Skip to main content
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!
Home For You Chat My Shows Register/Login Games Grosses

The Most Effective Blackout in a Production — Page 3

New Post Search Report Abuse Rules

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.

#51

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:05pm

Broadwaybound-What do you mean they "disappear"? The curtain comes down. It's not like there's a blackout and then all of a sudden there's an empty stage.

I could still see Kerry Ellis out of character with the lift coming down before the curtain finished coming down.
<<-- Help save Terminator: SCC
"The gay one?" -- Marissa Jaret Winokur on the Jonas Brothers.
#53

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:20pm

How could I forget the blackout in Drowsy Chaperone!? So hilarious! You're so close to that last note then BAM! and the recording winds down. I think I remember Bob Martin yelling "Nobody panic!" as he walks around the frozen actors holding a flashlight. LOL
Now that was a good blackout, though it was a blackout within the story and not a technical blackout.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl

"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor

"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl

"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
#55

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:56am

And, I guess "In The Heights" didn't really register with me. I just didn't see the hype. The choreography was good, but the story I could care less about.

It's not a case of the show not registering with you. All the lights onstage went out mid-act and it was followed by a song titled "Blackout", specifically staged to highlight the fact that there was a blackout in the neighborhood, and countless references in the second act to the fact that the electricity was out. You claim to have seen the show, but I have to wonder if you were even conscious if you missed out on all that.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how

Updated On: 4/13/09 at 12:56 AM

#57

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 2:53pm

The end of "W;t" and "Angels in America:Millenium Approaches".
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."

"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS

#58

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 2:58pm

The end of Cabaret at Studio 54. Wow.

That was by far and away the most powerful blackout and one of the most powerful moments I've ever seen in theater. The audience didn't know what to do.
....but the world goes 'round
#59

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 3:03pm

I liked at the end of the 'nine' revival when louisa walks back in on Guido... I thought that was quite effective.

OOOH and i wonder if many ppl saw it but the recent production of the opera 'Peter Grimes' at the ENO. It tragic when the massive chorus are singin the unaccompanied hymn lookin out into the audience / sea where Grimes is sinkin his own boat cuz he'll never be able to explain his innocence. and Ellen his love, crying is forced to watch him die. then it all goes silent and then a slow fade to black. AMAZING!
#60

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 3:03pm

The blackout midway through Act Two of THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#61

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 3:06pm

Definitely the Act II finale of AUGUST: OC comes to mind. I'll never forget the first time I heard Amy Morton (as Barb) screaming at a shocked Estelle Parsons (as Vi), "I'M RUNNING THINGS NOW!!!!" at the top of her lungs. I think my mouth just opened, no sound came out, I just sat there with my mouth opened during the blackout, then the lights came on and I just stayed on my seat for some time processing what had just happened, then I felt like I just had to have a cigarette.
I love the "Blackout" number in IN THE HEIGHTS, isn't there a blackout right at the ending of "96'000"? I love the lighting of that show.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#62

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 3:22pm

The Drowsy Chaperone was the first to come to mind. Very clever use of blackout.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#63

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 5:18pm

Sweet Charity. At the end of Act One, Oscar says he's fine and ready for anything. Blackout. Whimpered voices, followed by lighters and a cry for "help". Very funny.
#64

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 6:06pm

The blackout at the end of Golda's Balcony was quite effective, with Tovah crying "Shalom, Shalom, Shalom!" and softly blowing out the candle. Very chillng.

And gotta love In the Heights. It's a great scene all around.
#70

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 10:33pm

The Final monments of Death and the Maiden, the music swells and then she moves towards him, will she, won't she? The final note of music and blackout. Powerful.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#71

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 10:52pm

I'd have to add Defying Gravity...for me, it was a thrilling moment in an otherwise underwhelming production. And it does what I think the Act I finale of any big show should do, and that's send the audience out feeling exhilarated. I specifically remember that being one of the only times in my life that my jaw dropped in a theater.
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
#72

re: The Most Effective Blackout in a Production

Posted: 6/1/09 at 11:13pm

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the blackout at the end of "You Can't Stop the Beat". It always leaves me wanting more from the show, and it makes the end of the scene and the final button of the song all the more exhilarating! Then the lights come back up for curtain call and the orchestra section is covered in streamers! A great way to end a huge party on Broadway!
"The world is a better place because of hairspray." - Michael Ball

← Back to Message Board

BroadwayWorld TV

View all Videos

Ticket Central
Ticket Central
Ticket Central
Hot Show
Tickets From $59
Hot Show
Tickets From $71
Hot Show
Tickets From $71
Hot Show
Tickets From $95
More Hot Shows Discounts
Recommended For You