What Broadway theater(s) have you been backstge at? What was it like?
Lunt-Fontanne- Extremley small but very high ceilings!
Marquis- again not a huge backstage but very tall ceilings. big basement. the dressing rooom area was huge! lots of stairs!
Stand-by Joined: 2/15/10
Billy Elliot - VERY small backstage, and even a pretty small stage.
was the palace big??
Majestic
Palace
Neil Simon
Not Broadway, but also Walnut Street in Philly and the 5th Avenue in Seattle.
Updated On: 7/1/10 at 07:38 PM
Marquis, Minskoff & Gershwin - very large space/dressing rooms back stage.
Broadway Theatre - good sized dressing rooms, and the stage was deeply raked as it was during "Miss Saigon." Winter Garden - the dressing rooms and stage area were good sized. Walter Kerr - small dressing rooms.
Imperial Theatre - small dressing rooms, and the stage is not deep at all, and there's practically no stage right. St. James theatre - small dressing rooms and very small wing space. Belasco - very small all the way around.
Updated On: 7/1/10 at 07:39 PM
haha ljay889! "my boy is stupid..." i love that lyric too!
Lunt-Fontanne- Little Mermaid
Very small stage and wings. So many raised scenes in the wings. Pretty scary for the crew since they need to know when they go down otherwise they can get seriously hurt.
Stand-by Joined: 7/1/09
Eugene O'Neill - Very actual BACKSTAGE area, but the green room, etc. downstairs is pretty wide open. The dressing rooms seemed pretty decently sized, but not really worth the crazy walk up/down those stairs.
Al Hirschfeld - Didn't really notice the wing space, seemed pretty open backstage, though. Dressing rooms were nice sized, though the hallways were kind of narrow looking at times. I was surprised that the dressing rooms were all basically the same size, none seemed to be distinguished for the "lead" or the "star."
Newsflash: They're all very small.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
The Cort - like something out of Charles Dickens.
The Curran Theatre in SF (Phantom and Jersey Boys)
Walter Kerr
St. James
Eugene O'Neill
Hilton
Palace
Gershwin
Cort
Lyceum
Helen Hayes
Richard Rodgers
Music Box
Nederlander
Imperial
Updated On: 7/1/10 at 08:30 PM
Featured Actor Joined: 6/3/07
Most of the older broadway houses don't have much wing space at all. They were built during the vaudeville era when painted drops were pretty much the only scenery used.
The Golden (Avenue Q) and the Majestic (Phantom)... Also the Ohio Theatre in Columbus (Phantom Tour)
- State Theater (Cleveland, OH) - Jersey Boys Tour
- Benedum Center (Pittsburgh, PA) - Xanadu Tour
- Palace Theatre (Cleveland, OH) - Xanadu Tour
August Wilson-Pretty narrow wing space and staircases backstage, but the flies were pretty large, even though Jersey Boys only implemented the flies for that fence/"curtain"
Neil Simon-I went backstage after the closing show of Ragtime and I noticed the wings were packed to the nines, even though the wingspace was huge. The flies were small but a lot was stored up there, including the 3rd tier of the set, a ladder, and the tempo club sign. The set itself was huge, and not so "stripped down" as it looked.
I cursed the Lyceum by accident when I went backstage. I said "Macbeth" during the course of a conversation. I forgot the whole curse thing, and kind of forgot we were still technically in a theatre as well. Oops. My friend went off on me then, no need to attack me now.
I got tired from walking up the stairs at the Hirshfeld. It was commented that the cast didn't have to go to the gym because of the stairs.
Brooks Atkinson and Broadhurst are small but the Vivian Beaumont is pretty nicely sized as far as backstages go.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
I got tired from walking up the stairs at the Hirshfeld. It was commented that the cast didn't have to go to the gym because of the stairs.
Climbing the stairs to the balcony of The Palace almost made me have to use my inhaler. lol.
Schubert- Big
Minscoff- Lion King
Imperial- Billy Elliot
Hilton- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
St. James- Gypsy
Palace- Legally Blonde
Updated On: 7/2/10 at 02:49 AM
Featured Actor Joined: 9/8/08
Walter Kerr- Grey Gardens
Schubert- Spamalot
Curran Theatre (SF)- The Phantom of the Opera
Golden Gate Theatre (SF)- Legally Blonde (pre bway)
Huntington (BU Theatre), Boston
Imperial Theatre, NYC (Les Miserables)
There's a crazy, winding staircase leading up to the dressing rooms. It's very cramped and they make the most of the space available. On the stairs stood Fantine's costume on a display and the wings leading onto the stage is practically just a few feet from the stage door. The dressing rooms are like walk-in closets.
It made me realized just how unglamorous performing on Broadway can be.
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