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| Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: BroadwayPhan 04:00 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| I was watching the Beauty and the Beast episode of Stars in the House. Some great stories about what happened when the magic in "The Transformation" scene didn't work on occasion. Does anybody know how the transformation effect worked in that scene? They said it was like a David Copperfield illusion, but didn't elaborate. |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 10:04 pm EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - BroadwayPhan 04:00 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| In the oral history, MAKING IT ON BROADWAY, Sarah Uriarte Berry says she had to sign papers never to reveal how it worked. She also said she thinks the warranty on the mechanism must have expired by the time she joined the show. One memorable night, the transformation failed. Fireworks went off, the orchestra played, the cast came on...and she was still there, with a large man in her lap. “Do something!” they said. She draped her cape over his head, and hastily pulled off the bits of costume that looked Beast-like. “You’re a prince!” she declared. Usually, this scene got huge applause. Now, Berry admitted, “They looked at me like I was insane.” | |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Last Edit: ravnquest1 10:01 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
| Posted by: ravnquest1 09:50 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
| In reply to: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - BroadwayPhan 04:00 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| It's not a big deal. The Beast during the castle battle scene is a double from the ensemble. Disney is/was forced to reveal this when they use a photo of that scene in a souvenir brochure or other promotional material and they have to credit the actor that actually appears in the photo as the Beast. During the castle battle the actual Beast actor is removing all of the Beast makeup and hair and changing into the Prince. When the actual Beast actor is onstage during the (intentionally dark) transformation scene he is wearing a Halloween costume-type mask and cloak which looks like the Beast prosthetic makeup and hair but is easily removed. The mask is quickly removed and stashed by the actress playing Belle. The spinning lift, fog and lights are just window dressing for this quick move. |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: Esther 10:57 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - ravnquest1 09:50 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| one of the times I saw it, the actress playing Belle didn't catch the mask, so it sat on the set for the remainder of the scene. It was still a pretty incredible moment though. | |
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| Isn't this a variation on the Witch's transformation in Into the Woods? | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:01 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - ravnquest1 09:50 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| Doesn't the actor playing the witch lose all of the prosthetic pieces off stage, change into the gown, and then put on a mask and the cape for the final moment? In both the original (Peters) and first revival (Williams)? That's simpler -- no levitation -- but not dissimilar. | |
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| re: Isn't this a variation on the Witch's transformation in Into the Woods? | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 10:28 pm EDT 09/02/20 | |
| In reply to: Isn't this a variation on the Witch's transformation in Into the Woods? - Delvino 08:01 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
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| I may be misremembering, but didn't Wiliams levitate? I seem to remember some spinning action that I thought was also a levitation. In any case, it was fun to watch. | |
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| and Fiona changing to an ogre at the end of "Shrek?" n/m | |
| Posted by: Deirdre 09:06 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: Isn't this a variation on the Witch's transformation in Into the Woods? - Delvino 08:01 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
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| n/m | |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: tmdonahue (tmdonahue@yahoo.com) 05:14 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
| In reply to: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - BroadwayPhan 04:00 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| I don't know but here's a little google research. Susan Egan, the original Belle, told an interviewer: “I was part of the mechanics of it. Even though I understood the slight of hand that was happening for the audience, from where I was sitting—it was before GoPros existed, but I wished I was wearing a GoPro so the audience could see that even from my point of view, it was spectacular. It’s a combination of dramatically what’s happening in the moment, of the mechanics of this ingenious David Copperfield effect (it was his designer who created it), and the music and how Michael Kosarin arranged it to peak at the right time. We had something like 10 Vari-Lites; no Broadway show had a Vari-Lite in those days. It can turn 360 degrees and change colors through computers instead of through gels. Before that, lights were static. At the perfect second, all these Vari-Lites did a 360 rotation and changed colors from different colors to white. The second that all 10 of them were shining at the audience, blinding them for a microsecond to facing all on the Beast, who is now the Prince. In the second that everyone was blinded, that’s when everything was happening. That’s when I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. That’s when Terry was doing what he was supposed to be doing. That’s when mechanics were doing what they were supposed to be doing. It all happened in that second.” Theatrecrafts.com writes: "The transformation effect from Beast back to man involved a lift mechanism built into the castle truck, a little stage magic, and some spectacular lighting effects." Flying by Foy says Disney consulted them for the flying of some part of the Beast at the transformation. So I'm guessing that either the Beast costume (Foy mentions a "custom aluminum harness" was flown during the lighting change, leaving the Prince alone. Or maybe a beast actor was flown and the prince pops up from a star trap. |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 08:02 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - tmdonahue 05:14 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| I think Egan's answer supports this, but I'd always heard that people involved were contractually bound not to disclose this magic. Egan's words are sufficiently vague enough that they don't actually describe the mechanics of the trick. And the poster below, who also seems to know how it's done, chose to make some clarifications but also did not disclose the details. Additionally I had a good friend who played the sorceress, and she is subjetc to a similar effect when she transforms during the prologue sequence, and always refused to tell me--a close friend--how it was done! | |
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| re: The Apple Tree / Transformation Scene | |
| Last Edit: lordofspeech 11:38 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 11:37 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - EvFoDr 08:02 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| Back in the late 60’s, there was a similarly astonishing and instantaneous transformation moment when Barbara Harris went from the adorably shlubby, begrimed chimney-sweep into the movie-star diva of her dreams. There was but a plume of smoke and a flash, and there was the blonde, bosomy, gold besequinned goddess. (You can find it on the Tony Awards show for that year.). I think it since came out that there was a double for the shlubby chimney-sweep who performed in mime, often with her back to us, during Larry Blyden’s narration. It was, for all its simplicity, totally magic. | |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:23 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - EvFoDr 08:02 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| A friend of mine was the cover for awhile and he was very loyal and didn't spill the beans. I remember it being a pretty incredible moment. | |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:41 pm EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - portenopete 10:23 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
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| and he was very loyal and didn't spill the beans. Which is pretty remarkable in a show where the plates dance on their edges...;-) |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: kess0078 05:52 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - tmdonahue 05:14 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| Without giving too much away - there IS a Beast body double used, but not during during the transformation. All the transformation magic happens with the one actor playing the Beast. The mechanics of the transformation was actually kind of clunky - I thought it was really loud. But just as Egan describes, from the audience it is a masterful marriage of effects, lighting, and music. |
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| re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene | |
| Posted by: DavidEsq 12:09 am EDT 08/31/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Beauty and the Beast / Transformation Scene - kess0078 05:52 pm EDT 08/30/20 | |
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| Yeah - I saw the original several times and from the audience it looked really good. They key was the lighting and the number of ways that they were able to rotate the actor once lifted in the air. I can't swear to it since good lighting can play tricks on you but it looked like the get up allowed rotation on all three axises (axies? axes?) which really had me wondering about the technology which went beyond anything I'd seen in stage flying previously. It was clear it was some variation on a lift/harness and it was not too difficult to guess the double during the fight and that the Beast was pretty much just wearing an easily discarded covering. But they did a wonderful job with the lighting and the harness movement and the effect was pretty magical. | |
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