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| Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Since seeing Here We Are last week, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the last image we see before the production's final blackout. The experience has made me reflect on other shows that have had powerful closing images. I'm curious to know: Which productions have had closing images that have stayed with you? What were they? I'm thinking specifically of striking visuals rather than haunting lines of dialogue ("I have such doubts") or musical phrases ("The children of Caroline Thibodeaux"). A few of mine (SPOILERS)... Cabaret (1998) - The Emcee and ensemble in a concentration camp where he removes his leather jacket to reveal not his provocative getup from act one, but prisoner stripes with a Jewish star and pink triangle The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? - Stevie standing over the goat's carcass, which she just dragged in, as Billy anxiously looks between his parents The Inheritance, Part 1 - The many "ghosts" emerging to greet Eric in his new home Sunset Blvd. (1995) - Norma reprising the last lines of With One Look in her makeshift Salome costume as a gigantic image of her famous closeup is projected behind her, essentially consuming her Sweeney Todd (2023) - Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett taking hands and jumping into the centerstage trap |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: pylades 12:16 am EDT 10/15/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I saw Lapine's production of _Diary of Anne Frank_ at its pre-Bway try-out in Boston's Colonial theater, and when the diary was discovered and read out in the play's final moments, the entire theater--every square inch of it--was flooded with projections of Anne Frank's words. It was an amazing moment. | |
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| Saturday, March 5, 1994, Walter Kerr Theatre, Orch10 M-16 ($58.50!) | |
| Last Edit: rossprib 12:39 pm EDT 10/14/23 | |
| Posted by: rossprib 12:35 pm EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah sitting on the rim of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. Prior steps forward and directly addresses the audience: "I'm almost done. The fountain's not flowing now, they turn it off in the winter, ice in the pipes. But in the summer it's a sight to see. I want to be around to see it. I plan to be. I hope to be. This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come. Bye now. You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: MORE LIFE. The Great Work Begins." From an equally indelible moment: "Sometimes - there's God - so quickly." |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Charlie_Baker 11:09 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| The ending of Amy's View where Judi Dench's beleaguered actress character Esme, who was most alive in the theater, was back on stage and we see the house from her POV. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: toros 10:23 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Kurt Weill's Silverlake at New York City Opera directed by Harold Prince with a new book by Hugh Wheeler. 1979 | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: royscho 10:01 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I’m surprised no one mentioned The Phantom or the Opera. Maybe it’s the fact it was one of my first-ever Broadway shows, over 30 years ago, but the image of Meg finding the mask and presenting it to the audience as the stage becomes completely dark (and only the mask is glowing for a few more seconds) has always haunted me. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 01:58 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 01:46 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| ''Sweeney Todd (2023) - Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett taking hands and jumping into the centerstage trap'' I loved the ending of the original ''Sweeney Todd'' (1979). Sweeney walks upstage to leave through a door, glares at the audience and then exits, slamming the door in our faces. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 11:46 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| The split second light on Elphaba’s face during the Act 1 blackout. It gets me every time. A great bit of stagecraft. I loved the end of HWA too. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 10:21 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:20 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I'm going to cheat here - this isn't a closing image, but it's certainly toward the end of the show. And that's "Mr. Andrews' Vision" in Titanic, the "mad scene" sung by Mr. Andrews in the smokeroom, with the passengers above on the main deck holding onto a railing as the ship sinks bit by bit. The angle of the ship kept lurching and tilting at pivotal points during the song, causing furniture in the smokeroom to slide and fall toward Andrews, as the passengers above screamed and tried to hold on. The last image of the scene was a grand piano coming at Andrews as the ship tilted one more time. The show went on to a moving final scene, but for me, the images in that song were the true coup de theatre. On the tour, the set was (by necessity) compromised down to just the one hydraulic floor, but no levels - which generally rendered the show's original staging very ineffective. But for this scene, they solved the issue by having Andrews on the deck with the passengers, using lights to feature and isolate him - and it worked really well. But that image of the grand piano rolling toward him in the Broadway production...that was powerful. And indelible. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: garyd 08:32 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| The final image, just before the blackout, of the original production of FOLLIES and, as already mentioned, the final image of JOURNEY'S END. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: andPeggy 04:48 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Falsettos at Hartford Stage 1991 directed by Graciela Daniele. | |
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| American Theatre article (with photos) on Hartford Stage Falsettos | |
| Posted by: KevinF 12:04 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - andPeggy 04:48 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Wish I'd seen it. | |
| Link | https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/10/27/before-broadway-hartford-stages-falsettos-changed-lives/ |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 08:08 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:57 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - andPeggy 04:48 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Can you describe that ending? I'd also mention the ending of the most recent Falsettos revival, with Jason putting a chess piece on top of Whizzer's headstone. Very affecting. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: andPeggy 09:32 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - Chromolume 07:57 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Frank Rich's review “For her finale, Ms. Daniele exploits the spatial dimensions at her disposal with an overwhelming coup de theatre (not to be divulged here) that first reduces an audience to sobs and then raises it to its feet.” This is my memory, which might not be entirely accurate. Marvin, Trina, Mendel, Jason, Cordelia, and Charlotte slowly turned upstage and through the scrim, you saw Whizzer's name in a light. The scrim vanished dropping to the floor and you realized his name was in a sea of many many names on the AIDS Quilt. I lost where his name was as I took it in and then a quick black out. