WTF MUNY...?

[PRFRMR20]

WTF MUNY...?#1

Posted: 8/2/10 at 5:48pm

Having checked out the pictures posted on playbill.com from Titanic and Footloose (posted today) - I can't believe how unprofessional the sets/costumes look!

For what is considered the best (or one of...) summer regional theaters, these pics look like Broadway stars in community theatre quality productions!!

Check them out:
http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/1436

http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/1525

[PRFRMR20]

WTF MUNY...?#2

Posted: 8/2/10 at 5:49pm

If nothing else - please look at picture 3/9 of Titanic. My god! :)

[ljay889]

WTF MUNY...?#2

Posted: 8/2/10 at 5:53pm

FOOTLOOSE looks absolutely atrocious.

[Unknown User]

WTF MUNY...?#3

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:00pm

Titanic looks like it did on Broadway.

[PRFRMR20]

WTF MUNY...?#4

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:11pm

Joe - what are you talking about?

Broadway:


-vs-

MUNY:


Come on... look at that HORRIBLE paint job and Telly Leung's costume looks like it was bought at a Halloween costume shop and was 2 sizes too big!!


Updated On: 8/2/10 at 06:11 PM

[lightguy06222]

WTF MUNY...?#5

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:21pm

yea, its not great, but its not horrendous. The theatre seats what, over 8000? The closest audience Member is 35 feet away from anything? From a distance, im sure it all looks fine. No one is going to see the backdrops from close up.

[TheatreFan4]

WTF MUNY...?#6

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:24pm

Isn't this the theatre that does 7 shows in a summer? What are you expecting?

[Eos]

WTF MUNY...?#7

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:29pm

Yeah, it's the Muny. There's like 11,000 seats in there. The sets don't come off quite as tacky from the seats.

The Overture is part of the show, people. Please shut your pie hole.

[best12bars]

WTF MUNY...?#8

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:31pm

I was going to say that just now, lightguy!

The Muny is a huge outdoor theatre, as with their sister "Starlight" Theatres in Kansas City and San Diego. They have to approach things differently, both creatively but especially technically. They have wing space but no fly space to speak of. It's outside, after all. Lighting is limited technically, but also for 8000 seats (no balcony, all on the ground), you pretty much have to hit them with a giant wash of light so they can be seen by the back sections. It's akin to doing a Hollywood Bowl concert (without the giant video screens on the sides showing you the actors' faces). As a result, these relatively close photos look "flat" with no shading or nuance or mood to them. But if they used dark, mysterious lighting (like they did on Broadway, which became SO tedious and dull after awhile), you can't see faces or even bodies at all.

The costumes and sets are also designed for the back row.

Personally? I see more creativity here than I did with the Broadway production. They had no excuse for coming up with such boring "flat" sets and costumes in a theatre that could have easily handled more than just a tilting floor.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

---

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

[CATSNYrevival]

WTF MUNY...?#9

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:31pm

Their set for Cats is one of the worst I've seen, and a bit unessisary since FCLO has a beautiful set for Cats avaialble to rent that I would recommend to anyone.

[CapnHook]

WTF MUNY...?#10

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:32pm

11,000 SEATS?? DEAR GOD!

Besides, good acting can make up for poor production values (not to say MUNY has poor production values as I have not seen a show there). Judging by the names in the cast, however, it seems that there is an incomparably high level of talent on that stage.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

[Eos]

WTF MUNY...?#11

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:40pm

I've been to a couple of shows this season and have enjoyed them. I usually don't patron the Muny often - theatre etiquette seems to go bye-bye when you're outdoors, and that always annoys me a little!
There are always a few Broadway folks in these shows - they get paid well for a few weeks of summer work.

The Overture is part of the show, people. Please shut your pie hole.

[best12bars]

WTF MUNY...?#12

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:46pm

They usually swallow a lot of bugs when they're on stage, too.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

---

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

[FrontRow]

WTF MUNY...?#13

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:49pm

WTF is right...isn't Curtis Holbrook getting a bit old to be playing a teenager????

[best12bars]

WTF MUNY...?#14

Posted: 8/2/10 at 6:51pm

When you're half a mile from the stage, Joanne Worley can play a teenager there.

Probably has.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

---

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

[Lawrence4]

WTF MUNY...?#15

Posted: 8/2/10 at 8:03pm

The productions at The Muny are first class and brilliant. As the other person mentioned, it's done on a huge scale. It is breathtakingly beautiful from the audience.
I've seen dozens of shows there and had the honor of being in several....it's all Broadway quality.
Updated On: 8/3/10 at 08:03 PM

[dramamama611]

WTF MUNY...?#16

Posted: 8/2/10 at 8:22pm

Best21 -- LOL! That was priceless.


And yes....from further away it turns into theatrical magic.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

[singtopher]

WTF MUNY...?#17

Posted: 8/2/10 at 10:43pm

The unique space (12,000 seats, and 100 foot wide to my knowledge) means that they are limited technically. Especially since they have 10 days or so to put up most of these shows. Titanic and Footloose aren't shows they already have in storage (and it's not like a rental set would fit on the stage) so they do the best they can with what they have.

I understand the helicopter in Miss Saigon...was a helicopter.

"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

[broadwayboy987]

WTF MUNY...?#18

Posted: 8/2/10 at 11:41pm

I actually kind of like the footloose set. I think the Sound of Music set is atrocious.
http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/1498

[grandpianoalex]

WTF MUNY...?#19

Posted: 8/2/10 at 11:50pm

These promo photos are a terrible way to judge because they were taken in daylight. The sets are painted to look good when it is dark outside and JUST stage lighting. I'm a frequent Muny-goer, and have only missed one show so far this season. Up close, the sets are not the best, but, from a distance they are beautiful. For not having ANY flyspace, I think the sets are unique and creative.

[lightguy06222]

WTF MUNY...?#20

Posted: 8/3/10 at 12:52am

BroadwayBoy, i disagree! The sets are bright, colourful, and well painted. This is NOT Broadway. Those sets wouldnt fly on broadway. But for an 100' wide outdoor ampitheatre with 8,000+ seats, they need bright and colourful.

[jimmycurry01]

WTF MUNY...?#21

Posted: 8/3/10 at 1:09am

I have to say the sets look great, considering the space they are being used in.
I also like the set rendering for Cats, I much prefer the ally as opposed to the junk yard.

[Shubert Alley Cat]

WTF MUNY...?#22

Posted: 8/3/10 at 1:29am

I'm from Kansas City and our Starlight Theater now has significant fly space -- it does not just put on these regional productions like the MUNY. Each season also has first-run Equity tours -- highlights with significant sets in the past include AIDA, MISS SAIGON, LEGALLY BLONDE, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE to name a few.

[CATSNYrevival]

WTF MUNY...?#23

Posted: 8/3/10 at 1:46am

Starlight in San Diego also has flyspace. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like building flyspace for an outdoor theatre would be relatively easy.

[broadwayboy987]

WTF MUNY...?#24

Posted: 8/3/10 at 2:17am

I just don't like the idea of the bright and colorful sets for sound of music, I prefer more dark and really extravagant looking. I like the sets for cats and footloose a lot, I don't really want to judge the set for titanic because I don't have a reference to how it would normally look as I have never seen the show live, or a movie of the show.