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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 5:07:55 GMT
So today I was watching a news piece where they featured a video of Mel B's final performance in Chicago. During the show, she broke out of character completely and rapped a line directly from The Spice Girls song Wannabe and of course the audience went crazy! So curious, has there been any memorable times, either good or bad, where you have been in the audience where a star has broken completely out of character?
And those curious about the Mel B improv, it doesn't seem improvised, as someone was filming it from the wings so it was clearly planned:
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Post by ali973 on Mar 9, 2017 6:52:43 GMT
I don't know why people are up in tithers about this, especially in a show like Chicago.
Wendy Williams has recently done Chicago and her entrance line was her famous "how you doin'?" which is her daytime TV shtick.
I've seen multiple final performances of actresses in Chicago, and they ALWAYS break out of character. On Ute's last show ('98!) Ruthie, in a British accent says, "I would sure like to see that last bit again!" and they do an encore of I Can't Do It Alone.
The two ladies from the Vienna production of Chicago temporarily did a stint in London before Chita Rivera and Valarie Pittiford took over, and on the last matinee, the chorus boys did "When Velma Takes the Stand" in German.
I also saw Ruthie's last on Broadway and there was a lot of improv.
This is something that is not out of the ordinary on a performer's last day. I think the reality is, the outrage was from a bunch of elitist theatre fans who are completely unwelcoming to an "outsider". If this was a bona fide theatre actress, this wouldn't be news. Notice how the outrage is also from people who were not in attendance at the show, but rather from people who just heard about this.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 9, 2017 6:56:37 GMT
Yuk. Awful.
Stick to the script please. If you want to show off your "personality" do it on your own time.
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Post by richey on Mar 9, 2017 8:16:17 GMT
They should remember they are there because they are being paid to play a character, not to promote their own material.
Incidently i couldn't watch more than ten seconds of that video above as I just wanted to punch that irritating presenter
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Post by herrstiefel on Mar 9, 2017 9:39:22 GMT
I think in the case of "Chicago" - a production only kept alive by constant stunt casting - they are definitely not just paid to play a character. Which is kinda sad, because I absolutely fell in love with this show after first seeing it with Ruthie Henshall ages ago.
But it was always hard to convince friends to join me for a return visit to the Cambridge Theatre unless there was a name like Ashlee Simpson, Jerry Springer or The Hoff on the cast board. And I suppose at least 80% of the audience only went to see it on Broadway because of Scary Spice. Rather ironic, because the whole show is about having your name in the papers and "As long as you're famous, you can get away with anything, and the crowds will still cheer".
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Post by ali973 on Mar 9, 2017 9:44:12 GMT
I think people forget to put things into context. The producers have been so happy to compromise the quality and integrity of the show with their stunt casting. Secondly, this was her last show-- she's kept it together for her entire run.
The West End has a tradition of muck up matinees whenever a cast changes or when a show is closing, so I don't know why we're being so narrow minded about this. Fans expect a little something special and off script on a performer's last show- especially Chicago.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 9:54:47 GMT
Is the issue not so much that people are going off script but that they're dropping out of character? If they muck around a little while staying in character then people who have never seen the show before may not even notice that something has happened: it's just the same character doing something different. If they stop playing the character and start playing themselves it's jarringly out of place because the audience is taken out of the fiction.
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Post by ali973 on Mar 9, 2017 10:02:06 GMT
You realize it was one line, right? She goes into "so here's the story from A to Z"..which is really not such a huge deviation from the opening lines of Roxy's monologue, essentially she is going to get into her story from beginning to end.
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 9, 2017 10:08:07 GMT
I put my thoughts about this in the chicago board a few weeks back.
Its just not good.She's playing Roxie and Roxie wouldn't sing Wannabe. I'm all for vocal gymnastics on a final night, but not coming out of the character totally.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 10:52:46 GMT
Its just not good.She's playing Roxie and Roxie wouldn't sing Wannabe. I'm all for vocal gymnastics on a final night, but not coming out of the character totally. Roxie Hart would absolutely sing 'Wannabe' because that's exactly what she is. A wannabe who will do anything to keep her name in the papers. |
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 9, 2017 10:59:12 GMT
Fair enough, I see what you're saying. I just thought it was a unecessary character break
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 9, 2017 12:09:54 GMT
You realize it was one line, right? She goes into "so here's the story from A to Z"..which is really not such a huge deviation from the opening lines of Roxy's monologue, essentially she is going to get into her story from beginning to end. I don't think Daniel was restricting the discussion to Chicago though. We were talking about this in the La Cage thread yesterday because John Partridge is doing it every night it seems. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 12:17:53 GMT
While I'm not a fan (usually the 'humour' makes me cringe anyway) I think it is show dependant, in La Cage in the club scenes you can get away with it because it's Zaza in character sort of, but I still don't love it. In Chicago you can argue you get away with it because (ironically) it's only the celeb people are paying to see. Doesn't make it good or right...
