's voice: "This is not part of the play.". The lights come back on, but then the front curtain starts to descend. It goes about halfway down and then rises again.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

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