The Most Hauntingly Beautiful Images on Stage- Page 2

[Elphie4ever]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:28pm

defying gravity...
god the lighting with the fog is just amazing

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:31pm

When Barbara Walsh smokes her first cigarette in Company and exhales this huge cloud of smoke above her. It just pops out against the black set and the entire audience is silent. I'm personally against smoking, but it was such a haunting image.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:35pm

The first time the pillars part in The Light in the Piazza.

When Ilse walks across the stage during Touch Me.

Melchior's dance in The Mirror-Blue Night

bjh2114 mentioned a very haunting image. I'm just sorry I was sitting on the side when I saw the show.

[kate2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:36pm

The end of Aida, when Aida and Radames are in the tomb and the stage becomes dark around them and the "window" we see them through keeps shrinking until it's all black.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:41pm

I agree with Jo about the waterfall scene in THE WOMAN IN WHITE...it was breathtaking.

Some of my favorites:

Feed the Birds in MARY POPPINS. The swirling sky and the stirring music make a beautiful combination.'

Another one from THE WOMAN IN WHITE: The end of Act I when Marian and Laura embrace each other, shivering, as the luring image of Blackwater House closed in around them.

The Capital Repertory Theatre's (in Albany) production of METAMORPHOSES. I cannot remember the actual story, but a wife ran around in the small, circular pool with no lighting except her lantern and the dimmest spotlight on her body. Her cries, screaming, and crying, all directed out into the audience brought me to tears.

When done right and not so haphazardly as it is so often done as of late, the final image in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

[Cat2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:41pm

The final moments of Journey's End. It brought tears to my eyes.

[sweeedboy]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:44pm

I think without a doubt the act one closing of 'sunday in the park with george."

The first time I saw the show i wasn't really enjoying it. I was a bit young and I think i just didn't quite get it. All of a sudden, when everyone freezes i immediately became enraptured. I was in tears by the end of the number, but I didn't know why. Now it ranks as one of my favorite shows.

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:47pm

I'd have to say there are 2 Grey Gardens moments that do it for me. (what a surprise?!)
1. The end of "Around the World," where she's holding the birdcage and singing my favorite line: "A birdcage for a bird who flew away around the world". I love that line and part because each time I've seen it, Christine Ebersole has a tear streaming down her cheek as she holds the cage and sings of her longing for freedom.
2. The last moments of "Another Winter in a Summer Town". The last "my God" is so haunting, particularly when accompanied by the tears and emotion I've seen.
Needless to say in both cases, I cry, too.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:48pm

While I don't think of myself as a big "Wicked" fan, I DID get chills the first time I saw it during "Defying Gravity."

Paul's monologue in "Chorus Line" usually gets me...as does the guy in "The Old Boy" (The one who dies of AIDs).

And, that final scene in "The Goat or Who is Sylvia" when she drags the dead goat in and down the stairs all over the white set....

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:52pm

I also believe one of the best is when Enjorlas is killed and the barracade rotates to show us his body laying upside down.

Another one of my favorites is at the end of Spring Awakening when Wendla and Moritz are dead and rise up from their graves.

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:55pm

The Phantom Mask in the final moment of Phantom Of The Opera, and the Nazi sign in the final moment of Cabaret.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:01pm

After leading the parade at the end of Act One in HELLO, DOLLY!, there was a brief bit of dialogue that Carol Channing had with David Burns (who played Vandergelder). Then Carol did a brief reprise of "Before The Parade Passes By" which ended with her alone on stage with her arms flung out above her head. The curtain fell on this image and it still gives me goosebumps to think of it 43 years later.

[D2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:04pm

So many moments in THE COAST OF UTOPIA: the opening of each play, of course, the opening of Act 2 of VOYAGE with the skaters and the hanging ice sculpture, Liubov and Stankevich at the piano, the falling leaves, the reveal of Paris with the obelisk in the bacground, the stars in SALVAGE, the list of haunting visual imagery is almost as long as the marathon.

And in the same theatre: the look on Karen Ziemba's face during the final moments of her scene in CONTACT: heartbreaking.

