'Way back when the original production of SUPERSTAR was in previews (was it 1970?), Jesus was crucified on what seemed to be a box of Schraft's chocolates. It was a huge yellow triangle. It was located on the rear wall of the stage. When Jesus was pierced at the end, rays of lights streamed against the wall and seemed to eminate from Jesus' side. Then during the soothing music at the very end, the "cross" was slowly propelled from the back wall, over the orchestra and into the first few rows of the theater.
At the preview I attended, something went wrong with the propelling mechanism and the whole cross began to shimmy and shake while the actor playing Christ (Jeff Fenholt) held on for his dear life. As the cross passed the orchestra pit and was well over the heads of audience members, the shaking became even more obvious and Fenholt uttered some words that never appear in any of the four Gospels. Those of us who were under the cross feared for our safety. He was hanging there for what seemed to be 10 minutes and finally the cross was retracted and curtain calls were taken.
I saw the show several times after that the the cross was never propelled further than the orchestra after that.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)