Recent shows...

Recently, I went to see Exit the King" and God of Carnage on Broadway.

Here's some of the cooler technical stuff that occurred in these shows:

In God of Carnage, one of the four actors vomits onstage. Nobody is quite sure as to the mechanics of the vomit, as she was talking maybe 30 seconds before. Is it something stuffed up her sleeve? Is it something she eats or drinks casually after her preceding line? Whatever it is, it is the only surprise during the entire show.

In Exit the King, the scenery is made mostly of regal drapery that has lost its sheen. From the beginning of the show, noting the aircraft cable supporting said soft goods, I was wondering how (and when) they would be flown in or out. Being a technical person, I noticed the minute those things moved even slightly. However, my boyfriend didn't notice until they were nearly touching the ground, because they moved so slowly (during a fairly intense monologue by Susan Sarandon, who commands quite a bit of attention). I spent the whole time wondering whether some poor ($60/hr) stagehand's arms were getting tired.

The uncool technical stuff:

At the end of God of Carnage, which up until this time has been a fairly realistic endeavor, the red wall which composes most of the set changes color from to shades of blue (thanks to color scrollers, surely), veeeery slowly. The characters are left in this weird, abstract image, for no apparent reason, as the lights go down. It was one of the cheesiest lighting moments I have ever witnessed, and I've worked in community theatre. COME ON.

At the beginning of Exit the King, I nudged my boyfriend, pointing to the downlights in each aisle. "Oh no", I said, "They're coming into the audience!"
"No", he said, "You just think that because of The Onion article you read last week."
But then I saw a backlight and a frontlight as well! And sure enough, Geoffrey Rush broke the fucking fourth wall halfway through the show. And his makeup was horrifying up close. So boo to you, lighting designer, for not cleverly hiding those lights, boo to you, director, for letting Geoffrey Rush march down the aisles, and boo to you, makeup artist, for making Geoffrey Rush look so, so scary.