Thrilling theatre moments/twists

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 10:28am

**WARNING: THIS THREAD WILL MOST PROBABLY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

What are some of your favorite theatre moments? Mine would be the final moments Of The Scottsboro Boys when the woman is revealed to be Rosa Parks

[Wynbish]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 10:36am

Not really much of a spoiler now, but when the Beggar Woman turns out to be Lucy Barker in Sweeney Todd

[justoldbill]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 9:42pm

No twist, but the streamers unfurling down at the start of the Dance At The Gym always gets me. In GEORGE M!, the number "Popularity" started as a rehearsal number in rehearsal clothes and developed unobtrusively into a fully costumed "performance number". The effect was nifty.

Another unexpected moment in GEORGE M! was when the set-piece pianos flanking the sides of the stage revealed themselves to be actual player pianos by playing the Entr'Acte without anyone at them. Unfortunately, it was probably the best moment of the evening.

Updated On: 5/25/12 at 09:42 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 9:44pm

I always loved the final moment of Little Shop when the vines drop -- did they do that with the b'way production or was that only the original OFF Bway production?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 10:10pm

The very first time I heard Elaine Stritch (in Company, 1970, or 71?)scream sing: (I didn't even know who she was at the time)

..."Iiiiiiiiiillllllllllllll drink to that!"

(and)

"Everybody Rise...rise....rise.....rise....rise....rise....rise!!!!"

[NoHSMisNotAMusical]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 11:06pm

I definitely agree with Wynbish. The revelation that the Beggar Woman is Lucy s absolutely amazing. The whole Final Sequence is genius, from "City on Fire" to the Beggar Woman's death to the moment Judge Turpin realizes who Sweeney is. But the most terrifying moment in the whole show is when Sweeney sings "Mrs.Lovett, you're a bloody wonder..." and pushes her into th eoven. It sends chills down my spine.

[Skip2]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 12:04am

Ann Miller in gold lame at the top of the stairs in MAME...with a bugle!

Ethel Merman with red exploding out of her hair coming down the stairs in HELLO DOLLY.

The ghost dancers weaving their way into the number in the original "Who's That Woman".

The birches parting to show the mansion in the original "A Little Night Music".

The battleship opening like a Japanese fan in "Pacific Overtures".

Robert tap dancing to no one's response in the original "Side By Side By Side".

The original "Turkey Lurkey Time" (see youtube).

"And I'm Telling You..." Holliday version.

Kristen's Sally Brown in "...CHARLIE BROWN".

"For Good" - Kristen and Idina.

"Molasses to Rum" - any 1776

"Dancin Feet" opening in 42nd Street

"Colored Lights" - Liza Minnelli - and "City Lights"

"Finale Medley" - Ain't Misbehavin'

"Tomorrow" and "Easy Street" - original ANNIE

"Applause" - original APPLAUSE

"Love Changes Everything" - Michael Ball

MORE????

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 12:45am

Many will disagree, but...

Ted Neeley performing "Gethsemane" -- especially at his age

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 12:52am

The obvious mega-musical moments of the '80s ...

The chandelier at the beginning of Phantom when the theatre "restores" itself (not so much the dropping part, but sure, okay).

Grizabella ascending with Old Deuteronomy on the oversized tire, then walking up into the ceiling of the Winter Garden theatre.

The helicopter sequence in Miss Saigon.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 12:57am

As far as revealing twists ... the wonderful "twist" pulled (just like in the movie The Red Shoes), where the director selects a group to step forward, then unexpectedly dismisses that group to reveal the ones left behind are actually the dancers chosen for the job in A Chorus Line.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 1:31am

I can't believe no one has mentioned the last 60 seconds of Cabaret at 54. When the Emcee reveals his armband and the lights come up. Breathtaking, shocking, and brilliant.

I don't even remember there being a curtain call. Was there a curtain call?

