Hee!

[ceebeegee]

I'm perusing All That Chat right now and came across an hilarious thread, started by a guy who attended a production of Brigadoon rercently. He was venting because the director changed the ending so that Meg also woke up, and Jeff went back with Tommie. Someone responded "talk about rendering the play meaningless." Other posters started responding with similar director-hijackings and many were quite funny but the best was this:

I once saw a production of FOLLIES where, at the end, the theater suddenly got "landmark" status and everyone cheered.

Happy end!

The curtain came down as the cast reprised "I'm Still Here."

True story.

My jaw was on the ground as the house lights came up.

Man, that's just so perfectly awful!

Comments

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

Did you hear about the production of Annie where they tagged on a scene at the end where Annie wakes up and she's still in the orphanage? The events in the show were all a dream. She sings a final, sad reprise of Maybe and the curtain goes down. Kids in the audience were crying. I believe they got a cease and desist.

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God.

You bet your ass "cease and desist"!

[mollyx.livejournal.com]

And what do you want to bet that director thought they were being "edgy"?

Making children cry is not edgy. It's mean.
And hello, it's freaking "Annie."
You don't do that with Annie.

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

That sounds like something Christopher Durang would write. "You didn't clap loudly enough. Tinker Bell is DEAD."

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

That made me think of 'dentity crisis, too!

[wonderpanther.livejournal.com]

I still think the production of Jesus Christ Superstar that was staged at the youth theatre where I worked takes the cake. The director said that as a good Christian, she could not end the play without making it clear that Jesus rose from his grave. After the crucifiction, the lights went up and down to represent the three days. Then, Pilate emerged from the shadows and sang a repris of Pilate's Dream (that he wrote the lyrics to himself), where he sang about Jesus rising, the lord has risen, etc, etc.

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

This is annoying. There are ways to indicate that without adding a whole scene and as an artist (as opposed to a Christian), I would've opted for mystery rather than hammering it home so the audience has no choice but to accept your vision. That's just so cheesey. I like the end of the movie when the final shot inadvertantly had that shepherd way in the background. I like that kind of subtlety.