favorite ad lib

[broadwaynut20]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:20pm

What is your favorite ad lib from a show? Or the time you noticed the actors goof up on stage but cover it somehow

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:31pm

My favorite story of an ad lib comes from Elaine Stritch:

She tells a story about a show where the prop guy forgot to put a gun onstage, that one character was supposed to aim at another character. The actor, not knowing what to do, grabbed a jar of smuckers jam that was on a nearby table and shouted at his acting partner: "I"m going to kill you with this poisoned jelly", and then, I believe, threw it at her.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:46pm

that's hilarious!

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:48pm

This is my favorite one that I've witnessed--Once when was at Fame, during the scene right before Think Of Meryl Streep when Serena confronts Nick about being gay Lambchops forgot to come out. This is kind of the point of the scene because Lambchops comes out, tells Serena that Nick is gay, and then leaves. Well since she didnt come out, Serena(Sara Schmidt) had to make up this completely wierd speech about why she thinks he is gay. It didnt really work so well, and I couuld totally tell but the rather small audience didnt notice anything amiss.

[Elizabeth_DeBris]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:49pm

Didn't someone post something a while ago, about a similar thing happening with West Side Story? Chino wound up throwing his shoe at Tony, screaming "poisoned boot!" I forgot if that happened to a professional company, or someone's high school musical, or what, though. Either way, it's pretty funny. Updated On: 4/23/05 at 08:49 PM

[Joshua488]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:50pm

The dumbest ad-lib was during HAIRSPRAY. Near the end of the show, the scoreboard that states Amber as the winner of the competition is supposed to change so that the score says that Tracy wins. Well, the score did not change, so Jonathan Dokuchitz stuttered a bit and said, "Well, Tracy... umm... regardless of what that board says, you are the winner!" I was like, "WHAT?!"
Updated On: 4/23/05 at 08:50 PM

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:51pm

I loved Jackie Hoffman's ad libs in Hairspray.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:52pm

I saw a production of West Side Story (high school) where Chino's gun didn't go off, so he ran off stage, got a knife, ran back, and stabbed Tony. Then Maria had to adlib the "how many bullets" part, because Chino didn't leave the gun on stage, he left the knife. I can't remember what she said, I think my head was bowed in embarassment by that point, and I was praying for it to be over.

[bwaymargie]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:53pm

we had a similar issue in West Side Story. the second of the three nights we performed last year, after the fire alarm went off at intermission (should have seen it coming), the gun didn't go off, so Chino screamed "BANG" at the top of his lungs. Yes, it kind of killed the mood.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:53pm

BWayTheatre, I am loving Tari Kelly as Audrey in your avatar!!

[kas]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 9:04pm

here's a few: in a RENT show (totally cannot remember who was Angel - Trey was Mark, and Manley was Roger, I rememebr that) - when Angel jumps down from the table s/he totally tripped and fell on the floor. S/he jumped up and said "woo, lawd!!!" It was hilarious.

In the battle scene in Les Mis - when they are on teh rotating trenches/scaffolding thing, one of the soldiers fell right off, and it kept turning.

And, in my own show of Buried Child, (I was Hallie) I fell down an entire flight of stairs in a black box type of theater. It had many levels etc., and I actually kicked an audience member in the head as I went down. I just stood up and yelled, "Jesus Christ! What the hell was that?!"

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 9:37pm

When we were doing Oklahoma, during the scene where Curly is in Jud's smokehouse, the sound effect for our gun didn't work. So, the actor playing Curly screamed, "Bang!". Jud lost it, and the two of them could not keep a straight face the rest of the scene.

Nathan Lane, during his second run in the Broadway Producers, had a great ad-lib when talking about never investing your money in the show. He'd say the line, pause, then say, "that's a taboo" (making reference to Rosie's producing Taboo obviously).

I also read about an incident in the revival of The Diary of Anne Frank, where one night a huge crate fell backstage and caused a huge noise. The actors onstage were obviously all startled, and felt they couldn't ignore. So, the guy playing Otto gets up, looks around, and says, "Thunder." Thankfully, this was during one of the play's lighter moments, so the laughter from cast and audience was ok.

The poisoned jelly story is one of my favorites.

[Kimmygonbefamous]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:07pm

I saw the Producers about a month ago, and during the scene where Max is in jail, he said something to the effect of, "Robert Blake was in the cell next to me...someone got HIM out...". I was amused.

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 12:55am

I was costume changer a few years back for a production of "Little Me"... during the last scene of the show, Belle Poitrine's mother comes onstage to shoot another character in a fit of rage. Well, the sound effect went (no need to yell "BANG!" this time, at least...lol) but it was the wrong sound effect. The one that played was from the first act during the war- namely, the CANON.

Gotta give credit to the actor who was supposed to have been shot. He REALLY doubled over that night. And the actress with the gun? Turned it in to a joke, staring at the gun as if she didn't know it had that kind of "oomph" in it.

[Bal]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 1:05am

Idina: Yadda yadda oh it's so terrible that animals are kept in cages!
Cell phones in the audience: Ring!
Norbert: I think people with cell phones should be kept in cages.

Best adlib ever.

Poisoned jelly is HI-larious. Never heard that one before.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 1:19am

When I was in "Crazy For You" our Euguene Fodor was a little bit old and it was his first time on stage in a long time and our last show he comes in and goes..."Is this Deadrock, Arizona?" HA! Luckily, instead of saying the usual line ("It sure is!") Harry said "Uhh..Nevada!"

[LiTtLeDaNcEr729]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 1:36am

My friend played Louise in a production of Gypsy at a community theatre- and during "Let Me Entertain You" at the end- her skirt (which was velcro so it would come on and off easily for her quick changes) would fall right off...she had to pick it up and go on by saying the whole "make the audience beg for more...and not give it to them" speech. I felt so bad for her.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 1:37am

My favorites all belong to Boy George. Of each of the 14 times I saw TABOO, he had something different today. Sometimes he would just crack up and stop the show to start over, and other times he would make fun of the other actors. Very unprofessional, yes, but Boy George certainly gets away with it.

Some of my favorite things he said during the show:

"Hello Esther Williams ON CRACK!"

"All this fuss about a pair of tits! (Grabs his tits) Janet Jackson, eat your heart out."

"That Justin Timberlake will do anything for a little attention and to convince people that he's straight. No one that can sing as high as he can is straight."

"I don't understand how the country that gave us Michael Jackson thinks that I'M strange..."

from the song, ICH BIN KUNST-

"I dressed up in the wardrobe of my mother - Ethel Merman."

That one is actually preserved on the CD, but he used to say Carol Channing as well.

"This country is so confused - you have a vice president named Dick and a president named Bush..."

He said TONS of other hysterical things, but I forget some of them...

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 4/24/05 at 3:08am

during the production of sorry wrong number where i played george (the hitman) the guy playing my character's boss had an odd pause in one of his longer lines sin in the first of the 2 performances (school budget cut) the girl playing mrs stevenson and i assumed he forgot the rest (we were blocked so we could not see each other) and just skipped to our next lines. So the second show the pause came, so i started to say the next line and he goes "dammit george! let me finish for once!"...got a huge laugh