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Post by MusicalTalk on Feb 29, 2016 9:45:22 GMT
The chalkboard and pigtail moments are brilliant, but Paul's finest coup de theatre is the appearance and disappearance of Sam in Ghost (and possibly the bandage unwrap in The Invisible Man)
I look forward to seeing what he has planned for Groundhog Day (and the Derren Brown Ghost Train at Thorpe Park! Haha)
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Post by westendcub on Feb 29, 2016 13:00:48 GMT
12 year old me found the transformation of 'Beast' back to human form at 'Beauty and the Beast' pretty magical back in 1997!!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 14:12:15 GMT
So simple, but the swings in Matilda. When the adults take over and hurl themselves towards the audience, it really is magical!
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Post by bobbybaby on Feb 29, 2016 20:10:26 GMT
Saw Phantom not long after it opened and found it just amazing, went last year with a friend and just found it so dated. Sorry. City of Angels at The Priince of Wales was just stunning with the quick change from B&W to colour. But for me Javerts suicide was the most incredible - moved me to tears.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Feb 29, 2016 21:05:46 GMT
and the guillotine in Danton's Death at the National was pretty amazing..... I still remember the ghastly silence in the audience. If a feather fell on the carpet, you would have heard it. |
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Post by anthony40 on Feb 29, 2016 22:45:54 GMT
Elphaba flying
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Post by talkstageytome on Feb 29, 2016 23:09:14 GMT
I've heard that Ghost had some amazing special effects, and that's the main reason why I'm planning on catching the tour. Like some of the music, the film's plot is okay but if the special effects are as good as everyone made out then I have to see the show!  Personally I like anything where anything/anyone flies. Elphaba in Wicked, the helecopter in Miss Saigon, the car in Chitty.... |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 29, 2016 23:12:32 GMT
Elphaba flying....? I'm cant see past the safety strap, the billowing cloth and the forklift and the noisy shrieking. No, that did nothing for me.....for someone meant to be defying gravity it is one hell of a clumsy clunky effect. Levitation rather than flying. Sorry.
Lord of the Rings had a great use of Pepper's Ghost that caught me by surprise.
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Post by theatre-turtle on Feb 29, 2016 23:18:29 GMT
Elphaba flying....? I'm cant see past the safety strap, the billowing cloth and the forklift and the noisy shrieking. No, that did nothing for me.....for someone meant to be defying gravity it is one hell of a clumsy clunky effect. Levitation rather than flying. Sorry. Lord of the Rings had a great use of Pepper's Ghost that caught me by surprise. Shrieking and screaming one's guts out is the core of any Elphaba performance! |
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Post by talkstageytome on Mar 1, 2016 0:03:00 GMT
I meant it more in the sense that while adults tend to wonder how tricks are performed and try and work them out, younger audience members like the sort which go to see Wicked as their first shows (and kids who saw chitty fly back when it was around) see the moments as magical and unexpected. Obviously adults go to these shows and some are wowed too, but for younger audience members the big flying moments really take your breath away. I still remember the flying sequences in the first two shows I ever saw (I was probably only a couple of years old) in The Snowman and Peter Pan at the Birmingham Rep. They must have both been at least 15 years ago I'd say, and yet they've stuck with me.
Miss Saigon is amazng because the whole Kim's Nightmare scene and in fact the show in general is just an emotional bombardment from beginning to end. When the copter arrives I just sobbed. Very emotional!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 1, 2016 7:54:58 GMT
Didn't someone disappear before your eyes in Lord of the Rings? I didn't see it but heard as much. Same trick then used in Ghost?
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Post by MusicalTalk on Mar 1, 2016 9:04:32 GMT
I am not sure. I remember Paul telling me that the fading away illusion was the first time it had been done in a very long time and the whole set had to be designed around that moment (it' not in any tour of the show, sadly) Here's a televised version of it:
The effect in LOTR may've been a smaller version of it done by Paul.
Elphaba's flying is weak - it was also done in Joseph in the early 90s, so it's nothing amazing. The reason it works, much like the helicopter, is that it happens at the emotional high point in the show so, like all good magic, the story itself is 80% of the effect!
I do like the paper plane trick in Charlie - if you're sat very close to the stage you can see how it's achieved, but it always takes people by surprise and, again, works in the emotional moment of the show. It's ironic that it's the best magic trick in the piece, really...
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 1, 2016 9:40:12 GMT
The transformation of the beast in Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion was astonishing.
The effects in Ghost at the Piccadilly were great - in the fact the staging was the best part of the show.
The ship in Bounty (again at the Piccadilly) rising up on a revolve from the stage but that was more staging than a special effect as such, as was the use of the drum revolve at the Olivier for Wind in the Willows - never been bettered!
