Are the statues on the staircase in the Masquerade scene supposed to appear to be alive and most people just not notice it?
Sorry if this has been asked before, I used the search option.
Updated On: 7/28/05 at 05:39 PM
i believe on the DVD it said the dummies are on the stairs to make it seems as though there are more people on stage then there really are.
I realize that, but, but was the intent to make them appear alive or simply as statues?
I didn't even realize they were not actors until the second viewing of the show.
In the stage version they are meant to appear as live people. They are supposed to blend in with the rest of the ensemble so it appears that there are more people on stage than there truly are.
Is it like that in all productions, past and present?
[US Tour, Broadway, London, OBC]
the ones on the current tour (which is in Houston) are not nearly as lifelike as the ones i recall from West End/NYC (but that was decades ago).
I saw the show recently and paid special attention. Effort was made on some of them to make them appear as if they were moving, dancing, etc.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
Yes, they are supposed to appear as just extra background people. When I saw the show for the first time, I did not notice that there were dummies on the stairs; I thought it was just a large ensemble. So, obviously, this little gimmick works.
It only works on the feeble minded.
~Dracula, Dead and Loving It
No, they have censors in them that respond to movement, thus making the statues move.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
Feeble-minded? I'm not feeble-minded; I was just paying attention to the action in the forefront, as opposed to concentrating on the chorus.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/05
When I saw it (many years ago!) I didn't notice the dummies, either. But perhaps I could be forgiven as I was in the nose-bleed seats and could barely make out the live people without opera glasses. Lol!
I did notice them in the ensemble in the DVD. Just figured they were cheating.
I realized that they were dummies... but I knew they were dummies and cheated so therefore I think that I don't really count.
However, one thing I did not notice until the very end was the Second Phantom in that scene. Was not expecting him, and then all of a sudden he just appeared. I thought I was going crazy until my friend said she had seen him too.
grizzabella, Which DVD of Phantom?
The movie?
It's on the movie special features disc.
Videos