Unintentional Prop Breaks

[philly03]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 2:10pm

Suresure theres really old posts about this great..let's start a new one:

Have you witnessed any stage prop mishaps where you can tell something just wasn't done right and it broke & the actor(actress) stalled as to what to do? (Long I know)

Last night at Les Mis, John Owen-Jones smashed the chair during the "Confrontation" scene at the hospital and I think Judy Kuhn ("dead as Fantine") jumped when it broke and JOJ just kind of looked at the chair and kept singing and just picked up a random part. Hahaha, I thought it was funny anyway.

[Boq101]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 2:19pm

lol, when I saw Wicked Jeniffer Laura Thompson hit the large wand at the beginning of the show on the bubble and sort of freaked for a bit and looked at the ground, as if she expected something to fall off, same performance it took her forever the pin the flower to Elphie's hair, she'd clip it on ad it owuld just die behind her head.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 2:24pm

On the Sound of Music tour a few years ago, in the thunder storm scene they were dancing around and Frederic kind of swung on the bed post and it broke off. He ended the song with the bed post raised above his head.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 2:29pm

Well you know in Hairspray when the streamers are sauppose to shoot out right after the very end of YCSTB. Well they didn't. And randomly during curtain call...they shot out.

[TheatreGal614]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 2:34pm

during a performance of RENT during la vie boheme, Maureen's (the actress's name slips my mind) mic went out and she had to lean in to joanne's to say her lines. the actresss playing joanne was completely confused of course and thought she was supposed to be pulling away. later, the maureen eventually had to get a hand-held mic to finish the song and she looked confused the entire time

[Elphabatize]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 4:03pm

LOL, when I saw Wicked, the large statue didn't retract after "Dancing through life" so this big, plumber-looking, stagehand had to come out and push it back.

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 4:55pm

Did the "plumber-looking stagehand", look anything like this?

[Miss Elphaba]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 6:51pm

"...smashed the chair during the "Confrontation" scene at the hospital and I think Judy Kuhn ("dead as Fantine") jumped when it broke and JOJ just kind of looked at the chair and kept singing and just picked up a random part"

Doesn't that always happen? In the west end I'm almost ceritan the chair always breaks... When Kerry Ellis played Fantine she jumped about a foot out of the bed everytime i saw it! Bless...

[Allshowsrock]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 6:55pm

One time I saw WICKED with Megan as Glinda and during Popular when she went to hit the wand on the bed on the line "is this thing on?" a piece of it broke, she smiled and chuckeled a little while Sho was about to crack up.

[Marianne]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 7:17pm

The chair's supposed to break, and Valjean is supposed to grab a piece of it to keep Javert away while he pays his last respects to Fantine. Last night JOJ smashed the chair but it didn't come completely apart; the piece he grabbed was still connected to another by a bit of string or something, so he just held it at his side lest the audience think he'd picked up anachronistic nunchuck skills.

I've also seen it where the chair just didn't break at all and Valjean (I forget who it was) had to hold the whole thing up to threaten Javert with. It looked simultaneously impressive and rather silly.

And I've witnessed some pretty spectacular set malfunctions in Les Mis, but the chair is the only prop I've seen anyone have trouble with. Except that Drew Sarich kept sending candlesticks flying during What Have I Done and I could swear he once had to do the finale with just one instead of two.

[jo]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 7:36pm

In one of the last performances of THE BOY FROM OZ -- during the Radio City Hall scene, one of the moving mirrors which allowed a multiple reflection of the one Rockette onstage fell. As it obviously contained a person inside the box which held the mirrors, Hugh Jackman stopped and checked if the person was hurt. Only after it was assured that the crew was unhurt did he go back to his Peter Allen persona and went back to his amazing dancing!

When the show transferred to Australia, it was an arena version and had a concert feel. During the opening night performance ( there were no previews), they were using mikes as they do for concerts due to the vastness of the venue ( 12,000-seaters). After a few moments of singing that was not projecting too well, someone handed him a hand mike ...he readily continued his performance but only after quipping "that I like the sound of my own voice" as he was the only who could hear him for a few moments








Updated On: 12/30/07 at 07:36 PM

[philly03]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 8:52pm

Yeah with the chair he broke it by the wrong leg I suppose. Usually when the Valjean smashed it on the ground the rest of the chair stayed in tack, except one leg and he uses that. It was just sort of obscure in a way (haha).