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Post by duncan on Mar 1, 2016 9:56:51 GMT
Didn't someone disappear before your eyes in Lord of the Rings? I didn't see it but heard as much. Same trick then used in Ghost? Bilbo, I seem to recall he stands centre stage and then at the end of a speech vanishes in front of your eyes. |
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Post by trapdoor on Mar 1, 2016 10:04:09 GMT
I am not sure. I remember Paul telling me that the fading away illusion was the first time it had been done in a very long time and the whole set had to be designed around that moment (it' not in any tour of the show, sadly) Here's a televised version of it: The effect in LOTR may've been a smaller version of it done by Paul. Elphaba's flying is weak - it was also done in Joseph in the early 90s, so it's nothing amazing. The reason it works, much like the helicopter, is that it happens at the emotional high point in the show so, like all good magic, the story itself is 80% of the effect! I do like the paper plane trick in Charlie - if you're sat very close to the stage you can see how it's achieved, but it always takes people by surprise and, again, works in the emotional moment of the show. It's ironic that it's the best magic trick in the piece, really... It was indeed Pepper's Ghost used in LOTR, very effective (although the night I went the glass wobbled so ruined it slightly). |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 1, 2016 10:04:40 GMT
I am not sure. I remember Paul telling me that the fading away illusion was the first time it had been done in a very long time and the whole set had to be designed around that moment (it' not in any tour of the show, sadly) Here's a televised version of it: The effect in LOTR may've been a smaller version of it done by Paul. Elphaba's flying is weak - it was also done in Joseph in the early 90s, so it's nothing amazing. The reason it works, much like the helicopter, is that it happens at the emotional high point in the show so, like all good magic, the story itself is 80% of the effect! I do like the paper plane trick in Charlie - if you're sat very close to the stage you can see how it's achieved, but it always takes people by surprise and, again, works in the emotional moment of the show. It's ironic that it's the best magic trick in the piece, really... Very fine acting in that clip! My vague memory of it in Ghost was that there was some jiggery pokery with a coat or something. And that the actor almost disappeared within its folds. There was certainly a prop involved. It was the most memorable part of the show and I can't even remember that! |
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Post by trapdoor on Mar 1, 2016 10:06:43 GMT
If memory serves (and I hated Ghost so tried to remove as many as possible) it was used towards the end on the stage right section of their apartment where Sam was there one minute and gone the next. They also used a variant when he passed through the door but the frame of the poster was used to mirror image the door. By far the biggest magical trick was managing to get an audience night after night but Paul Kieve didn't have much to do with that one...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 10:40:38 GMT
Yes that was it in Ghost. In some theatres it involved Ushers holding black cloth over the fire escape signs because one (or both?) requires total darkness to 'work'
By far the more entertaining part of Ghost for me was the lady behind me asking "Is he dead?" at every opportunity...I mean there wasn't a LOT of plot, but that was fairly crucial.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 11:00:19 GMT
I do like the paper plane trick in Charlie - if you're sat very close to the stage you can see how it's achieved, but it always takes people by surprise and, again, works in the emotional moment of the show. It's ironic that it's the best magic trick in the piece, really… The disappearance at the end was certainly quite impressive when I first saw it! |
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Post by raiseitup on Mar 1, 2016 12:24:32 GMT
It's a very simple one but I really loved the sequence where the kids change to adults in Gypsy
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Post by PhantomNcl on Mar 1, 2016 13:59:53 GMT
I loved the flying sequence in the Witches of Eastwick at Drury Lane and the subsequent move to the Prince of Wales.
Yes, you could see the wires, but it was the way the 3 witches floated around the auditorium space that was so spectacular - rising and falling, and moving from side to side.
Even how their flying wires were clipped on through the back of the sofa was cleverly done :-)
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Post by tommy123 on Mar 1, 2016 14:26:32 GMT
I really liked Willy Wonka disappearing at the end of Charlie! Very unexpected so worked really well!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 19:18:44 GMT
I loved the flying sequence in the Witches of Eastwick at Drury Lane and the subsequent move to the Prince of Wales. Yes, you could see the wires, but it was the way the 3 witches floated around the auditorium space that was so spectacular - rising and falling, and moving from side to side. Even how their flying wires were clipped on through the back of the sofa was cleverly done :-) I remember being impressed by the way they solved the problem of having to connect the witches to wires that ran out into the house without making it obvious what was happening in advance. |
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Post by catqc on Mar 2, 2016 8:42:48 GMT
How does the chalk work in Matilda?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 9:19:45 GMT
I want to say magnets. The writing is already on the board and slowly reveals itself as the chalk moves around by magnet power. Somehow.
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