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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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

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Steph_DeVo, I only wish I was...



Angelras

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

"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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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!

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