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 12:03am

The most common prop malfunction I've seen in Les Miz is when the Gavroche is not strong enough to hoist the bag of bullets all the way up to the barricade, or when Enjolras can't catch it. It sort of ruins the next scene, when they all of a sudden have all of these bullets to use. Also, it makes Gavorche's death seem rather pointless, when they don't even get the bullets he went out to collect. Too many whimpy Gavroches who could never reach the top of the barricade. For what it's worth, the best was Nicholas Jonas (of Jonas Brothers fame), who always made it seem effortless.

[Eponine3]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 1:15pm

I have a funny little story about Gavroche throwing bullets.. One of the Gavroches I knew back in the day used to get a dollar from the actor playing Enjolras everytime he got the bag up to them so they could catch it.
Updated On: 12/31/07 at 01:15 PM

[p.s.]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 1:41pm

Except that Drew Sarich kept sending candlesticks flying during What Have I Done and I could swear he once had to do the finale with just one instead of two.

I saw him fly a candlestick out of his hand that landed on the steps downstage left. He spotted it, worked his way over towards it, and then stepped down to retrieve it before circling around to upstage center.

Alex (and I think Drew as well) would come out for the finale with just one of the candlesticks lit, set the pair on the table (with the cross), and then use the lit candle to light the other. More than once the flame blew out on the way, leaving him in the dark.


p.s. John Owen Jones comes out with both candlesticks lit.

[winston89]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 3:44pm

The last time I saw Les Miserables, Gavroch didn't get the bag high enough and it didn't land on the other side.

The story where the actor gave the kid playing Gavroch a dollar everytime he got it across is funny.


I saw beauty and the beast one time a few years back. And during the scene right before the mob song the actress playing bell ( blanking on her name) dropped and smashed the migic mirror. It was at the point where she would show gaston the picture of the Beast and Gaston would wave it around to show everyone in the crowd. If Gaston waved it around it ment that shards of glass would fly every where so he and the actress were carfule with that scene. Gaston just looked over Bell's sholder during that scene and yelled out to the crowed he does exisit the old man was telling us the truth.

[p.s.]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 5:14pm

... about Gavroche throwing the bag high enough ...


Somewhere, somebody must be keeping statistics. Does anyone here know?



p.s. I would place the over/under at 80%.

[At least one miss per eight show week. More often two misses.]

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 5:25pm

Just based on my own viewings of this production and the original, it seems that more often than not, he misses.

[Glory]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 5:40pm

when I saw Adam and Anthony in Rent this past summer during La Vie Boheme when Roger goes to play the guitar for Muzetta's Waltz it didn't play and Anthony went, THAT WOULD OF REMINDED US OF MUZETTA'S WALTZ! And the crowd went nuts and the cast was dying haha

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 6:04pm

Winston"

bell: Belle
migic: magic
ment: meant
carfule: careful

[Mythus]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 6:23pm

If you're going to correct people, you could at least point out that it's "would have reminded us of Musetta's Waltz".

[NakedBluAngel2]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 6:32pm

Isn't so much a prop break as it is a set break.

During the Sweeney Todd revival, Michael Cerveris got a little too angry during a song and stomped a hole in the stage.

Pattie LuPone obviously looked shocked and many times both actors had to catch themselves from stepping in the hole.

During intermission you could see them repairing the stage.

It was a cool experience.

[Marianne]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 10:05pm

It depends on the Gavroche really; Zach Rand almost always makes the throw, but Brian D'Addario would miss at least half the time.

If we're going into set malfunctions too, Les Mis has many tales of epic fail where the barricade broke down. I never saw that, but I did see the Rue Plumet gate jump its track and slide halfway down the stage with Adam Jacobs still on it...

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 10:16pm

If we're going into set malfunctions too, Les Mis has many tales of epic fail where the barricade broke down. I never saw that, but I did see the Rue Plumet gate jump its track and slide halfway down the stage with Adam Jacobs still on it...
Ha!

Yeah, I was there one night when the barricade broke down as it was coming out before "Look Down." It just... stopped, the house lights were brought up and it took about 15 minutes to get everything working again.

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 12/31/07 at 10:25pm

My favorite was on the Les Mis tour when Thenardier, during the wedding scene, kicked one of the plates they were trying to steal and the guard guy is supposed to stop it with his foot but it flew into the wings and apparently knocked a bunch of other sutff over because there was this massive crash from backstage. Needless to say the next night, he kicked it slower so the guard could stop it.