Groundhog Day halted last night

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:11pm

Hi all,

At last nights performance they (SPOILERS AHEAD) started the car chase scene and when the police sirens went on we heard an announcement say "and hold please. All actors please leave the stage". One performer said "we're driving here", and another said " there's a Dunkin Donuts on the corner. Then a black curtain came down and a minute later they announced there would be a 5 minute pause due to technical difficulties. Apparently the turntable was stuck when the car was supposed to turn. 

10 minutes later they announced they were going to restart the scene which works perfectly since it's Groundhog Day. The audience went wild. The voice thanked everyone for their patience and the scene restarted. 

The actors said the line about going for a drive and they all said "again" which got a lot of laughs and applause. When the music started for the chase scene the audience was clapping along and cheering. 

The rest of the show went off without a hitch and kudos to Andy for performing with a cold. His voice cracked on the high note but he gave an outstanding performance. What a magical evening to be a part of!

 

 

 

 

 

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:18pm

It's happened at least 5 times before (I was at two of those performances, one of which I spent the tech hold chatting with Tim Minchin). The prior holds were mostly during early previews when they were trying to get the settings right. Haven't heard of it happening lately, although they do on occasion have small hiccups where the turntables don't align 100% (these are seamless--they work around it)

 

There's a spoiler function in the board software, btw. Look for the + above the message editing box

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Like this spoiler

 

Updated On: 6/25/17 at 11:18 PM

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:24pm

I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering. 

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:27pm

Giving some love to the tech people. Also in Groundhog day:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

That song is so joyous, I'm happy when they restart from the top...

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:33pm

What the stage management team at Groundhog Day is doing night after night blows my mind. From a technical standpoint, that show is so incredibly intricate... I can't even imagine. Mad props!

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 11:50pm

Thank you for letting me know about the spoiler function! I always wondered how people do that.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 12:13am

mailhandler777 said: "I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering. 

 

It's just showing support for the crew and cast. GHD is so technically complicated and relies so much on everything aligning so perfectly, I'm sure they go into panic mode and are a bit thrown off when something goes wrong that causes a delay, and that's the audience's way of saying "It's cool, we get it, we are not upset." It's live theater!

 

Updated On: 6/26/17 at 12:13 AM

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 12:39am

greenifyme2 said: "mailhandler777 said: "I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering. 

It's just showing support for the crew and cast. GHD is so technically complicated and relies so much on everything aligning so perfectly, I'm sure they go into panic mode and are a bit thrown off when something goes wrong that causes a delay, and that's the audience's way of saying "It's cool, we get it, we are not upset." It's live theater!"

 

Or like when an athlete is injured in a sporting event and is helped off the field, fans will cheer to show their support. 

Though I also feel it has to do with our society being constantly bombarded by stimulation and noise, that many people get very uncomfortable with silence, such as the silence that would occur between a break and the announcement that the show was restarting. And also, audiences clap in the theater. It's what they do. And give standing ovations for anything and everything, but that's for another thread. :) 

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 12:40am

greenifyme2 said: "mailhandler777 said: "I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering. 

It's just showing support for the crew and cast. GHD is so technically complicated and relies so much on everything aligning so perfectly, I'm sure they go into panic mode and are a bit thrown off when something goes wrong that causes a delay, and that's the audience's way of saying "It's cool, we get it, we are not upset." It's live theater!"

Also, it makes the show more special, particularly when there are fun ad libs from the actors.

I'll also add my kudos to the stage management and tech crew for GHD.  I can only imagine the amount of time it took in tech to work out the staging so that the turntables would end up in the right position to go from one cue to the next.  And now, to maintain them, especially on two show days can't be easy.  (And this is not to say that crews of other shows don't work equally hard.)

I would love to watch the show from backstage to see how it's all choreographed.  Of course, I'd just be in the way, so I wouldn't really, but I'm always intrigued by the inner workings of productions.

Marway44 - Thanks for posting about what happened.  I saw mentions of a tech issue on Twitter, but no details.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 1:54am

"I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering."

I don't get that you don't get it. There's nothing "crazy" about applauding a cast and crew overcoming a technical bump in the road. These things happen. Sometimes equipment fails, and the company, as a whole, has to deal with it and get the show back on track, very quickly - and it usually isn't a simple task. Why shouldn't they get applause for it?

It is also a window into the workings of the hard work and the complications that go on backstage. In my experience, most audiences are grateful to be in attendence at these times. It  is no surprise to me that they show their appreciation and understanding of just how complex most shows are by simple applause and cheering.


 

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 4:41am

10086 Sunday's- I didn't see anything on Twitter about what happened. Happy to share the details though. It just shows you how amazing everyone from actor to backstage in this show really is. 

