"...The HELL?!" moments in productions- Page 2

[AnythingCanHappen]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 12:02am

... I was just an 8th grader at the time, but my highschool i later ended up attempting did Wizard of Oz.

The flying monkeys rapped. Like... RAPPED.

That, my dears, is a WTF.

[roseaddams]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 12:45am

I saw a school production of Little Shop, which, instead of having the background girl-group, had two girls with fake gashes and shredded clothing slowly ballet-dancing in the background. And the lyrics to the opening song and the prologue to 'Don't Feed the Plants' were sung by Halloween dolls in such a screechy falsetto it was impossible to distinguish the lyrics.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 6:52am

In a profesional production - That giant lemon.

In amateur - the start of Oklahoma! Being rather confused when a fat, balding, man with a limp wanders on to stage, then suddenly realising that he's meant to be Curly.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 1:21pm

Scrooge sounds like it was atrocious...I'm sorry for you.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 3:00pm

The local theatre did a production of the Sam and Bella Spewack comedy My Three Angels back in December 1990. During the curtain call each night the director had the cast sing John and Yoko's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" as a protest of Operation Desert Shield.

After just watching a non-musical comedy, the audience was like WTF and didn't know what to make of it (and many cast members later admitted they felt the same way). It was an odd way to end a night of theatre!

[Jennifer Lynn]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 3:23pm

I haven't even gotten into The World's Cheapest Opera yet.

A couple-three years ago, I went to see a production of a lesser-known Verdi opera, Il Corsaro, in the chapel part of a church school. A very small opera company was performing it.

Now, maybe I should have been warned by the cheap price--$20.00--but I've seen lots of small productions of plays and musicals that do a lot with only a little. In fact, the small size of certain productions actually works in some shows' favor, as proved by the best West Side Story I've yet seen.

But this...

Now, I could have dealt with it being in an un-air-conditioned building in August, with no more than electric fans to cool it off. I could have dealt with sitting on this hard wooden chair for the whole evening. I could even have dealt with the score being on solo piano, instead of a pre-recorded backing track or even a few instruments.

But the sets...

The first act took place in a weather-beaten sailors' cottage.

The second took place in an exotic Turkish harem. This was the sailors' cottage with three overstuffed pillows.

The third took place in the Sultan's bedchamber. This was the sailors' cottage with three overstuffed pillows and a bed which was a table draped in pink fabric.

The fourth took place in a prison cell. This was the sailors' cottage with the same bed, only this time draped in black fabric.

The fifth took place back in the sailors' cottage again. (Back?! What am I saying? It never left!)

The voices were good, but the acting talent was CRUD. There was a dancing chorus of two men and three women who were the sole extras through the whole opera. They wore the same costumes through the whole thing, with maybe a scarf added to indicate these were supposed to be different characters. When they were dancing, they had these stone faces the whole time and looked as if they were counting every step.

When there was a swordfight, one of the combatants waved his sword at the other, who s-l-o-w-l-y got to his knees to indicate he was captured.

I'd have laughed if I wasn't whimpering the entire time.

[mrslovett7]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 4:06pm

The original post is hilarious!! 'Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

That is too funny! At that point I would have sat back and enjoyed how dumb the show was.

In middle school all of the middles schools in my town went to go see a production of Romeo and Juliet....well this wasn't any ordinary production. This was Matrix style Romeo and Juliet. All of the actors wore long black trench coats and at the ball scene Juliet comes in in this gothy red and black shredded leather dress. It was so weird. They all carried around these weird machine guns and whenever the gaurds entered or exited this weird techno-y music came on. All of us just started laughing, which I know is awful but it was so rediculous that there was nothing we could do. Then when Romeo and Juliet killed themselves, it was by injection. And after they died there was a literally 10 minute sequence where they were supposed to be in heaven and were walking around just looking at each other.

It was so painfully bad.

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 6:10pm

Elizabeth: In England, Grace O'Malley, we do not destroy good linen.

Grania: In Ireland, my Queen, we do not hold on to bad.

Why is this a "the hell?" moment?

[HumATune]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 11:23pm

I saw Les Miz: School Edition and they uh…split the role of Enjolras into two parts. One part was played by a boy and the other by a girl. The guy was still Enjolras, but the girl was…Angelas.

Yeah.

[Steph_DeVo]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 1:32am

I think this last one takes the cake for me...Enjolras and Angelas? You've got to be kidding me!

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:50am

Most of these changes seem illegal & should be reported

[pants2]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 7:13am

when the lead in festen says his dad raped him i laughed i thought it was a joke since the play up to that point had been at least semi-light hearted..... i felt so terrible but it was so stunning and sudden i though he had 2 be joking

so everybod must have been thinking what the hell? about me

and again i feel terrible

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 8:31am

Actually, I think the version of Pirate Queen that played Chicago should have been retitled "WTF? The Musical"

Since I gather it's being extensively rewritten these shouldn't be spoilers (I sure hope not!)

Grania gives birth on a ship surrounded by cheerful pirates and then five minutes later bests five British soldiers at swordfighting. She does grab her crotch during the battle. (WTF?)

Queen Elizabeth spends the first two hours trying to have Grania killed, finally imprisons her, and then upon realizing that Grania has a son and a boyfriend sets her free. (WTF?)

Ten minutes after this Grania shows up at the Queen's court and Lord Bingham says "At last, the Irish sow on English soil". Dude, you guys just released her! (WTF?)

Queen Elizabeth tells Lord Bingham that after a two hour chat behind a screen she and Grania have settled the Irish/English conflict. (WTF?)

