What is a raked stage?- Page 2

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 10:12pm

Does anyone have any pictures of these stages? I've seen Wicked and Mamma Mia on broadway, but I didn't really notice it being raked or not.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 12:26am

ohjustjake, same here. I saw Wicked in Chicago, but I would imagine it's the same thing. I never noticed it being that steep, but I was in the balcony. Plus, I guess the point of it being raked is so the audience won't notice.

[respeck]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 12:37am

I don't think Chicago's Wicked is raked.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:01am

Oh, well that would explain it.

Do they rake the stage also to make some of the stuff done in the back of the stage visible to the people in the orchestra seating?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:02am

That's exactly why they do it.

The terms UPSTAGE and DOWNSTAGE come from the raking of the stage.

The back would be higher - UPstage.
The front of the stage would be lower - DOWNstage.

[BtMartin25]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:05am

^ it really helps stage direction when you think of that.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:06am

A raked stage is a stage that has been trod upon by a rake.






Tom Jones
London, England

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:06am

::rimshot::

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:12am

Can anyone answer my Fiddler question?

[fxy2003cmu]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:18am

i saw wicked in chicago from the front row and it definitely was not raked...it was hard to see some of the things that were happening in the middle/further back on the stage sometimes...not that i was complaining

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:27am

a stage that has been cleared of all its leaves.

[HBG]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:38am

The Wicked (Broadway) stage is extremely raked. It's so hard to tell, though, until you stand on it. I was very shocked how raked it really was when I stood on it, because I had seen the show so many times from the first or second row of the orchestra and didn't really notice. And I would venture to guess that the stage is one of the contributing factors to Shoshana Bean falling into the pit last year.

[alterego]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 1:45am

I think, about a hundred years ago in many theatres a raked stage was the norm, then around the 1920's a flat stage was adopted as being almost innovative. You don't come across too many modern theatres with a raked stage.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 2:14am

In regards to the Wicked stage, I remember hearing that Jenna Leigh Green had trouble getting used to her new wheelchair since the tour is not raked, there is no break on the chair, while on Broadway, there is a break to prevent Nessa from going flying.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 3:03am

A lot of the information above is accurate but everyone has missed the reason for why a stage is raked. In the 16th and 17th century, the SEATING area in most theatres was flat and level. So theaters raked the stage so that everyone would have a good view of what was going on onstage. Without a raked stage, only the first row or two would see the entire view. And it gets progressively worse. With a flat stage, by row H or I, the audience would only see the cast from the waist up. So they raked the stage. Also remember back then, in operas, the chorus did little stage movement - they were assembled onstage, ready to belt out as the curtain rose on each scene, so they could REALLY rake the stage. Sometimes, they hads up to a rise/run of 4:16 (a four foot rise every 16 feet. That would be like that twisty street in San Francisco). The chorus would literaly have to climb offstage ladders to get onto the set, while the leads acted "in one" at the level front of the stage.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 4:27am

I thought a raked stage was ANY stage you took a hoe too.

Updated On: 5/6/06 at 04:27 AM

[Mr. TN]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 9:32am

Equity currently provides rules for building a raked stag in a Class A show under the LORT contract (basically incldes all Broadway shows). First, you have to have it approved by Equity and there can be no greater than a 1.5 inch rise over 3 feet of depth. I have seen rakes that have been very sloped (the Opera production of Dead Man Walking which toured most opera houses had an incredible rake). However, raked stages are harder to approve on Broadway where Equity is very staunch over the rules. To them, it is a liability when actors get hurt because of the insurance, monitary, and contractual issues that spring up from sudden injuries and actors having to leave the production.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 9:41am

I always thought it would be cool to perform ona raked stage. Honestly, though, when I stood on Wicked's stage, I didn't really notice. Perhaps I was too much in awe, LOL.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 9:45am

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD has a song where they rake the stage...

[alterego]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 11:50pm

Allofmylife thanks for that information. When you read what you wrote it is all so obvious (about the rake).

[Wickedmeltification]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 10:29pm

Someone made mention that not many modern stages are built raked, and while I don't know the numbers on it, I know of one example built very recently; the stage at the Colosseum at Ceasars' Palace (Where Celine Dion performs her show "A New Day...") is extremelly raked, and the venue was built in 2002/2003.

[Queenie Was A Blonde]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 10:36pm

I always wondered about this too, and was too lazy/forgot about it to look it up. So thanks to everyone who provided info on this subject.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 10:55pm

We performed Jesus Christ Superstar on a raked stage in high school. They had built up the stage to maybe 4" tall at the back. I never noticed it bothering my back (although I was glad I wasn't one of the dancers in the show), however, during the final number we all were to back off the stage slowly, and one of the girls forgot where the end of the raked stage was, and fell and twisted her ankle pretty badly. At least it was the final performance!

[WickedlyPerfect]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:40pm

someone mentioned it started in the 16th and 17th centuries. Raked stages actually began to appear far more earlier-- in Ancient Greece.

"Theaters in ancient Greece were semicircular, the audience sitting on tiers of seats arrayed above a "raked" or sloping stage -- the back of the stage being higher than in the front."

here is a picture for those that want to see how a raked stage looks from a side angle:

[ShuQ]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 9:29am

So is the floor backstage raked as well or do you step onto the stage from the wings?