Musicals don't really seem to have a lot of twists. I saw a production of Accomplice by Rupert Holmes and I thought had a really cool twist, well two actually. First, when you discover that what you've been watching for 40 minutes is really just a play-within-a-play and later when you discover that you, the audience, is the accomplice of the title.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 1:42am

I just cut and pasted this from another thread regarding a question about hazard pay for actors, as it seemed to fit the bill. This clip contains plenty of twists, just not the kind of twist you mean. It was thrilling:

"Most of that choreography [in Kiss Me Kate's "Bianca"] was Berresse's. Equity came in to watch it, made him do it backwards (a far more dangerous proposition), and made him sign a release waiver in the event of an injury. Initially, they thought he might have been coerced into doing it. For the first year, at least, it was considered so dangerous that only he was allowed to do that choreography, but eventually David Elder was allowed to do a modified version of it. The dance starts at 5:20. You miss a couple of really amazing stunts during the reaction shots, but you get the idea. It remains one of the most amazing things I've ever seen onstage.

And he did it eight shows a week."






The gymnastics start around 5:40 Updated On: 5/26/12 at 01:42 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 1:47am

As far as "thrilling," I'll never forget when Betty Buckley hit and held that last crazy high note in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was off the chart.

The Writing On the Wall

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 1:53am

Well, that set my hair on end. Talk about your memories. Thanks, best12.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 1:56am

The final moments of the HAIR revival. Probably one of the most amazing and chilling moments I have experienced in a theatre.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 6:18am

The sequence in GYPSY when strobe lights are used to facilitate the leaving of the stage of the youngsters who are dancing in place and their replacement by the older members of Rose's troup, showing the passage of time. That sequence always gives me goose bumps, no matter what the production.

In Act two, another thrilling moment take place when Gypsy Rose Lee is about to appear on stage for the first time and is facing downstage toward the audience and then the scene shifts, with the stage lights temporarily blinding the audience while Gypsy moves to be seen as performing on stage as we, the audience, look at her.(phrased awkwardly, I'm afraid)

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 6:23am

The "At The End of the Day" tableau in Les Misérables.

The disappearance of Sam in GHOST: The Musical.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 6:24am

Speaking of Ms. Buckley

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 7:00am

Not a musical, but the final two minutes of Witness for the Prosecution contain a slew of twists, providing that the right actress can pull it off. Old stuff, I know.

[macnyc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:41am

At the end of the recent play Assistance, music comes on, one of the characters does some manic dancing, and the set starts to come apart and destroy itself! We loved it.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 10:10am

I haven't seen it, but the reveal at the end of Woman in Black must be chilling.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 10:12am

When we find out the son is dead in Next To Normal... I had no idea. Every time I saw it after that, you could hear the gasps at that same moment.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 10:39am

I often feel in a very small minority for thinking SWEENEY TODD's Beggar Woman reveal doesn't work. Obviously, it does for some (most?) people... but I don't understand how any clear-thinking person doesn't see it coming a mile away.

And I'm never, ever, ever the person to guess a twist ending or the solution to a mystery story, either because I'm not very sharp or I enjoy being taken for a ride... probably both. But the Beggar Woman is so obviously set up at her first appearance and recurs through most of the show with no purpose whatsoever. You just have to know something is up, and once you do, there's only one logical solution.

And the fact that it doesn't (for me) have a slam-bang "aha" IMPACT! at the end wouldn't bother me if that moment weren't so specifically treated that way both in the writing and in every production I've ever seen. No matter how good a production, the "reveal" always rings resoundingly false, yanks me out of the story, and gives me momentary anticlimax before Sweeney pulls Lovett back into their waltz -- because those are the characters I'm invested in, anyway.

Wah-WAH.

Off the top of my head, whilst I'm here, I'll throw in how the final seconds of THE FULL MONTY always get me. I don't know what the general opinion of the show is, but I adore it. As "Let It Go" builds and builds and the electricity of the audience response approaches climax towards what everyone knows is coming really, really soon, I find myself thinking, "They're never gonna make it! They're never gonna make it!" every. single. time. I saw it on Broadway. I saw a very questionable community theater production. I saw a very impressive community theater production. At the end of each one, that big goofy grin was plastered on my face, and I left elated. I hope to never see a performance with a technical glitch in that moment.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 2:09pm

Oasisjeff, Next to Normal is the one that I was going to mention. I was very surprised, especially after all I had read about this musical here on these boards before I saw it. I was impressed that no one had revealed this twist here!!

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 3:03pm

I haven't seen it, but the reveal at the end of Woman in Black must be chilling.

It's actually the least effective. What you imagine is always scarier.