Trap Doors
Trap Doors
Trap Doors#0
Posted: 4/11/05 at 4:43pm
For some strang reason I have a sick obsessions with trap doors and it is my dream to "ride" on one (theater kid, I know). What are some of your favorite uses of trap doors?
Mine are:
Wicked (No Good Deed)
Seussical (The Jungle of Nool, Palm Beach)
The Frogs (Nathan's Capture)
re: Trap Doors#1
Posted: 4/11/05 at 4:49pm
Wicked ~ especially at the end (if you haven't seen the show or don't know what happens DO NOT READ THE NEXT LINE!)
when elphaba comes back out when fiyero is the scarecrow and says it works.
Updated On: 4/11/05 at 04:49 PM
re: Trap Doors#2
Posted: 4/11/05 at 4:49pmhiding from our sub in drama class back in high school. SHe never caught on- it was classic
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
re: Trap Doors#3
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:00pmMy high school's theatre dated back to 1856, so we didn't have trap doors or anything special like that. It is an absolutely gorgeous and exquisite building and theatre (with an entire museum upstairs), but there were no trap doors for us.
re: Trap Doors#4
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:16pm
Sweeney Todd
A Christmas Carol - a production I worked on used a trap for the Ghost of Christmas Present to enter and exit
re: Trap Doors#5
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:18pmI fell through one way back in the day during a childrens theatre production of The Sword in the Stone. Its a permanent part of the stage, and for some reason it just broke. Hurt a lot, too.
re: Trap Doors#6
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:18pmWe didn't have an automatic trap door when I was in Les Miz but we had this pretty cool set up. It was this trap on the stage you would lift open manually. You went down to get to the "sewers" and when Javert dies they had a bridge in the front and then when he jumped over the bridge he would jump into the trap door. Pretty cool effect for a small local production.
re: Trap Doors#7
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:24pmPhantom has - when Christine and the Phantom walk down to his place, and when raoul jumps into the water.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
re: Trap Doors#8
Posted: 4/11/05 at 5:26pmWhen I saw THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, I audibly gasped when Raoul jumped into the water (aka trap door). It startled me.
Featured Actor Joined: 3/26/04
re: Trap Doors#9
Posted: 4/11/05 at 9:03pmPOTO also has a trap door effect when The Red Death appears and disappears during the Mascarade scene. It is not one of the most impressive tricks, but since you were talking about this show . . .
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/19/05
re: Trap Doors#11
Posted: 4/11/05 at 9:07pmDracula...when "dracula" disappears into the stage...I think during the wedding
re: Trap Doors#12
Posted: 4/11/05 at 9:08pmI broke a trap door once...but it wasn't my fault.
re: Trap Doors#13
Posted: 4/11/05 at 10:25pmdracula..very beautiful..::sighs::
re: Trap Doors#14
Posted: 4/11/05 at 10:28pmDracula. That is the coolest thing ever!
re: Trap Doors#15
Posted: 4/11/05 at 11:47pmI like the traps in Les Mis for the Inn-Keeper and his wife in "One Day More"
Broadway Star Joined: 12/11/04
re: Trap Doors#16
Posted: 4/12/05 at 12:26amIn Phantom, the masquarade scene, there is no trap door their is a lift where he is lifted onto the staircase and then when he leaves after he runs off. Im talking about the tour. VERY well and I hope, it is different on Broadway.
re: Trap Doors#17
Posted: 3/17/16 at 10:40pm
Resurrecting this thread because I too love trap doors in theater. I think it's one special thing about seeing the Broadway version of a show vs. the tour since tours rarely if ever use traps.
Any other newer instances of cool trap door usage? Fun Home comes to mind. I remember being impressed with trap doors in Memphis but I can't remember for which song.
re: Trap Doors#18
Posted: 3/17/16 at 10:46pm
They aren't really trap doors and no one enters or exits through them, but the desks in Matilda are cool! Billy Elliot has pretty cool traps.
re: Trap Doors#19
Posted: 3/17/16 at 10:57pm
Why is this thread in bold? I remember reading how they had to dig a 60 foot hold under the Imperial stage for the Billy Elliot trap door. I had a friend in Les Miz who took me around backstage and underneath the stage is now all changing rooms and hair stations.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
re: Trap Doors#20
Posted: 3/17/16 at 11:56pm
Liked the use of the trap door in the Roundabout Theatre's revival of The Foreigner in 2004. They used it in the first act as a throw away joke but in the 2nd act, the trap door was an integral part of the story's climax.
re: Trap Doors#21
Posted: 3/18/16 at 12:34am
The last time I remember noticing a trap door was in Aladdin. I'm not sure if it was noteworthy. It was probably a genie entrance.
I don't know if it qualifies as a trap door but the Chicago revival also has some nice entrances.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
Broadway Star Joined: 11/10/15
Videos
