Special Effect on stage that had the most impact to you in the storytelling...- Page 2

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:53pm

Off the top of my head:

Wicked - Defying Gravity
Phantom - Phantom disappearing and leaving his mask behind
Les Miz - Javert's Suicide
Drowsy Chaperone - Man in Chair flying away at the end of the show

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:08pm

When I first saw Idina Menzel "defy gravity" at the Tonies, my jaw dropped.

[wickedobsessed]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:15pm

1) Elphaba flying up during "Defying Gravity"
2) The Giant foot/flying witch in Spamalot.

[Horton]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:34pm

For me it was how the revival of sweeney had basically no set, and it still worked, then it really hit me that theatre is just a form of storytelling, because I always imagined Sweeney as a spectical!

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:48pm

the set changes in the light in the piazza

elphaba's flight (i saw it from the far side so i could actually see how far out over the people she really went

Audrey II in lsoh

[maybethistime]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 6:47pm

Wagner's incredible set for CITY OF ANGELS, though I did not see it live.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 8:25pm

I can't single out the most impactful special effect I've ever seen, but I can name the best special effect in the show that, overall, has been the most impactful on me as a theatregoer...

Yes, it's ALW's Phantom (my first Broadway show), but the effect definitely ain't the chandelier. What always amazes me about Phantom is Maria Bjornson's use of curtains. Not only do they lend themselves well to the themes of illusion and concealment...they also complete the entire experience from the second you enter the auditorium and see the dilapidated "Opera House". They frame the stage beautifully in the dressing room, "Notes", and "Masquerade" scenes. They are (most impressively) used to great dramatic effect when the Phantom is unmasked on the Opera House stage and, with a few swishes of the curtains, we have suddenly rotated 180 degrees to the backstage area. Every time they're used they move with amazing fluidity and they give the show a cinematic quality that's exciting to watch.

The gradual formation of the "lake" set is arguably a more stunning moment, and is still a beautiful effect, but it's the curtains that are so integral to the storytelling (and are brilliantly utilized considering how tiny the wings of the Majestic are).

[actor]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:27pm

Phantom - When the phantom disappears
Wicked - At the beginning of "No Good Deed" Glinda is onstage with the set pieces of the yellow brick road (with the guards and Fiyero). Fiyero is taken away and she says "No! Please don't hurt him! Fiyerooo!" while the set pieces of the yellow brick road part and the cog wheels converge. At the same time, Elphaba rises through a trap door in the front of the stage singing "FIYEROOOOO!!!" and it overlaps Glinda's "Fiyeroo!." Also, fog begins to rise through vents. I think this is a cool special effect because it is one of my favorite transitions in musical theatre that I have ever seen. It is fantastic.
Wicked- Defying Gravity lift -- Please don't bash me. It simply matches the music and emotions well.

[AlanAntonio]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:22pm

The Fall Of Saigon scene in Miss Saigon is on the top of my list. Many critics have mocked this, but it was crucial in telling the story. The chaos and frenzy in and around the US base in Saigon was cleverly staged by taking the audience to both sides of the gates amid the screaming, desperate pleas and blinding spotlights. The landing of the last helicopter shook the entire theatre. It was deafening! Then, after the helicopter leaves, all you heard was the cries of people who lost all hope; a bit of silence and then Kim coming out of her nightmare and singing with so much joy, only to realize her dream could not come true.

Miss Saigon was brilliant, powerful and entertaining.

[zepka102]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:42pm

adding to what SDav said, i've seen phantom many times, but it wasn't until the last time i realized how quickly they change scenes in act two... at the end, the lights go down on what's on stage and come back up to reveal the lake... candles, smoke, bridge... everything is there in a matter of a quick blackout. it impressed me.

[Janki]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 6:37am

The three witches flying in "Witches of Eastwick"...OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First time I saw that I could barely believe my eyes!