Angela Lansbury's huge blue eyes, glazed over and slightly crazed after ROSE'S TURN in GYPSY.

[bandit964]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:07pm

well i think the opening of phantom of the opera is just as breathtaking as the closing, when the overture starts after the prologue and the backdrops are flying and the chandelier is rising.

this is corny, but the opening of 42nd street when the curtain opens knee high to reveal all the feet tapping.

so many in les miz, i agree with when enjloras dies and the turntable rotates, but also when fantine, eponine and jean valjean die and the beams of white light fall onto them. and then the "to love another person is to see the face of god"

doubt, when at the end of the show she says, "i have doubts, such doubts"

aida, when the tomb is enclosed at the end

the fences in miss saigon during the fall, and the supposed helicopter (which isnt in the new tour...BITTER)



Updated On: 4/9/07 at 09:07 PM

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:21pm

god, as overated as it may seem i thought that moment where the turntable slowly starts spinning and you see enjorlas drapped in the flag upside down, eyes open and all was great. i was with a noisey group of about 30 high school students who were all whispering and all at once they stopped and just starred. it was great.

i also remember the opening of billy elliot when the huge projection of protest and riot displayed and sitting on the stage was a little boy just staring up at it.

[bwaydoc]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:35pm

The end of Act 1 in The Pirate Queen with the fire and sky full of stars is just BREATH TAKING.

danhattan, I totally agree. That part gives me chills. It's a lovely scene and the song at the end of act I (Sail to the Stars) is beautiful.

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:36pm

Phantom Las Vegas Spectacular= When the Phantom lets go of Kristine to be free

Mamma Mia= When she realized that she doesn't need a father since her mother was there all along for her.

Jersey Boys= the death of Francine

Lestat= The Journey to the New World

Les Miserables= Javert's Suicide

Jesus Christ Superstar= The Resurrection

Legally Blonde= Chip on your shoulder kinda made me teary eyed :P

Aida= The last part before they were put into the tomb where only 2 bright white lights shine on Radames and Aida.

[Plexsis2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:40pm

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 09:40 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:42pm

The first moment that comes to mind is when Clara is running around the stage and the sets have all pulled out so that she is flooded by the blinding white light that has taken over the back wall. It really made my heart jump and tears to well-up.

[theaterFrEaK07]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:47pm

I agree with the last line/moment from Moon for Misbegotten.

I saw it at the Alley in Houston and it was perfection.

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:53pm

WICKED: The end of "I'm Not That Girl" with Elphaba standing by the bridge with her eyes closed and letting the rain fall on her upturned face. A great combination of sound and lighting.

LITTLE WOMEN: The kite flying scene during "Some Things Are Meant To Be." Beautiful song, lighting, and staging.

LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA: Clara in silhouette against the gold background. Also, the moment when the wind blows her hat in the air and Fabrizio catches it.

[beyondblessed]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:56pm

The Final Sequence of Light in the Piazza

From Clara's Line "I Can't Leave You"
And Margaret responds "Yes you can."

Their embrace gets at my soul. And then after Fable and Margaret joins the wedding procession. WOW.

Barbara Walsh and Raúl Esparza's stare down after "Ladies Who Lunch" it's an amazing moment.

When Celie, leans against the Tree in "The Color Purple" and sings "I'm Beautiful and I'm here" I started a frickin standing ovation during that moment when I saw Kenita Miller perform that role.

[Laurhearts SA]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:59pm

Spoiler

SPRING AWAKENING
-When Melchior hears the voices of his dead friends, which comfort him. It is a beautiful moment and one of my favorite songs.

[Eos]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:01pm

I know PHANTOM OF THE OPERA gets ragged on a lot, but it was one of the first musicals I'd ever seen, and the image of the Phantom leading Christine to his underground lair - with the smoke and all... it left quite an impression.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 10:01 PM

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:05pm

The final moments of Cabaret - just the Emcee standing onstage with his coat and hat removed. It is so haunting, and so frightening, and there's a strange beauty in that... it's hard to explain, but in those final moments, as he performs his last transformation - it's so chilling and so captivating all at once.