Paradise Square-Tech Stop

[Grace Sweeney]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 10:40pm

I was at Paradise Square on Saturday night. Really great show, and Joaquina was off the charts as the Tony proves. This show deserves so much better and it saddens me that it probably won't survive 2022.

That said, there was a brief tech stop right before Breathe Easy. I have been to quite a few Broadway shows recently and I've never seen a tech stop. A friend who has been to even more shows than me said they've only seen 1 tech stop outside of previews. Still, the incredibly talented cast handled it well and this show and Joaquina deserve better.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 10:59pm

Tech stops aren’t that uncommon and I know they’ve happened a few times with this show since it started, as well. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 11:06pm

Yeah, it just happens sometimes. I've seen one in my Broadway going career (Gentlemen's Guide a few months into its run).

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 11:23pm

I will just add that shows that cut corners tend to have more tech issues than shows that don't. 

[jagman1062]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 11:39pm

My first Broadway show was in January 1974 and I have seen over 600 Broadway shows. I only recall one tech stop. It was at Putting It Together just before New Year's Eve 1999. Carol Burnett was in the show, so she came downstage as the house lights came up and she took questions from the audience, just as she did on her TV variety show. It was a fun 15 minutes until the tech issue was resolved.

[CreatureKitchen]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 12:02am

I went to NY for a week recently and had two tech stops in one trip. One was a stop in the middle of A Strange Loop. After the show started again, the set made a nasty squeaking noise every time the arches moved.
The other stop was during Company, immediately after "Being Alive". That was a bummer, since there were only about 2 minutes left in the show.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 12:04am

Company has been stopping consistently for months.

[BroadwayPatriot]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 1:00am

Seen many working shows last decade - Billy Elliot- Shrek - King Kong - Les Mis in 2014 - 2 weeks ago a power outage onstage at Music Man to name a few 

[starcatchers]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 1:03am

TaffyDavenport said: "Companyhas been stopping consistently for months."

I saw one of the few performances pre-shutdown, and that also stopped for about 20 minutes. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 2:31am

It was in previews then (Company) happened when I saw it too. It’s a huge show with a lot of set pieces and I can’t imagine there’s much backstage space given those old theaters. I’m sure the backstage choreography is something to witness (especially since the orchestra is above the stage).

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 3:51am

I had a pretty lengthy tech stop when I saw Mean Girls and it was almost a year into the run. I vaguely recall a few others over the years. So it's rare but it does happen occasionally.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 7:20am

I saw the show twice in early May, and both performances stopped shortly before “Let It Burn”, with the crew manually moving the main set piece offstage while Joaquina did the damn thing.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 10:55am

CreatureKitchen, I also had tech stops during Strange Loop and Company in mid June. Both for pretty much the same reasons: the set pieces were supposed to automate into place and instead stagehands had to come out and move them. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 11:11am

I was at one of the early previews of Three Tall Women, and there was meant to be a really stunning transition from Act 1 to Act 2, but the downstage scrim got snagged on the set and they had to halt the show. A few stagehands had to rush on to fix it all, and they killed the sound and light cues. This unfortunately really mired what I imagine was a wonderful moment transitioning worlds, as when they picked up at the top of Act 2, the transition had been completed without us really seeing it.

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 11:13am

I’ve experienced only two tech stops over the years, one as an audience member and one as an actor on stage. As an audience member, I was watching the 1996 West End revival of Oliver! when the curtain came down just after Oliver ran away from the Sowerberrys due to computer issues. As an actor, I was waiting to perform the finale of a matinee of a fringe festival show on August 14, 2003 when the Wings Theater along with the entire Northeastern United States experienced a total blackout. The cast joined the audience out on the sidewalk where we told them what happened at the end of the show, then we performed the finale a cappella. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 11:36am

CreatureKitchen said: "I went to NY for a week recently and had two tech stops in one trip. One was a stop in the middle of A Strange Loop. After the show started again, the set made a nasty squeaking noise every time the arches moved.
The other stop was during Company, immediately after "Being Alive". That was a bummer, since there were only about 2 minutes left in the show."

I think I was at that same ASL performance - once the arches opened up for the second half of the show, they stayed open through the end and the choreography was modified at the end to operate without them.

Regarding Company, I never had a stop down but I believe the big issue was the rain at the end of Act I and they did away with it after a few months because of the issues it caused. Pity because I miss the rain

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 12:23pm

About 2 weeks ago, I attended a performance during intermission.  The intermission lasted longer than Act 2, which impacted momentum, but the show was still very much fun.

I wonder whether the increased dependency on technology is the underlying culprit.  

The only other time I experienced a lengthy tech stop was in Les Mis, decades ago, when the barricades wouldn't role in.  They eventualy got it to work, but the break was long enough that I wondered if they were going to cancel the rest of the performance.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 12:27pm

The Midler/Peters DOLLY had a few tech stops. Always regarding the hat shop. Even when the performances weren't interrupted one would often see cables being raised and lowered behind it while the action was taking place on stage.

This was also the piece Midler fell off during one performance.

Obviously there were problems with its design.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 1:34pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Companyhas been stopping consistently for months."

I know Company was stopping frequently but I thought it got resolved after they cut the rain back in February. If that didn’t fix the issues I wish they would have brought the rain back. 

[kurtal]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 1:47pm

I remember R&H's Cinderella stopping because of a malfunctioning set piece.  I was at Sing Street Off-Broadway when an actor dropped a jar of milk that shattered all over the stage.  Just about a month ago in London, The Life of Pi stopped for about 5 minutes because of a set piece.  So yeah...this sort of thing happens not infrequently.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 8:51pm

I was there. It was not such a short stop. In fact, because of that, the late start to the show, and a very long intermission, we missed our last train home and had to take a $50.00 car service. Thanks, Paradise Square! 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 9:08pm

I truly don't remember any other unscheduled pauses but at my performance of Flying Over Sunset, there was a malfunction around the part where Huxley is giving a TV interview. I kind of wish it had been a longer stop as it was the most charming I've seen HH-P be on stage between MFL and FOS. 

[B212323]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 9:53pm

I think that was due to the rain mechanism - they stopped using it b/c it caused too many issues...

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 7/5/22 at 10:03pm

The worst ones I recall were a rolling kitchen cart rolling into the audience at the first preview of Bridges of Madison County (they stopped to make sure audience members were okay), and the “pause” that lasted 45 minutes during previews of Rocky. I kind of think that’s why theater is so exciting. You never know what’s going to happen!

[SomyNopatri]

Posted: 7/8/22 at 12:56am

I was at the same performance and people, please go see this show. Yes, the book isn't the strongest thing and the plot could use some trimming but the highs absolutely outweigh the lows. The choreography is stunning and the 11 o'clock number is an absolute showstopper.

I saw it on Saturday and really loved it! Joaquina is phenomenal and I’m sad you missed her but Aisha is amazing. I saw her as Anna in Frozen and she absolutely blew me away. I agree the book has some issues but overall I loved the show. Totally cried and was so moved throughout the whole thing ♥️