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 10:58 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - andPeggy 09:32 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I'm not always a fan of Daniele's work, but it sounds like it was a brilliant moment. Thank you for sharing. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:08 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - andPeggy 09:32 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Thanks. That would have indeed been a powerful moment. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 09:28 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - Chromolume 07:57 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| If my memory is correct (I didn't see the production), during the "Falsettoland" reprise, panels of the AIDS Quilt were lit up in the background, ending with one for Whizzer. Seth, before his time |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: hugoP 03:52 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| Posted by: hugoP 03:50 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Completely agree with your listing INHERITANCE part 1, SUNSET and SWEENEY in this list. I've seen lots of productions of CABARET and many manage a profoundly haunting final image, but the one you cite (from the revival, where the Emcee winds up in a concentration camp) has always bothered me. I feel that kind of reference needs to be used very carefully, and not exploited. In the case of the CABARET revival, it's being used for shock value. The Emcee-- to me-- is a malevolent, provocative figure and I'm not so sure he's to be conflated with the victims (gay or Jewish) of the Nazis. I feel the final image of CABARET should shake you with the realization that it's too late for all of them-- not that they all will become victims. But I love the film version and its very, very haunting final image (of the distorting 'fun-house' mirror of the Kit Kat Klub set, reflecting a twisted swastika in the audience). |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: sf 03:37 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| A (tiny) revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Everyman in Liverpool a few years ago. As Tevye and his family started to pull their cart out of Anatevka at the end of the show, the rest of the company appeared behind them - in modern dress, carrying improvised luggage, looking like refugees from Syria, Libya, Sudan etc. There was a moment when you could feel the penny drop among the audience: Fiddler, yes, is a story about a particular time and place - but it's also a story about a community of people who are forced to flee their homes, and that's something that happens somewhere in the world every day. I don't think I've ever seen the last moment of the show land as powerfully as it did in that production. |
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| Wow...just reading that gave me goosebumps. Thank you! *nmi | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 10:57 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - sf 03:37 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| nmi | |
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| re: Wow...just reading that gave me goosebumps. Thank you! *nmi | |
| Posted by: sf 12:05 pm EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: Wow...just reading that gave me goosebumps. Thank you! *nmi - DanielVincent 10:57 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| ...and I should have named the director: Gemma Bodinetz. That production's Golde - Melanie La Barrie - is currently appearing on Broadway. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: Cleveland 03:28 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| Posted by: Cleveland 03:26 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I saw a regional production of "Cabaret" many years ago (pre-Mendes staging) where the final image after the emcee's "ta-da" was a HUGE Nazi flag (full floor to flies and stage right to stage left) unfurling behind him, with a blackout immediately as it reached the floor. There were several seconds of stunned silence in the house before any reaction. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Cleveland 03:44 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - Cleveland 03:26 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Oh, by "ta-da" I was referring to the gesture he made after his final line, "good night!" | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: mrl60 03:23 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Long Day's Journey Into Night (2016) - The fog rolling through the house as Jessica Lange spoke that final line. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: stevemr 07:46 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - mrl60 03:23 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| That line can trigger shivers and tears, no matter the staging. I remember being as stunned when Vanessa Redgrave said it at the end of the Dennehy/Falls production. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: writerkev 02:49 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| Posted by: writerkev 02:47 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - DanielVincent 02:39 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| The recent Broadway production of "A Doll's House," where Nora left the house, and for the first time something was visible on the minimalist stage. At first I thought they put a car onstage, and what a wild image, Nora at the end of the play entering a clearly contemporary scene. Then I looked again and realized, no, that car wasn't onstage. I was looking at Jessica Chastain outside a loading dock door on the Manhattan sidewalk. There was Nora, alone in the big city, and she turned to look up the street with a "Now what?" expression on her face before the lights went down. So powerful and brilliant, and yes, indelible. |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoiler's | |
| Posted by: jjbkvm 09:07 am EDT 10/14/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - writerkev 02:47 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| I agree I was at a Wednesday matinee and after the whole play which was spartan as well as monochromatic, the door opened and the theater was flooded with sun light and color. Nora walked through the door, looked up, left and right then exited into her brave new world. Chills! It’s unfortunate it couldn’t be experienced by the whole audience. | |
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| re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) | |
| Posted by: huskyital 04:45 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Indelible Closing Images (some spoilers) - writerkev 02:47 pm EDT 10/13/23 | |
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| Having been born 74 years ago, and I am a rabid playgoer I might agree with my fellow theatergoers, but the only play that stunned me to sit in my seat after the show ended was journeys end. The play ends with one of the characters Raleigh dying, but the other characters march off to war with the audience, knowing that they would probably never return. World War I was such a senseless war. I couldn’t move out of my seat for quite a number of minutes crying. The production was brilliant, but I can’t understand why it was not successful. The other play that gripped me to death was the inheritance. I saw it first in London, and went all the men came down the aisle I wept. The production was also memorable, because Vanessa Redgrave was in it, and I was sitting in the first row center, and when she came out for her curtain call and she was 3 feet away from me, and I blew her a kiss, and she blew a kiss back to me. … what a great memory. | |
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