Your favorite stage illusions

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:08pm

Apologies if there was already a thread for this:
I'm curipus to know,what are some of your favorite illusions performed on stage?

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:09pm

How Sean Hayes plays it straight. Gorsh pink elephant ftl.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:31pm

Some of those in Wildhorns Dracula were outstanding

Ditto for some of those in Shogun

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:34pm

This is a question I've had for a while. Is this illusion possible/has it been done?

A person is there, adn then, suddenly, they aren't. No puff of smoke, no flash of light, just a sudden instantaneous disappearance.

Has that happened?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:37pm

DRACULA, Wildhorn's, had some really cool stuff going on. Like how they blew Kelli O'Hara's clothes off.

I also appreciated when Tom Hewitt jumped into the orchestra pit.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:39pm

I don't know if you consider this an "illusion" but the first time I saw Les Miz, I was blown away by the Javert suicide.

The actor jumps from the bridge, the bridge flys out behind him and then he falls to the stage and the turntable "washes" the body down the river. Visually stunning!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:44pm

"A person is there, adn then, suddenly, they aren't. No puff of smoke, no flash of light, just a sudden instantaneous disappearance."

I saw a sort of crude version of this. The actor stood stage left. The stage was dark, the actor was in a pinspot, then a stage hand walked a black curtain in front of the actor.

It's like the Effie clothing change in "Dreamgirls". You see her in one costume, the lights diminish to just a spotlight on her face, then when they pull the light bigger she's in a different costume.

Updated On: 12/12/10 at 05:44 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:45pm

Re Dracula

In the very beginning when he was old & when he bit the guy he was instantly young

The other was when he seemingly went from one side of the stage to the other in the blink of an eye.

Updated On: 12/12/10 at 05:45 PM

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 5:55pm

A person is there, adn then, suddenly, they aren't. No puff of smoke, no flash of light, just a sudden instantaneous disappearance.

I would guess with the use of mirrors, yes.

[Overkill]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 6:07pm

The Addams Family has some charming ones. Especially in "The Moon and Me".

But by far the best, was Jay Johnson's performance in Jay Johnson: The Two and Only. Outstanding.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 6:11pm

The mirror in the confrontation scene in Jekyl & Hyde on the tour before it hit Broadway was pretty cool. Not a stage show, but in the equestrian show "Cavalia" they do this thing where it rains on "stage" and then they project these huge white horses in motion on the walls of rain. It is visually stunning.

Updated On: 12/12/10 at 06:11 PM

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 6:34pm

The transformation in Beauty And The beast.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 6:44pm

A very simple one was a production of "Into the Woods" for the witches transformation...they had a ensemble member stand behind one of the trees on the set (fake obviously) who was in the same garb/makeup as the witch. The witch spun around a few times and went behind the tree the other girl was and the other girl continued to spin around and fall on the stage (center) with her hood and cape covering her entire body. Meanwhile the actual witch got out of her ugly witch costume (they removed a majority of the real makeup and replaced it with a mask before she came onstage for the milking scene) and then quickly ran upstage to the center(covered by the fact that upstage was so dimmly lit that anyone in dark clothes disappeared) and ran down to the tree that was right behind the stand-in witch. The action on stage the moved to center stage (basically blocking view of the witch) and they quickly switched spots and then with a large puff of smoke she stood up while the cape flew up into the rafters (really cool string effect) and she stood cs with a great costume. Simple...yet it worked

And I know people will disagree...but "Defying Gravity" remains one of the most powerful flying sequences I have ever seen.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 7:15pm

Mary Poppins > Elphaba

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 8:32pm

Yeah. Mary Poppins flying all over the audience, plus across the stage, on the upside-down proscenium arch, etc. totally beats "Elphaba's dress gets huge."

[Kevn520]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 8:47pm

In the recent incarnation of Gypsy I loved the strobe light effect, transitioning the child actors into the adult actors. It was pretty cool to see.

[gcal]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 8:51pm

Re: the Gypsy effect, it's been in since the original production.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 9:02pm

I saw a performing-arts high school production that did a very low-budget, but crowd-pleasing variation on the strobe light thing. The cast, as "children" danced off into the wings, and a supertitle descended reading "But ten years later..." and they all danced on again, weary, jaded and no longer at all sincere or believable as "babies."

[TheKandyLife]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 9:11pm

I have to admit, i loved all of them in The Lord Of The Rings, especially the Act 1 finale, with Gandalf and the Balrog.

[TreyKenyon]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 9:15pm

What I like about Defying Gravity is that it isn't as predictable/cliched as the whole wire/harness bit. Yeah, in Mary Poppins they do more stunts but the wires are totally obvious and IMO detract from the effect.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 9:37pm

I agree Trey.
She runs into the darkness and then comes forward and flies up. I've seen Mary Poppins, the effect FOR ME was neither powerful nor "magical" cuz I could clearly see the wires holding her up. In DG...her dress doesnt get big..in fact at the very end you see her floating high in mid air and the large cape is pulled back to make it look like she herself is just floating there. I love Mary Poppins, seen it several times and def. gets "oohs" and "ahhs" but to be honest...never seen anyone walking out of the theater in tears like all the times I've seen WICKED.
And again...this is all my personal opinion.

[Pianist3912]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 10:02pm

I agree re: Defying Gravity's staging. I find it a bit more creative/artistically done. Both are cool though!

[fingerlakessinger]

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

I think MP's flying is awesome too..just out of the two I found DG more powerful and the best at making it appear she is floating.

Another illusion I love is Les Miserable's sewage scene where Jean saves Marius. The way the stage/lighting appears to actually be underground is amazing.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 10:22pm

The flying in Mary Poppins was quite cool. She flew right above us when I saw it on tour. I also loved the strobe light effects during "Puttin' On the Ritz" in Young Frankenstein. Not so much an "illusion" but I loved the "tornado" in the original production of "The Wiz".

Updated On: 12/12/10 at 10:22 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 12/12/10 at 10:23pm

The strobe light effect in Gypsy has long been a favorite moment of mine.

Such a simple one, but the use of misdirection in Exit the King when Geoffrey Rush switched from his orange wig to the white fright wig was fabulous.