B4

I really enjoyed looking through these Broadway excerpts on the “Stage Door” blog. Every video looked extremely professional, but there were three specific ones that stuck out to me. The first one was the excerpt from Grease, performed as part of the ’94 Tony’s opening act. The performance started with everyone running on to stage with neon hula hoops, which was a great attention grabber. It was crazy to see how everybody on stage, about 30 performers, were perfectly in sync! I also noted the costumes that they wore, the females were fitted with highlights of pink, while the males tended to be in all black with a leather jacket. There was also a great use of “mise en scene” for this performance because it was made to look like a bar at a diner with retro bar stools, which I loved.

            The next excerpt that stuck out to me was the trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, set to be performed in London in 2014. The first thing I noticed in this trailer was how the stage looked completely different from scene to scene. It almost looked as if some scenes took place in a different theatre. This was another great example of “mise en scene.” Secondly, the technology used for this performance was phenomenal. Of course, the lighting was spectacular and brought everything together with the use of strobe and spotlights. Also, they used little puppets in the place of the oompa loompa’s which I thought was very interesting. My favorite part was how they showed the elevator scene at the end where Charlie and Willy Wonka are flying above the city. They went into a makeshift glass box that was lit with neon blue lights. They were then hoisted into the sky and looked down on to a miniature city beneath them, it was amazing.

            My third favorite excerpt was the west coast cast of HAIR. The excerpt I watched was filmed in 1968 so it was a little dated, but the performance could still be considered up to date today with the way they setup the stage. The walls were covered with various street signs and junk such as tires to create more vivid scenery. The costumes were great; some were wearing long flowy shirts while other wore simply blankets to cover themselves. This piece stuck out to me because it seemed like a mix between opera and Broadway. Also, the choreography was impeccable, especially how they opened with a synchronized slow motion scene. Finally, I loved to see that the only use of microphones was with handheld, corded mics, and there were only two of them. This made the stars really stick out. Overall, I would say that the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory excerpt was my favorite because of the incredible technology they used in it.

Ángel. “Stage Door.” Stage Door, angel-stagedoor.blogspot.com/.