#BWWPrompts: What's Your Favorite Onstage Mishap?
By: BWW Prompts Apr. 23, 2020
We want to hear from you! We're starting #BwayWorldPrompts, where each day we'll be asking our readers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram questions to spark some theater conversation.
Today we wanted to know about your favorite onstage mishaps that you've seen or been a part of!
Read some of our reader's answers below!
"My wig fell off into the pit." @mslachanze (Tony Award-winner, LaChanze, that is.)
"I forgot my lyrics to my song in front of over 100 people and the director came and sang it for me hahahahaha that was years ago tho lol" @hufflepuffgirl124
"when I was Cinderella, one of the ribbons on my dress caught on to the balcony and the entire railing fell down behind me" @sarahkatebarton
"I was at beetlejuice and Alex Brightman during the whole being dead thing dropped his mini guitar and and played air guitar it was really funny the crowd went nuts." @rhiannon_bigtuna
Part 1: "Erika's Wig came off when she did her on stage quick change from "Someone Gets Hurt" to "Revenge Party" @rebecahboesch
Part 2: she grab her head, then was like screw it & had a bald head on stage while trying to get her wig free from the other costume, they then stopped the show for 5-10 mins & restarted with her wig on her head like the queen she is!! When the curtains opened to restart she gave a hair a flip with her hand it was the cutest! @gahodges4
"My favorite on stage mishap story is the time I was in Annie waiting in the wings to go on for "NYC." Warbucks went to open the door, and the whole door broke off in his hands. He adlibbed in character, "Oh, and Grace? Get this door fixed!" The audience and cast alike cracked up!" @AngiBelle1
"Not quite sure if funny, but handled with grace & good humor. 1981. West Side Waltz. Recording of the violin started playing before Dorothy Loudon did. Katharine Hepburn had the curtain brought down and restarted Act II. Thanked us at curtain call for our patience/understanding." @wishiwasinnyc
"When I saw Waitress in London somebody forgot to bring on a pie for Jenna , so the poor actress was trying her best to act and sing and then realizes too late theirs no pie and has to act with this invisible prop" @SummerDaisy13
"In college "Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum". Potsdam,NY. Funeral scene. I was Philia. Miles was supposed to sing " Strew the soil, strum the lyre, spread the oil, build the pyre". It came out, "Strum the Lyre, bring the oil, build the pyre, with tinfoil...". @Steph124NY
"I was playing Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet and I had just died. The theatre was so small the audience was basically on the stage maybe a foot away and I can hear they saying "I can see him breathing" and they threw licorice nibs at me while dead. High school students...oh man." @MTR_Tweets
"There have been many. But the most recent...I am a musical director and pianist...an actor tripped over an extension cord shutting off all our instruments and lights mid song...panic as they frantically rooted in the dark to find the outlet and get things plugged back in. Much applause to our onstage singer who kept going a capella." Shannon Dilks
"I went to see Waitress when Jeremy Jordan had just started. At one point he's supposed to throw a paper away and then pick it up, but when he threw it away it landed in the audience. An audience member picked it up and handed it back to him and he played it off so well. I only knew it wasn't supposed to happened because I had already seen waitress twice!" Kaitlyn Adams
"Was running lights for a community theater production of "No Sex Please, We're British" towards the end of act 1 the door handle broke and the scene couldn't continue. Cast hilariously adlibbed for about 5 minutes until 1 guy got a spoon of all things and opened it. Got a roaring applause and then the guy waiting to enter the scene walks in and proceeds to close the door and the audience had a collective groan. Was some of the funniest moments I have ever scene" Derek C. DeVoe
"In all the years I've seen live theatre and the many shows I've watched, there was only one time I witnessed the show being stopped in the middle of the performance... I saw Young Frankenstein for the second time and the stage went black as part of the transition to the blind hermit scene and the music for the song began but nothing happened... the orchestra replayed the intro music - still nothing... eventually the voice overhead said the show had technical difficulties and the house lights went up - eventually a crew member came out to explain that the hermit's house was stuck and couldn't move out onto the stage and they were trying to fix it... maybe 10-15 minutes after the show stopped, the lights went off, the music started again and there was the house and Fred Applegate as the hermit - the first words: "Sorry I'm late... I missed the express house and had to catch another" - it was a big laugh and quite a fun experience!" Alexa Garvin
"Not really a mishap but I went to see THE BOY FROM OZ matinee on Valentine's Day. There's a scene where Hugh Jackman, as Peter Allen, changes costumes on stage and when Mr. Jackman stripped down he was wearing a pair of boxer shorts with big hearts all over them. Michael Mulheren, who was in the scene as Peter's Manager, was rendered speechless for a few minutes. It was priceless." Debra Dajko
"When I saw Aladdin in 2014, one of the male ensemble member's pants fell down while he was dancing. He had his quick change pants underneath. He continued to dance and sword fight with pants around his ankles. When he was exiting the stage; he gave a look to the audience, smiled, and gave a little shrug as we waddled off!" McKinley Rorrer
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