Also at one point Queen Elizabeth rises out of a trapdoor seated on her throne while revolving. Both times I saw this I couldn't stop thinking of Darth Vader's regeneration pod in "The Empire Strikes Back".

[HumATune]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 8:44am

Steph_DeVo, I only wish I was...



Angelras Updated On: 12/14/06 at 08:44 AM

[Joelbeans]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:05am

Actually in the stage version of Scrooge, there is a song called Good times, it is sung by Mr.s Cratchitt....

My "...the HELL?" moment came in a production of West Side Story. First off the show started with boys coming out throughtout the theatre, and when the dance music started, they moved a little onstage, but at least 80% of the dance we both gangs chaing each other around the audience. None of the story was told through dance, and you really never found out who was who.
I also heard beofre I went to see this production that the sick-o director wanted to create a lesbian love scene when Maria is comfoting Anita.....I was floored.

BUT the best was at the end of the show.....you have to picture the set. It is pretty much a bare stage with a platform going across the back, and it looked like a bridge. Well after Tony is shot, and Maria delivers her wonderful "How Many Bulets are in this gun Chino, enough for you? Enought for you?" Man I love it, so dramatic. Well the gangs united and lift Tony above their heads, and you see Anita cross and watch the procession as it goes off stage, and just as the lights go dark you see ANITA COMMITT SUICIDE BY JUMPING OFF THE BRIGE TO A SMALLER PLATFORM. I couldn't believe it. My friend and I just looked at each other in disbelief. HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:57am

"HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?"

Legally you can't, and all these stories show why writers and licensing companies make such an effort to prevent theaters from "improving" their plays.

Of course Shakespeare is in the public domain and his works can be abused without restraint. I sometimes wonder if it's possible to feel old Will spinning around in his grave.

[bardolator]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 12:45pm

"Ten minutes after this Grania shows up at the Queen's court and Lord Bingham says "At last, the Irish sow on English soil". Dude, you guys just released her! (WTF?) "

In the novel, she's imprisoned in Dublin rather than in England...but Elizabeth was standing right there when Tiernan surrendered himself, so--yeah. DRAMATURG!

I'm hoping they allow a little more time to pass before the postpartum fight...but I don't think they'll drop it entirely, because it DID happen, though half a day or so had passed by that point.

The "bad linen" line just needs to be changed back to what it originally was in the novel, and then I think that will be fine (it's unclear as it now stands that by "bad" Grania means "soiled," and, as it's only one word, if someone in the audience sneezes or coughs or something, you lose that entirely).

For me, one of those "moments" came in the Tour production of RENT a couple months ago, in Angel's death scene. What WAS all that with the sheet? Some kind of "crossing over" symbol? Maybe it's the way it was produced, or the performances, but it was really confusing.

Oh, and a funny moment: a few years ago I saw a production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. The first time Don John appeared alone onstage, he stalked down the steps of the gazebo they were using to show he was out in the garden, struck a pose, and proclaimed "Now is the winter of our discontent!"

It really worked for me, as he then went on to portray Don John as a self-important buffoon who wants to be much "badder" than he is....

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 2:46pm

Sant - You took the words out of my mouth. Notre Dame de Paris was an entire "...The HELL?" musical. When I saw it in London, I burst out laughing at the death of Esmerelda, illustrated with an additional two dead Esmereldas swinging from harnesses and spun around and around in the air by the Quasimodos. It was hysterical. It was a truly baffling show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 2:48pm

I can vouch for the Angelras thing. I saw the same production.

Most of these changes seem illegal & should be reported

I did.

Updated On: 12/14/06 at 02:48 PM

[BNN]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:12pm

I saw a production of West Side Story that I almost screamed during. First off, during the scene where Tony is painting Doc's sign, it fell. No big deal, but he spent FIVE MINUTES TRYING TO GET IT BACK UP. They stopped all dialogue and worked on the godforsaken sign.

Next, during the Dance at the Gym, the only ones dancing were 8 girls who had dance experience but the scene makes alot more sense if everyone dances. Not that much of a problem.

BUT, during America I find out none of the Shark Girls can dance at the same 8 girls literally come running in and out to dance while the Shark Girls watch. I wanted to hit someone.

Then during Somewhere the entire cast comes out on stage wearing braided and shredded white shirts and sings the song. I want to Chino to shoot me.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:39pm

HumATune or Lizzie, how did they pronounce Angelras? Was it "Ann-jolras" (like the name Ann) or Angel-ras (like the character in Rent)? I guess with a short "a" sound at the beginning and a dj sound for the "g" it could also be pronounced almost exactly the same as Enjolras. I find that whole idea hilarious!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:43pm

They didn't, IIRC. When Feuilly said, "Enjolras!" at the beginning of Red & Black, I'm pretty sure he just said "Enjolras."

[pants2]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 10:11am

oh and the first time i saw wickd i was like wtf? some of this DOES NOT go along with the wizard of oz

[JRybka]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 10:24am

I don't know if it is a WTH moment but we saw such a bad production of The Diary of Anne Frank. She was whinny and bitchy and just terrible and when the NAZI's knocked on her door, someone from behind us yelled... She's Upstairs! The girl looked like she was going to cry. She just stood there and forgot all her words and then walked off the stage.
I felt bad but the SHOW WAS HORRIBLE!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 10:36am

JRybka: That's an urban legend.

"Add to all that the fact that at no point in the play do Nazi soldier characters appear on stage (thus eliminating any chance for the legend's punchline to be delivered live), and you have one amusing, generic, but plainly fictitious 'bad actress' story."

Read on:
http://snopes.com/movies/actors/zadora.asp


Lizzy: You're a whistleblower!

Updated On: 12/17/06 at 10:36 AM