Best stage effect?

[ncbears]

I didn't see it, but have heard tales of a production of Our Town for the third act, when Emily is going back to her "day" - the script calls for Mrs. Webb to mime working in the kitchen, but there is a black cloth drop and there is an actual kitchen where bacon actually is frying and the smell wafting through the theatre. More here - forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/David-Cromer-s-OUR-TOWN-Surprise

In London, I was surprised and aghast at the end of Rosmersholm 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
when the floor is flooded

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[crabtree]

again, water related and at the Royal Exchange, their last Edward II saw him dumped for dead in a puddle, head and shoulders under water, whilst the lengthy coronation went on around him, for ages. not a bubble, not a ripple. Very impressive.

[David J]

I'll never forget the aerial stuff that occurred during Michael Boyd's Histories cycle. But I always remembered the moment Jonathan Slinger's Richard II was left alone with dust falling on him after being deposed.

The Beast's transformation in Beauty and the Beast. Chitty flying. The buildings of Paris turning into the Barricades in Les Mis. Bert walking up the proscenium in Mary Poppins

I salute the Arcola Theatre for their production of Carousel. One of the most imaginative pieces of theatre I've seen done in a small space. Highlighted when, after the fun fair sequence, they pulled out a tree made out of cloth out of a box that hung above the stage. Magical

The Harry Potter plays is certainly one of the most spectacular pieces of theatre I've ever seen. Amazed how they had the whole Palace Theatre covered in UV writing

In Matilda the Musical I don't like the moment where Miss Trunchball reveals the endless chokey's she built, but I have to say the way they did it when the musical opened in the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon was very effective. It felt like the whole audience was trapped. Much better than the lasers but obviously not achievable in the Cambridge Theatre

The bookshelves toppling over and the bear puppet made of book pages appearing in David Farr's The Winter's Tale.

[craigbowker]

Harry Potter has a lot of moments. The disapparating at the phone booth. The polyjuice. The dementors.

Harry Potter also has a moment I don't think is appreciated enough. The actors who play Harry and Hermione walk into a door and go to keep Ron from entering. You hear them, you saw them walk in the door, you see their hands pushing him back. And then IMMEDIATELY they walk in from stage left and it never gets the gasps I think it deserves.

Stranger Things opening act is MAGICAL it is definitely a true feat. Also the use of body doubles really makes your brain spin.

[blamerobots]

Aug 9, 2024 21:07:12 GMT craigbowker said:

Harry Potter has a lot of moments. The disapparating at the phone booth. The polyjuice. The dementors.

Harry Potter also has a moment I don't think is appreciated enough. The actors who play Harry and Hermione walk into a door and go to keep Ron from entering. You hear them, you saw them walk in the door, you see their hands pushing him back. And then IMMEDIATELY they walk in from stage left and it never gets the gasps I think it deserves.

Stranger Things opening act is MAGICAL it is definitely a true feat. Also the use of body doubles really makes your brain spin.

Body doubles are EXTREMELY underappreciated! Phantom, Harry Potter, Spirited Away, Groundhog Day are all shows that come to mind.

[mkb]

Aug 9, 2024 21:45:48 GMT blamerobots said:

Body doubles are EXTREMELY underappreciated! Phantom, Harry Potter, Spirited Away, Groundhog Day are all shows that come to mind.

Our House uses them a lot to great effect too.

Lightning quick costume changes are a dazzling stage effect. Arturo Brachetti is the master of that, and I saw his stage show in London at the Garrick in 2009. Our House has a few variants, the best being the three-second full change behind the spinning umbrellas.

[pws]

Aug 9, 2024 19:05:30 GMT ncbears said:

I didn't see it, but have heard tales of a production of Our Town for the third act, when Emily is going back to her "day" - the script calls for Mrs. Webb to mime working in the kitchen, but there is a black cloth drop and there is an actual kitchen where bacon actually is frying and the smell wafting through the theatre. More here - forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/David-Cromer-s-OUR-TOWN-Surprise

SPOILER: Click to show

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This was at the Almeida a few years ago, and was one of the best things I have ever seen.

[Jonnyboy]

Blackbird - I think was the name of the play with Jodhi May and Roger Allam - I remember being wowed by the complete set change at the end. A school-like room changing into a multi-storey car park with an actual car lunging towards the edge of the stage.

[simon]

Not a complicated effect but the moment the golden mirrors turned at the end of the original production of A Chorus Line was stunning.

[crabtree]

Yep that Chorus Line moment is thrilling, and of course owes its' effect to the ancient greek dramas, where they had such devices.

[crabtree]

I was an impressionable eight year old sitting in the upper gallery for the drury Lane camelot when it transformed from a snowy landscape with the cast on skates and toboggans, into the golden throne room. In that instant many things in my life clicked into place.
Talking of Drury Lane, there is a wonderful book charting the history of scenic spectacles and special effects, called Sensation Smith of Drury Lane. a wonderful, creative genius. how I would like to make a film of his life.

