The Most Hauntingly Beautiful Images on Stage

The final image in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT: Mary Tyrone, in a clean white dress, standing at the edge of the stage bathed in light, as the men in her life sit paralyzed looking on in the background. The true definition of haunting.

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Dare I say this: ?

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The moment when the barricades in "Les Miserables" rotates and we see Enjolras lying dead on it.

The image of Bobby after he blew out the candles on his cake in the Seattle production of "Company."

Haunting in a powerful, stirring way..."The Gods Love Nubia" in "Aida."

Haunting in a creepy way, "The Ballad of Guiteau" in "Assassins."

If done correctly, there are several scenes in "The Secret Garden" that can definitely be classified as a theatrically gorgeous sort of 'spooky.' Mary's and Neville's scenes with the dead women (names -- Lily and Rose, maybe? -- elude) have the potential to be hauntingly brilliant onstage.

the meeting of opposing armies in Robert Wilson's staging of Satyagraha at BAM, hands down.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 08:03 PM

Josie's final line in A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN always kills me:

May you have your wish and die in your sleep soon, Jim, darling. May you rest forever in forgiveness and peace.

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I agree with Yankee on "COAST OF UTOPIA", the opening for each of the shows are breathtaking. I also have to add the closing sequence for Part 3: SALVAGE. When the "new generation" of revolutionaries looks toward the image of "utopia", with Herzen, Bakunin, and Ogarev sitting just staring at the audience, I was totally haunted.


EDIT:

A hauntingly SEXY image: (Another COU one) Dream Ethan Hawke at the end of Part Two: Shipwreck one the hull of the "boat" speaking to Herzen, with Ethan smoking a cigarette looking like the very image of sex itself. Whenever I have a bad day, I just think of that image, and everything is all right.

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Updated On: 4/9/07 at 08:06 PM

"Entering Grey Gardens" from Grey Gardens - besides the song itself, the staging of it was my favorite part!

The leopard/Tarzan confrontation/battle in Tarzan (with the red lighting, etc.)

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The image of Victoria Clark in front of those church gates in Piazza durring "Fable" was quite spectacular, as was the entire production by Bartlett Sher.

I totally agree with you FOAnatic. The moment the house started to come together in Grey Gardens my heart just broke! It was a truly incredible moment.

Other Beautiful images/Chill bumps...
*First time I saw WICKED and Elphaba flew up in Defying Gravity. Thought it was an amazing moment of musical theatre.
*The end of Act 1 in The Pirate Queen with the fire and sky full of stars is just BREATH TAKING.
*And last but not least... the tattered sail the women bring down for Sea of Life.

My two cents! :)

*I agree about the barricade scene from Les Miserables, as the barricade turn slowly around and you see the dead young men lying there, with the flash of red from the flag they valiantly waved. What makes the scene even more poignant is the soft strains of BRING HIM HOME playing in the background.

*In the original Man of La Mancha with Richard Kiley which played in a theatre in the round, the sight of Miguel Cervantes slowly going up the long stairs ( on a stage that was starkly bare), on the way to his inquisition and possible execution...after he has told the story of the idealist/insane knight, Don Quijote.

*In the Australian arena version of THE BOY FROM OZ... against the stark backdrop of a solitary windmill from the outback, Hugh Jackman, as Peter Allen, sits slowly on the staircase leading down to the audience and sings the poignant ballad of the TENTERFIELD SADDLER. It was one of the most touching 11 o'clock numbers I have ever seen.

*For sheer beauty - when the backdrop of the beautiful Pyreenees Mountains unfolded in ASPECTS OF LOVE. The scenery was so beautiful and evocative of this undiscovered area of Southwestern France that the audience started clapping in sheer awe.

*For a beautiful combination of sight and sound -- the scene in THE WOMAN IN WHITE where the two sisters and the artist initially explore their feelings, against the backdrop of a small waterfall, with the sound of the water gently falling. A very tantalizing courtship scene - as we did not know yet who will fall in love with each other of this triangle.

*No particular scene I can identify, but PASSION evoked many haunting images for me.

It was a beautiful image, but it really did a number on my eyes. God were those lights bright.