#26
Posted: 3/28/05 at 4:38pm
Found a piece in Lighting Dimensions that talks a little bit about the physical production of the Broadway Wild Party. Some descriptive highlights:
"The war between illusion and reality is at the heart of this Wild Party. The revelers are desperate creatures, grabbing at any sensation to distract them from the knowledge of their authentic selves. Interestingly, Wolfe--aided by scenic designer Robin Wagner--has given the production a theatrical metaphor. The action takes place in an abandoned theatre. The stage is framed by a false proscenium dotted with tacky Tivoli lights. Certain scenes are staged in front of blatantly artificial painted drops. Queenie and Burrs' apartment is a skeletal arrangement of walls and furniture placed on a turntable at stage center, surrounded by large, imposing walls, with multi-paned windows and topped by a ceiling with a skylight. The effect is of a rehearsal set placed on the stage of an altogether different production."
...
"The Wild Party begins with stylized theatrical lighting (complete with footlights) for the opening number, then moves toward a flat, bright look for a scene of domestic discord between Queenie and Burrs, played, like a burlesque sketch, in front of a cartoonish drop. Once the action moves to the party itself, Fisher and Eisenhauer faced a new challenge: how to make the apartment expand and contract as necessary as the focus shifts from group scenes to smaller, more intimate moments. Another complicating factor: lighting positions were limited by the set, which has three walls and a ceiling."
...
"The orgy sequence is staged behind Kate, who sings the number "Black Is a Moocher," while rolling in bed with Burrs; behind them the half-dressed bodies of the party guests are revealed in a spinning blue light. Later, with most of the cast lying about, sexually spent, Sally sings the haunting "After Midnight Dies;" the walls and ceiling are removed, with the circular trusses flying out as well. ("There's just the back wall and a mirror," says Fisher.) This stripped-down look banishes any hint of the outside world, with the characters trapped in a psychological prison of their own making. Dolores performs "When It Ends" in front of the curtain, which then lifts to reveal the climactic sequence, the three-way showdown between Queenie, Burrs, and Black."
The Wild Party - Lighting Dimensions
"The war between illusion and reality is at the heart of this Wild Party. The revelers are desperate creatures, grabbing at any sensation to distract them from the knowledge of their authentic selves. Interestingly, Wolfe--aided by scenic designer Robin Wagner--has given the production a theatrical metaphor. The action takes place in an abandoned theatre. The stage is framed by a false proscenium dotted with tacky Tivoli lights. Certain scenes are staged in front of blatantly artificial painted drops. Queenie and Burrs' apartment is a skeletal arrangement of walls and furniture placed on a turntable at stage center, surrounded by large, imposing walls, with multi-paned windows and topped by a ceiling with a skylight. The effect is of a rehearsal set placed on the stage of an altogether different production."
...
"The Wild Party begins with stylized theatrical lighting (complete with footlights) for the opening number, then moves toward a flat, bright look for a scene of domestic discord between Queenie and Burrs, played, like a burlesque sketch, in front of a cartoonish drop. Once the action moves to the party itself, Fisher and Eisenhauer faced a new challenge: how to make the apartment expand and contract as necessary as the focus shifts from group scenes to smaller, more intimate moments. Another complicating factor: lighting positions were limited by the set, which has three walls and a ceiling."
...
"The orgy sequence is staged behind Kate, who sings the number "Black Is a Moocher," while rolling in bed with Burrs; behind them the half-dressed bodies of the party guests are revealed in a spinning blue light. Later, with most of the cast lying about, sexually spent, Sally sings the haunting "After Midnight Dies;" the walls and ceiling are removed, with the circular trusses flying out as well. ("There's just the back wall and a mirror," says Fisher.) This stripped-down look banishes any hint of the outside world, with the characters trapped in a psychological prison of their own making. Dolores performs "When It Ends" in front of the curtain, which then lifts to reveal the climactic sequence, the three-way showdown between Queenie, Burrs, and Black."
The Wild Party - Lighting Dimensions
"Gif me the cobra jool!"
Updated On: 3/28/05 at 04:38 PM
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