Humor me, kids: When was the last time you saw a play that used flying scenery?
I'm trying to remember the last show I saw that really used a fly system. Granted, I spend much of my time in smaller theaters, but I see my fair share of big stuff, too, and even in the most recent shows I've seen at the Goodman and Steppenwolf and the Broadway in Chicago tours, I don't remember anything flying. Moving in and out from the wings, sure, but not down from the flyspace.
Am I crazy? Anyone?
I am with you on this! My mind is blanking about the last time I saw something fly in a production.
I remember the statue and the iron gate flying in and out in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, but that's about it.
Posted by: Stephen | June 21, 2007 at 07:25 PM
"The Life" has sort of a flying thing, as did "sideshow."
Plug alert:
Go see "The Life"
Posted by: Zikes | June 21, 2007 at 10:45 PM
mostly in high school productions or in huge touring shows. oh...wait...no...i lied...well...sort of...do big lighting grids/rock and roll type effect count? i was understudying a show where the world sort of turned into a big concert and a bank of really bright lights were flown in.
Posted by: Sarah | June 21, 2007 at 10:55 PM
The Life does have sort of a flying thing (and it's definitely worth plugging, though I was one of the only critics to think so), but since it's done at the Theater Building without a proper fly system, it doesn't really pertain to the question as I'm thinking of it.
What I'm on about is a comment Chris Jones made in his blog post about the theater space in the new Center on Halsted a few days ago. One of the "cons" in his weighing of whether the space could accomodate "professional" theater like About Face's production of The Little Dog Laughed was that "you can’t easily fly scenery."
It's a minor note, but it struck me as an odd one in that I wouldn't necessarily expect that out of a 170-seat theater, not to mention that About Face has spent the past season at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse, which I don't believe to have much of a fly system (and that's where Victory Gardens lived when they won their regional Tony to boot).
That's when I realized I couldn't remember the last time I saw much flying scenery. Was I just not seeing the right shows, or (to make a big leap) is it possible that that kind of thing is out of vogue among designers these days? That's what I'm wondering.
Posted by: Kris Vire | June 21, 2007 at 11:45 PM
To give credit where it's due, Tony made a similar comment at Chris's blog.
Posted by: Kris Vire | June 21, 2007 at 11:52 PM
Several venues in the DC region have and use fly systems. Port Tobacco players in La Plata, MD used a fly for Annie Get your Gun last year. The Arlington Players at Thomas Jefferson Theatre used one for Thoroughly Modern Millie earlier this year.
Posted by: Michael Clark | June 22, 2007 at 12:01 AM
allow me to get on my Production Manager high horse.
the issue of fly space actually involves more than just being able to fly scenery in and out. theaters with some sort of fly space are generally more able to build taller unit sets, because the fly space enables the walls and other set pieces to be supported from above. but of course there are ways to get around that. it is theatre, after all.
Posted by: Mike from Philly | June 22, 2007 at 08:24 AM
I'm not sure if it qualifies, but everyone's favorite "Pre-Broadway Tryout" THE PIRATE QUEEN made ubiquitous use of flies. The opening "Hey, look, we're on a pirate ship" sequence had at least four different sail/mast conflagarations float on and off. It was actually really distracting.
Didn't KING LEAR at the Goodman use a fly for something or other?
And I think _something_ was flown in OUR LADY OF 121st STREET. I may be wrong on these last two, so please correct me if so.
Posted by: Dan | June 22, 2007 at 11:00 AM
I rememer - the coffin was suspended in the air for the duration of OUR LADY.
Posted by: Dan | June 22, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Warning: my super nerd hat is on.
A lot of things/people are still flown. But the majority do not use a counterweight fly system. (with someone at a flyrail pulling on ropes that make things go up and down.)
They've become kinda out dated and out of fashion. Lots of reasons for it, primarily cost and the aesthetic move away from two-dimensional scenery.
Traditional Fly systems are really, really expensive--even for multi-million dollar facilities, not to mention the wages. With the advent of cheaper, quieter chain motors and wenches, a lot more stuff is going up and down with a switch as opposed to a rope.
Flyrails can only go straight up and straight down. So the (really old) peg and yoke systems where you can move things at any angle(s) never completely left. Though in most houses the pegs and sandbags have been replaced by chains and wenches.
Posted by: Tony | June 22, 2007 at 11:17 AM
The Superman Musical at Drury Lane. Too bad there wasn't a big fly swatter.
Posted by: David | June 22, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Dan - you're right....
"Lear" at The Goodman used quite a BIT of their flyspace (the huge portrait of Lear, the gates of one of the houses, various chandeliers and lights, )
Plus, not only was there SCENERY flown in and out fro Christmas Carol, but people for SURE fly in that show!!!!
And Blue Man uses their flyspace EVERY day! :)
I should know, I work there!
Posted by: Dianna | June 22, 2007 at 03:53 PM
Okay, it sounds like I'm just not seeing the right shows. (That's right, shame on me, I passed on Lear at the Goodman.)
Mike and Tony, thanks for your further insights on the intricacies. I haven't worked on that side since college, where we used our counterweight fly system on just about every show... which could lead me to think it was just another way in which my college theater was outdated.
Posted by: Kris Vire | June 22, 2007 at 04:51 PM
Well I saw flying scenery in Carousel. I also saw bad acting in Carousel.
Posted by: Meg | June 26, 2007 at 09:03 AM