"Semi-Staged" Productions

[Oak2]

Posted: 6/2/18 at 9:17pm

I apologize if this has come up before, I did a search but couldn't find it, and I've tried finding the answer elsewhere but figured y'all might be of better help with your experience. What really constitutes a "semi-staged" performance of a musical?

To give context, in my case I'm particularly asking about two performances I'm looking forward to seeing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, both of which are billed as "semi-staged performances" - one for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying next weekend, and another for Little Shop of Horrors in October. I'm especially curious about Little Shop because I feel like my brother would enjoy it (he doesn't like too many musicals but there are some that match his taste), but he hasn't seen the movie or any previous version and I don't know if a semi-staged production would hurt more than help as a "first-time" experience of the show. I'm guessing at the very least that semi-staged means there will be minimal sets, but I figured at least they'd be in costume. But would this mean they won't have the plant puppets for Audrey II?

In essence, what should I expect from a show that bills itself as a "semi-staged" production, and is it a good idea to have such a production be one's first experience of a show?

 

[ren598]

Posted: 6/2/18 at 9:47pm

I saw On The Town in Concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra last night and they also labeled it as “semi-staged”.  For this concert, they sang all the musical numbers including dialogue, but conductor Keith Lockhart had to set the scenes.  There were minimal use of props like tables, chairs and benches.  Brandon Victor Dixon, Andy Karl, and Christian Dante White who played Gabey, Ozzie, and Chip respectively were in sailor outfits the entire show.  There were choreographed dance numbers, but not as extravagant as a fully staged production.  But with a stellar cast that included Dixon, Karl, Laura Osnes, Megan Lawrence, Marc Kudisch, Andrea Martin and a full orchestra, it hardly matter that it was “semi-staged”.

[pdjennings]

Posted: 6/3/18 at 12:10am

I’ve seen both Kennedy Center productions in their new series, Chess and In the Heights. Chess was slightly concert-y with no real sets ... but definitely fully acted and choreographed. In the Heights was more or less the exact same as a fully staged version, with just some less refined sets (scaffolding with signage instead of actual buildings, etc).

Seeing How to Succeed this week ... and looking forward to it very much. Plan to catch Little Shop, too. It’ll be very interesting to see how they do it.

They’re doing excellent work with this series and I highly recommend them!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/3/18 at 12:12am

It really ranges from show to show.

In my experience, it usually means that there are costumes, and some basic set design to communicate the general setting of the piece, but no big sets pieces coming on and off. A lot of the time they are onstage with the orchestra, so their movement is somewhat limited that way.

But it really ranges. In some cases, they sing into microphones at the front of the stage. Sometimes they have body-mics. Sometimes they have scripts in their hands, and sometimes they are off book. Sometimes the only staging are the movements that are essential to the plot, while the rest of it is just facing forward and reading from scripts. Other times, like the ENO production of Carousel, they called it "semi-staged," but really there was nothing "semi" about it. It looked and felt like a full production, albeit one that didn't have huge set pieces.