The Single Most Awesome Set Piece — Page 2

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#26

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 10:30am

Oh dear, I forgot the showers in "Take Me Out". That and the men inhabiting them were a gor-geous set piece. :)

"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

#27

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 10:40am

"Metamorphoses".

NOBODY beats Marry Zimmerman's out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to design whether it was in this show,"The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci", "Silk", or "The Odyssey". Her design team can create moments that are uniquely hers without having to spend $20,000,000 to do it.

It didn't hit Broadway but Ziggurat's "Red Thread" in California also had moments that make The Broadway "Zowie" factor seem like just so much stagecraft pyrotechnics.

Updated On: 6/21/06 at 10:40 AM

#28

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 10:44am

I think buildings that move on and off in Piazza are neat and I'm also a fan of the "Great Big Stuff" staircase.

#29

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 10:46am

The house in Mary Poppins is just jaw-droppingly awesome.

#30

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:06am

i dont know if I can pick just one single set piece.
The bed from Hairspray is pretty cool. The set from The Light in the Piazza was beautiful. The Chandelier from Phantom is awesome. It's a tough one!

#31

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:11am

The silk being pulled through the floor in Lion King is simple but very effective.

I love most of the set peices in Hairspray, with their amazingly well done false perspective.

Also...the Rocky Horror seats taht flip are pretty awesome.

Akiva

#32

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:28am

The Great Big Stuff staircase is hardly the 'single most awesome set peice.'

What is the gargoyle that you speak of in POTO?

For me the best set peice is going to be in the upcoming Phantom Vegas...the Designer came to my school and showed us the drawings...they're using real water for the Phantom's Lair...and real candles will be lit and then emerge from under the water...cool eh?

#33

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:28am

the giant purple frame thing around the stage in Lestat

"Without Jews, fags, and gypsies, there is no theatre!" ~Mel Brooks, To be or not to be

Updated On: 6/21/06 at 11:28 AM

#34

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:29am

Although most people hated the show, the set for DRACULA was unbelievable. I think one of the reasons people disliked the show was simply because the sets were overpowering everything else going on.

For all of the Great Broadway Vampire Musicals-all of their sets were pretty incredible. (DOTV,Dracula,Lestat)

Updated On: 6/21/06 at 11:29 AM

#35

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:43am

I personally loved the set for the Act II opener of Little Women (Volcano something Press?). It was my favorite part of the show--that one number with the story being told.

"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA

#36

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:48am

While not certianly the best, the Dracula set was pretty damn impressive

#37

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:59am

I don't know whether this counts, but Mary Poppins in the end of 'Mary Poppins' flying out to the auditorium and up to the ceiling... that was an awesome... setpiece?
And the lights on the ground of Mamma Mia during the encore bits... just feel so partyyyy!!!

All That Jazz Check out & support my drawings @ www.facebook.com/felixdrawings

#38

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:19pm

I don't know if this counts, but the huge Wizard face from Wicked was pretty awesome.

"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

#39

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:22pm

Off topic, but I want to say that I think it's great that we are giving credit to the techies! It's much deserved and they do AMAZING work!

#40

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:25pm

I love Phantom's curtains and chandelier. I was actually more impressed udring the Overture when all of the curtains began doing their thing. So cool to see the Hannibal set just appear from nowhere.

I love the revolving mirror-door in Evita during "Goodnight and Thank You." I also enjoyed the way they used the projection screen so that it didn't become old, but was very important when it was used.

And (this isn't from a professional production, but a show I did in April) I loved the set we had for our production of Little Shop of Horrors. We had a turntable for the shop (one side inside the other outside) and two "fire-escapes" DL and DR just beyond the grand drape. It was very fun, and though the stage was kinda big for the MTI plant puppets to look huge, the smallness of the turntable set made it look very big by the end.

I also like the dragon in Wicked (mainly because I read the book and was the only person in my group who knew of its signifigance). :)

so...i don't really have favorite, but these are just some that I really like. I'll probably think of more.

-- SDG

#41

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:46pm

I have long lingered on these boards but this is the first topic I wanted to say something bec. theater design is one of the biggest reasons I love watching shows. Anyway, here are some of my favorite set pieces/moments:

National Theater revival of Carousel, most especially when the carousel forms in the beginning and when the whole cast get on boats to go to the clambake.

Livent production of Showboat, especially when the boat docks. The sunset scene on the boat towards the end is just beautiful! The Chicago streets are also wonderful and very realistic.

Miss Saigon - The Bangkok Scene.

Whistle Down The Wind - The tunnel/train

Mary Poppins - Yes, the mansion is awesome

Sunset Blvd. - Again, the mansion is a sight to behold

Beauty and the Beast - I loved the scene towards the end where it's raining and Gaston falls. Very cartoony.

La Boheme - The set in the second act deserves the applause it receives when the lights turn on.

#42

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:51pm

the Dead End production at the Ahmanson last year had an AMAZING set piece... loved how they filled the orchestra pit with water to simulate the East River... beautiful stuff

#43

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 3:10pm

The "travelator" in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The platform-thing they use as staircase during the title scene and for other purposes later on.

Also, the chandelier from TPOTO.

#44

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 3:24pm

Wildcard - I agree with all of your choices completely! Just thinking of the carousel during the Overture of Carousel gives me goosebumps.

#45

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 3:44pm

I thought ALL of "Carousel" was simply stunning

#46

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 4:36pm

I will also mention the set for Sunset Blvd.

I remember being awe struck by the national tour set for "The Secret Garden" Granted I was eight, but I thought it was spectacular.

And the Las Vegas POTO set will prove to be a force to be reckoned with. There will be a very fancy transition between the Chandelier crash and "Masaqurade" due to the lack of intermission.

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert

#47

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 4:37pm

The entire technical design--lights, sets, props, costumes--for The Light in the Piazza was fantastic. I feel it all captured the essence of not only the novella, but of the real post-WWII Italy as well. I have never seen a more exquisite production.

However, the most awesome "set piece" I've ever seen wasn't on Broadway. It was at the Cap Rep Theater in Albany, NY, during a production of The Grapes of Wrath. They had a water trench built into the stage, which they used for the Colorado River scene and the rain scene at the end of the show.

For the river scene, the Joad boys jumped in naked (which of course was awesome in and of itself) and then the slow one (forgot his name) literally walked off down the river.

For the rain scene, sheets of water poured down from above into the trench, while the dust bowl migrant men were rotated on a turntable that passed under the water.

I know that pools on stage aren't fantastically new or innovative, but for a small regional theater it was an amazing technical achievement.

On the road of life, do not pause for suicidal chipmunks who freeze in your headlights, seeking death by your tires...

#48

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 4:41pm

The tie cabinet in Signor Nacarelli's shop. I still can't figure out if those are actual ties flattened behind glass or simply painted images, but altogether it looks real, and it really caught my eye. The way it's lit on the stage makes it a big focal point, IMO.

"The world is a better place because of hairspray." - Michael Ball

#49

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 4:44pm

The opening set for King of Hearts. I've never seen anything quite so beautiful as the cathedral roof that Santo Loquasto (sp?) designed.

#50

re: The Single Most Awesome Set Piece

Posted: 6/21/06 at 4:45pm

I loved the sliding walls in the Pillowman

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