"...The HELL?!" moments in productions — Page 3

I recently saw a production of South Pacific that my cousin was in. They weren't necessarily "What the Hell" moments but they were odd choices. I ended up enjoying the production very much (it was the first live version of South Pacific I've ever seen. All I've seen are the Glenn Close version and clips of the Carnegie Hall concert on THAT site.)

So here's what they did:

The first scene started with Lieutenant Cable arriving on the island/ Then they went into "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" Along with Commander Harbison, Captain Brackett was given a secretary named Vivienne. The scene basically progressed as is written in the show. Then it segued to that shindig where Emile and Nettie met. And yes, there's a whole scene like that especially what I think was some dialogue that was not in the show where the Nurses are asking Nellie if she ever wants to settle down with a family. I dunno, was this in the ABC version?

Now comes the Bloody Mary scene (sans There Is Nothing Like a Dame). Since it was a kid show, the line was changed to "Stingy stinker."

Scene changes to Emile's house where his two DAUGHTERS, Ngana and Maeva sing Dites Moi.

They cut Cockeyed Optimist. The rest of the act stayed faithful to the show except they turned I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair and A Wonderful Guy into much more of an ensemble number. Long story short, the girls were doing a lot more singing than Nellie. Then, to cover a costume change, they had Nellie and two nurses named Dinah and Janet sing "A Grand Night for Singing" from State Fair. And the first act ended with This Nearly Was Mine.

Happy Talk was also turned into an ensemble number. But it also included Emile and his daughters and Captain Brackett and Commander Harbison. It reminded me of Mary Jane/Mary Lane in the movie version of Reefer Madness when they cut to the different characters (and the clams). The USO show added various comedic sketches and the ENTIRE male ensemble was in drag and not just Billis. You've Got To Be Carefully Taught was sung by Emile, Cable, Brackett and Harbison.

But apart from the presence of Vivienne, the show progressed faithfully.

Overall, it was an enjoyable evening. But the changes they made...yeah. But if any of this stuff is in the show, let me know.

Also, does Emile give the full story of how he killed that man?

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Updated On: 12/3/07 at 09:42 PM

I saw a production of Rigoletto in Edinburgh in 1980 where the court of the duke was portrayed as an S/M bordello, and everyone (male and female) wore high silk top hats and carried whips. And all the walls were chain link fencing. It was the high silk hats, though, that put it into WTF territory.

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There was once a production of WSS where Chino (is that the character's name?) forgot to bring the gun onstage at the end, and instead threw his shoe at Tony, which then killed him. The actress playing Maria then had rework the whole monologue to incorporate the shoe.

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Holy crap, Joelbeans. Truly psychadelic Dickens, there. XD Thank you for sharing.

I'd say the court/bathroom scene in Legally Blonde. I thought it was weird and unnecessary, not to mention really, really crappily done.

"There was once a production of WSS where Chino (is that the character's name?) forgot to bring the gun onstage at the end, and instead threw his shoe at Tony, which then killed him. The actress playing Maria then had rework the whole monologue to incorporate the shoe."

Ok, literally laughed out loud.

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OoOokay...

When I went to see a high school production of Les Miz a couple of years ago, everything was, y'know, "okay" and all of the sudden after "The Bargain", the houselights came up and my friend and I were like, "...Ummm." I later checked my program and it read: "INTERMISSION 1" and I was like, "Awkward much?" In that same production, during "ONE DAY MORE", the ensemble used the aisles to "sing and box-step" to the song" -- I WISH I WAS JOKING! -- Then, during "Javert's Suicide", THERE WAS NO BRIDGE (just so you know!) and so he's attempting to hold "There is no way to go oooooonnnn---" aaaaannnnd he kinda-sorta just ... lept out of the sight, into the wings. I laughed out loud, not even joking. THAT SAME PRODUCTION (oh, I love it!), during the "Finale", Valjean came on with this Hugh Hefner, majestic, bright red bathrobe (WTF!?), and finally, during the finale, they brought up the houselights and had the audience rise to their feet and join in on the last 2 verses (WWWTTTTFFF!?!?!?!?) And yes, they were printed on the back of the program (for reference!?) GO FIGURE.

As much as i loved Carrie

Out for Blood was like springtime for hitler

The moment the topless boys started smearing themselves in blood and Chris jumped on a guys back spinning a machete around whilst some of the loudest Oinks in theatre history bellowed over the sound system, i thought to myself "hmmm this shows in trouble"

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Times they are A'changin'

I could list a lot of them from that show but there was this one sequence where Cleo kills... a guy... with a yoga ball. Just by beating him with it repeatedly. People don't believe me sometimes when I bring it up.

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Tony Randall going on for George C. Scott in Inherit the Wind -- just a draw-droppingly bad idea. In fact, most of the National Disaster Theatre's choices....

And Euan Morton showing up with bright blue hair the last week (was it the last show? I don't remember) of Taboo. Granted, that wasn't a casting or directorial choice, I think Euan just got drunk one night! But it was weird.

Brian Darcy James in a concert version of Chess playing Freddy.

He sang "Pity the child", at the end of the song, he suddenly turned it into the ending of "Hey Jude"

To the original poster: this sounds like a horrific production. I can't believe they actually thought that would seem GOOD.

CORAM BOY, end of Act 1 when they unearth all the baby skeletons. Just WTF!? And I was sitting in the front row for that.

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