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 6:43am

itd have to be, as said earlier, when the Phantom dissappears at the end of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. wow, that was cool :)

i dont know if this is a special effect, but when the water pours on Holly in "Saturday Night in the City"- that is awesome

[ICEcreamAssassin]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 7:28am

POTO - Finale Disappearing Act
It was the first real show I had ever seen and my mom took me for my 18th birthday.. I remember this overwhelming sadness as meg picks up the mask. My mother and I were moved to tears.

[mirandajrs]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 7:46am

Sunday/Act 1 Finale From Sunday in the Park with George.

[Claire2141]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 8:36am

Probably going to get mocked for saying Defying Gravity but the first time I saw it live, after waiting two years for it to come to London, the anticiaption was so high. Anyway, it gaves me chills and bought tears to me eyes and lived up to all the hype I'd created in my head.

Again with Wicked, not so much a special effect but the lighting for 'One Short Day' here is fantastic. One bit I wasn't expecting to happen so it was really nice.

Apart from that...

Javert's Suicide
Pride Rock (Circle of Life was so amazing I wanted to cry, shame it over shadows the rest of the show)

[helloagain]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 9:48am

I find simple effects prove to be the most effective. The Confetti in the The Fantasticks really works for me especially during “soon it’s gonna rain” it’s beautiful and simple.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 9:58am

I don't know if I overlooked something, but I'm suprised no one mentioned the Beast's transformation in BatB...that was stunning...even though most of us kind of know the secret.

[WigInABox]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 10:02am

Mary flying out into and around the theatre in Mary Poppins.
Also Bert climbing up the side of the stage and dancing on the ceiling.

Hopefully they do the same things on Broadway?

[avab802]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 10:20am

"The famous Jo Mielziner, who worked in the theatre from the 1920's to the 1970's and who designed over 300 productions, did the sets and lighting for the original production of GYPSY, which were largely copied for subsequent productions, although I don't remember the illuminated signs for the most recent revival starring Bernadette Peters."

Gypsy9, I do remember that effect from the most recent revival of Gypsy.

Seems like the Wicked lovers are out in full force in this thread, lol. I have a Wicked moment as well. In "The Wizard and I" when Elphaba sings the line, "And I'll stand here with the Wizard..." She throws her arms out and the whole stage behind her turns green. It always makes me feel happy for her, for some reason.

The flying car in Chitty. Call me 5 years old, but I was impressed.

[Claire2141]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 10:25am

Sorry for another Wicked onw but I love the lighting in Defying Gravity when the back ground turns blue. Bit that really gives me chills

[DG]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 10:31am

"I find simple effects prove to be the most effective."

When I saw PHANTOM, despite all the mechanical attempts at 'magic,' the only time the audience actually gasped was when Raoul lept off the bridge and disappeared into the fog/lake through a trap door - one of the oldest 'tricks' in the books.

[actor]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 4:25pm

Just out of curiousity: How does the phantom disappear at the end of the Phantom of the Opera?

[WestVillage]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 5:27pm

The finale to the original production of 1776 when during the final tableau, a scrim came down with the signatures on the Declaration of Independence, and you could see the tableau through it, and with bells chiming at their loudest, the lighting changed so that you could no longer see through the scrim, and the declaration looked opaque. I'm getting chills now remembering it! The effect was "recreated" in the Roundabout's revival, but it wasn't nearly as stirring.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 5:48pm

When I saw PHANTOM, despite all the mechanical attempts at 'magic,' the only time the audience actually gasped was when Raoul lept off the bridge and disappeared into the fog/lake through a trap door - one of the oldest 'tricks' in the books.

Haha...yes, this is true. A lot (if not almost all) of the special effects in Phantom are really very old, most having been left over from Victorian times, but that one is definitely the most simple and yet it still wows the masses. It is a pretty stunning effect to watch. It's unexpected...throughout all the other "lake" effects we've always known that it was just fog over a stage, but that's the first trick where the stage has suddenly been taken away and it's finally believable that he's jumped into water.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 5:50pm

Another one for me is the spinning mirrors during "Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line.