In the case of a GENUINE mistake I think it can be charming and funny and an acknowledgement that it's live etc (like when Rory Kinnear got his trousers soaked in Othello and quipped, while trying to step the er flow that 'I should have been a plummer' the scene was already derailed, it allowed him to acknowledge the moment then slip back into the drama)
However this brings me to my number 1 pet peeve: FAKE CORPSING AND MISTAKES. I'd really like to bring back throwing rotten fruit for any show that does it.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 9, 2017 12:24:52 GMT
However this brings me to my number 1 pet peeve: FAKE CORPSING AND MISTAKES. I'd really like to bring back throwing rotten fruit for any show that does it. Funny Girl, with the moustache and the "oops I just walked into the wall (again)" business. I agree Emi and we're going to look like killjoys again but fir me that's kind of disrespecting the audience. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 9, 2017 12:27:40 GMT
There was a lot of it in One Man Two Guvnors. {Spoiler - click to view}
The plants in the audience It was very funny but as soon as I realised I felt like I'd been hoodwinked. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 12:28:20 GMT
However this brings me to my number 1 pet peeve: FAKE CORPSING AND MISTAKES. I'd really like to bring back throwing rotten fruit for any show that does it. Funny Girl, with the moustache and the "oops I just walked into the wall (again)" business. I agree Emi and we're going to look like killjoys again but fir me that's kind of disrespecting the audience. Ack bring it on, us enlightened few will sit with our arms folded at the back knowing we are the right ones 
(ugh yes hated that in Funny Girl too)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 12:29:21 GMT
You all know not to get me started on One Man...right? right.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 9, 2017 12:30:41 GMT
Oops! Too late!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 12:37:37 GMT
I HATE fake corpsing, it's extremely aggravating. We all know the exciting thing about live theatre is that things might go wrong, but the joy is in seeing the show carrying on regardless, not in seeing it fall apart. To try and manufacture that kind of experience doesn't sit well with me - are they trying to say "hey, we know theatre is fake, let's see if we can convince you that this bit is REAL"? We KNOW theatre is fake, we're pretty smart. We like theatre as it IS, it's pretty disrespectful to try and make it be "more" somehow. Let the show happen as it has been written. (If a writer writes in a fake corpsing bit then do what you can to convince them to excise it.) If it goes wrong organically, do what you have to. But don't put in a fake corpsing bit. People will think they've seen something authentic and unique and it'll just leave a bad taste in the mouth when they talk to other people and discover that no, their performance wasn't special, and the creatives really did think insulting their audiences was a good idea.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 12:40:37 GMT
ARRGGGHHHH
Seriously there was nearly a me shaped hole in the theatre doors, and THAT would have been ten times more entertaining than what was on stage.
Seriously though I just find it equally disrespectful to an audience as breaking character for a cheap laugh, audiences are intelligent, give them credit and respect the craft too.
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Mar 9, 2017 12:41:11 GMT
I totally agree Baemax, when you've seen lots of theatre performances like I have it is sooo obvious when corpsing is fake that it really is aggravating!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Mar 9, 2017 13:34:47 GMT
Funny Girl, with the moustache and the "oops I just walked into the wall (again)" business. I agree Emi and we're going to look like killjoys again but fir me that's kind of disrespecting the audience. Ack bring it on, us enlightened few will sit with our arms folded at the back knowing we are the right ones
(ugh yes hated that in Funny Girl too)
I'm in agreement, especially about the Funny Girl scenes. The mustache especially took me so much out of the performance, that it stopped being an enjoyable number, and just became annoying to watch. Actually, at the show I saw, Sheridan did corpse (it looked genuine), during the 'You Are Woman, I Am Man' scene. She bounced rather awkwardly on Chris Peluso's knee, whilst they were on the chaise lounge, and she dropped her head, started to crack up, and then couldn't stop. They finished the scene whilst both giggling slightly (which set the audience off, and in turn, made them laugh even more!), kissed and the set darkened...... and then there was a set problem! The sheer curtain, supposed to draw over them, got stuck, and they ended up kissing for waaaay longer than I think they expected, and then just had to get up and scurry off in the semi-dark. The house brought down the safety curtain, and there was an announcement that the show would continue shortly. The problem was, we were no more than 4-5 minutes away from the interval anyway (only Don't Rain On My Parade to go), and people started to dash out to the toilets, hoping to get there whilst they fixed the technical problem. This led to the ushers having to march around to tell everyone to go back to their seats - utterly disastrous! They performed the Act 1 finale as normal, once the curtain was back up (10 minutes later) and then had the interval as usual. Bit of a giant mess, not really helped by the fact that the corpsing had totally messed up the last scene we saw. I had presumed that that scene was a genuine corpse moment, but I would be extremely cross to discover performances where it was 'planted' to get audience laughs. |
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Mar 9, 2017 13:52:09 GMT
The WORST for me was Shane Ritchie in "Grease," with the fake "poke in the eye" routine. You're showing your age dear
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Post by westendwendy on Mar 9, 2017 14:22:28 GMT
Happened in Throughly Modern Millie UK tour when I saw the matinee in Liverpool a few weeks ago. Fake corpsing....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 14:43:34 GMT
The WORST for me was Shane Ritchie in "Grease," with the fake "poke in the eye" routine. Serves you right for going to see Shane Ritchie in anything. |
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