[nottobe]

The Wild Duck at the Almeida had a rather magical staging reveal. The play stared off being very minimal and almost Brechtian with few props or scenery. Over the course of the play it became more and more naturalistic and a curtain lowered slowly boxing the stage like a letter box. Towards the end this curtain went back up and revealed a whole forest in the 'attic' of the families home with fairy lights and it took my breath away, especially considering how small the Almeida was.

[Rozzi Rainbow]

The helicopter scene in the reimagined Miss Saigon at Sheffield Crucible last year - all done with sound and lighting effects, but we were left strongly believing the helicopter was actually there just out of sight. The simplicity of it was for me just as good, if not better, than having a real helicopter. It was breath-taking, and the whole audience was stunned into silence when the scene ended.

[anthony40]

Yes, I agree about the helicopter in Mis Saigon.

I think the way the barricade is built in Les Miserables in might impressive.

As is Elphaba flying at the end of Act 1 in Wicked.

The whole boat sequence in The Phantom of the Opera with the candelabra's coming out of the ground and the chandelier falling at the end if Act 1.

For me, visually, the whole Circle of Life opening sequence in The Lion King is the best thing I've ever seen! The cheetah, the zebra's, the giraffes- in fact the whole use of puppetry is, simply, inspired.

[danb]

‘Bat Out of Hell’ was hard to beat for visual spectacle when it first began. The skyscraper set continuing onto the ceiling, the pool, fire, confetti, exploding motorbikes and just the general scale and commitment to world building was very impressive.

[blamerobots]

I still quite like the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

I'm a child at heart

[alece10]

Nothing will ever beat the staircase in 42nd Street for spectacle in my opinion.

I also loved the dress reveal in Frozen and the Bridge that goes on forever.

And the Newsies boys grabbing hold of the hanging lights and being lifted off the floor.

Finally for those old enough to remember an actual helicopter on the stage at Drury Lane for Miss Saigon.

[Someone in a tree]

The staircase on 42nd St was indeed amazing.

The chair in Sweeney always makes me smile and the act 1 finale of Sunday makes cry.

Ground hog day and Phantom are quite special.

I love a train - Anna Karina (scottish ballet), skimbleshanks (cats), Hello Dolly (Regent's Park) the Gale Edwards production of Aspects of love.

[richey]

Aug 11, 2024 20:59:37 GMT danb said:

‘Bat Out of Hell’ was hard to beat for visual spectacle when it first began. The skyscraper set continuing onto the ceiling, the pool, fire, confetti, exploding motorbikes and just the general scale and commitment to world building was very impressive.

Have to agree. For all it's faults, the original production at Manchester Opera House was pretty amazing. I was totally gobsmacked when the car was pushed into the orchestra pit.
And yes I feel privileged to have seen the original production of Miss Saigon, that whole staging was one of the reasons I fell in love with theatre. Not just the helicopter but the whole spectacle- the Bangkok scene, the full size statue during This is The Hour...

[catcat100]

I've not been theatre going for too long but feel the National have introduced me to some great stage craft.

The moving stages of Julie and Tartuffe were quite amazing to me, the smoke affects of translations whispering across the whole Olivier stage and the dismantling at the end of Exit the King, were all early acts of stagecraft which helped me to fall in love with the theatre.

Glad the Wild Duck was mentioned also gasped at the reveal at the end. I went on the theatre tour recently and it amazing how they hid it all in such a small, inaccessible space.

For its simple heart-breaking beauty, the black ashes falling on the huge white stage at the end of Medea at the Barbican was also quite breathtaking.

[danb]

Just remembered the wonders of the ‘Spring Awakening’ set at the Almeida.

Its just a big set of steps isn’t i!?

Ohhhhhhh!!!!!

[theatrenerd]

I quite liked some of the effects and tricks in the Bedknobs and Broomsticks tour i.e. Charlie turning into a rabbit and Eglantine's first flight in "A Step in the Right Direction".

Still hope they'll bring that back or transfer to the West End one day!

[David J]

Aug 12, 2024 14:07:31 GMT danb said:

Just remembered the wonders of the ‘Spring Awakening’ set at the Almeida.

Its just a big set of steps isn’t i!?

Ohhhhhhh!!!!!

The lighting in the original was quite something as well.

Totally F***** was a blast.

Should we expand this topic to stage effects and production values? 

[jr]

The cherry blossom petals falling as snow in ENO's Madame Butterfly directed by Anthony Minghella. Beautiful and moving.

To my 6yo niece, Cinderellas's dress change at the Lyric in Hammersmith panto this past January. Seeing her face full of surprise and delight was something.

Sometimes cheap and simple goes a long way.

[SilverFox]

Dreadful show, which I have wish to see revived, but a musical called 'Born Again' (1990) at Chichester featured a rhino coming up from below stage, in a glass lift at a shopping mall. Totally still until it smashed the glass and ran across the stage. People in the front rows cowered. not cheap, not simple, just WOW.