Updated On: 6/26/17 at 04:41 AM

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 11:05am

Marway44 said: "10086 Sunday's- I didn't see anything on Twitter about what happened. Happy to share the details though. It just shows you how amazing everyone from actor to backstage in this show really is. "

If you search you can find a number of posts about this happening before opening. My understanding from talking to cast and crew is that it's usually the same issue.

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 12:11pm

JustAnotherNewYorker said: "Marway44 said: "10086 Sunday's- I didn't see anything on Twitter about what happened. Happy to share the details though. It just shows you how amazing everyone from actor to backstage in this show really is. "

If you search you can find a number of posts about this happening before opening. My understanding from talking to cast and crew is that it's usually the same issue.

If it's usually the same issue that could explain how they came up with the adlibs on the fly like that.  It seemed so natural the way they just got up out of the car that my wife swore it was part of the show until the woman behind us told us it did not happen with Andy's understudy last night. 

I still got to hand it to Andy.  Performing with a cold and pulling it off with an amazing, outstanding, Tony Award winning performance!  I know his day will come, hopefully sooner than later,

 



 

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 12:11 PM

[Skimbleshanks2]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 12:13pm

Performing with a cold -- had it still been Tony season he could have leveraged that into at least four more interviews!

[Lucette]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 1:13pm

I was in the audience too on Saturday night and they had a couple of issues with the snowfall cues as well - in One Day and in Seeing You.

I can't imagine how complex it is behind the scenes. I think I read somewhere that Warchus estimated he had spent at least 300 hours working out the math on the rotations to get everything and everyone where they needed to be for each cue.

 

[Malka2]

Posted: 6/26/17 at 6:05pm

Re: the applause after the technical issue, I think it's a really nice thing the audience does to show the cast and crew that "we're still with you here" and supporting them. 

Incidentally though the car chase scene had applause and laughter throughout when I saw the performance too, without any preceding tech issue. It's just such a fun and lighthearted scene (and such a sing-along-able song!)

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 6:09am

That was well said Malka2 about the audience still being there with you. That's how I took it.

The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?

[Patash]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:15am

To those who seem bothered by (or simply "don't get it" at tech crews getting applause, do you feel the same way when an actor overcomes something unexpected and gets applause?  Or do you sit there and think "how horrible, this wasn't a flawless performance"?

 

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:28pm

Marway44 said: "That was well said Malka2 about the audience still being there with you. That's how I took it.

The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?

 

Set design. TGC's theater design is stunning but GHD's is insanely complex. 

 

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 6:24am

Agreed greenifyme2! Set design would have been good one.

I do wonder though being they won nothing, if this will hurt business to the point of having to close sooner than later.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 11:45am

Honestly, I don't think the average tourist theater-goer cares about the Tony awards. In my eyes, it can kind of be viewed like the Oscars - the weirdest, often depressing movies that the critics favor win the awards while other great movies that the masses prefer don't get recognized. I personally don't know anyone that comes to town specifically for Broadway shows. They come for another reason and decide to try to get something at the last minute as an afterthought, and GHD is my top recommendation. 

The word of mouth is strong on this one- and tons of other people have said the same! 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 11:56am

Marway44 said: "The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?"

GHD was my pick for Best Score until I saw Come From Away (I don't think DEH should've won Best Score) and Andy Karl was my pick for Best Actor until I saw Ben Platt's performance. As others have said, it's a shame that this was such a competitive season because I can see Mr. Karl having won if not for Mr. Platt. 

I do think that GHD should've won Best Scenic Design.

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 2:23pm

Lot666 said: "Marway44 said: "The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?"

GHD was my pick for Best Score until I saw Come From Away (I don't think DEH should've won Best Score) and Andy Karl was my pick for Best Actor until I saw Ben Platt's performance. As others have said, it's a shame that this was such a competitive season because I can see Mr. Karl having won if not for Mr. Platt. 

I do think that GHD should've won Best Scenic Design."

Agreed, they deserved something for what they do with their sets and turntables.  What was done to the Imperial is impressive creatively, which I guess overruled GHD's technical achievement.

Aside from Andy Karl, who would have gotten the Tony if it were up to me, even against Ben, I think Directing/Matthew Warchus was the only category where I really felt GHD had a chance.  I haven't seen CFA, but from the clips I can why it won.  Still, Mr. Warchus having to work out the staging to be beautiful and work with the demands of the turntables was equally impressive.  What he did with Phil and Ned's blocking is gorgeous.

Updated On: 6/28/17 at 02:23 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 3:33pm

Is this a strong contender for most technically demanding show of all time? I know Spider-Man probably takes the cake, but this must be a close second.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 3:38pm

Gosh, when I went to Spiderman I held my breath the entire show. It was enjoyable, but I was afraid for them.

Maybe GHD is the safer version of the most technically complex show? ha.