"...The HELL?!" moments in productions- Page 5

[StageGuy99]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 1:28am

In college we used to do showcases in the city with some of our sister schools, my department tended to do something that was creating in one of the senior acting or directing classes, that I would normally just shake my head over. However it could never be compared to our sister school who's director would each year write a musical based on a famous work. We were "blessed" with "MacBeth 2000" or my favorite "Antigone's Last Dance" the story of Antigone set as a "hip-hopera" complete with video screens and all. The whole thing tended to be a What the hell?! moment. We were always required to see the other shows in the showcase and everyone always dreaded going to see the new musical, I however would go every night, just to watch the rest of the audience's reaction, as the show went on. Waaaaaay better than the schlock on stage!

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:12am

The Denver Center did Hamlet about 5 years ago and everything was fine and dandy until the very end. You know how the show ends on Fortinbras' speech at Elsinore? Well, they did the speech, but the play ended with his troops pointing their guns at Yorick, and a big ol' shotgun blast when the lights went down. We were on a HS field trip, and all of us were looking at each other and going "WTF did they do that for??"

[Remote33]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:52am

Oh I have many of these to tell.

1. I saw a High School production of FOOTLOOSE a few months ago. The singing was actually pretty good for high school, especially from the ensemble - vocally, it was a great show. But it was directed by the chorus teacher, and so the set was VERY minimalistic. Characters would open and close an invisible door when entering and exiting, and a the same couch was used to represent various houses. But the single most amusing part of the show was that, even though the a whole year passes from the beginning of the play to the end, no one changed clothes even once.......except Ariel's mother, a minor character with perhaps 15 lines in the entire show. She had about 18 costume changes. I just remember laughing at the thought of the leads lounging around backstage and poor Ariel's Mom changing frantically between scenes just to say one line.

2. A local community college did a production of THE GLASS MENAGERIE where Amanda wore jeans, the glass collection was placed behind a couch so every time the daughter went to it she was out of view completely and, most importantly, Laura did not limp at all and seemed to be in perfect physical condition. The "WTF" part is that every time Laura and Tom's late father was mentioned, a portrait of him on the wall would glow. To this day I have no clue what it was supposed to mean.

3. At a high school production of A CHORUS LINE, the girl playing Diana had great voice. Some lines were changed for a high school setting ("Feeling that this bull**** was absurd" was changed to "Feeling that this whole thing was absurd"), which I suppose is an ok change considering this was a bit of a stuck up school. The problem was that Diana was not hispanic, and so "Morales" was changed to "Wysocki". Yes. "Very good....except Wysocki."
And yet that still doesn't stop "They don't make bobsleds in Orlando."

4. Recent community theatre production of ALL SHOOK UP - for whatever reason, the director decided to use the original script......when his entire cast was white. At multiple points in the show, Sylvia makes a reference to Interracial dating, as does the Mayor, and yet there was not a single african american in the cast.

5. This is mostly things I've seen on the video site that shall not be named, but why do people insist on producing AIDA with a blonde in the title role? "Princess of Nubia", people.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:28pm

1. I was in the Wizard Of Oz. I had an extra costume and we didn't realize it untill 2 days before opening night. The director didn't think I'd be ready with the song and everything (even though I knew it), so at the line "The sign is clear as the nose on my face", He decided for me to come out and put the sign on the door, NOT the doorman. The reactions from the audience were "What the hell is going on?". Eric Glawe (Best tin man EVER imo), adlibbed "Oh my god, he shrunk!"

2. In The King And I, My mom was in the show and decided to put ECT undergarments on the women and get Anna laughing her ass off. And it worked!

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:28pm

OOPS!!!! Double post!

Updated On: 12/10/07 at 09:28 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:04pm

"The "WTF" part is that every time Laura and Tom's late father was mentioned, a portrait of him on the wall would glow. To this day I have no clue what it was supposed to mean."

Not to be a party pooper, but that quote - to me at least - makese sense. I mean, I'm guessing they were going for the whole "memory" thing, so to show it, they had the photo glow everytime his name was mentioned, since in the script Williams describes him as a member of the house.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:39pm

I saw a tour of All Shook Up last year. During the end of one of the songs (I think it was the title song), the ensemble started stripping down to their underwear.

...why?

I also didn't like how they tried to change some songs into bigger production numbers. For example, how they put a dance break in for Lorraine during "That's All Right"...I don't remember that on tour. I also preferred the old "Devil in Disguise."

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 3:33am

I saw a college production of BATB, and there was a dancing lobster during "Be Our Guest".

OH! And, I saw the Pippin tour...

WHY WAS EVERYONE NAKED??? It was so unnecessary.

[Trina55]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 10:06am

>So...what are some "...the HELL?" moments you've seen in >productions of plays/musicals you've seen?

>Every 5 minutes or so of Lestat.


Ditto Dance of the Vampires.

But especially the dancing gargoyle statues.
And the muppet-like bat puppet.
And the ensemble sitting under the stairs with FLASHLIGHTS held to their chins singing "turn around..."