[Minnie]

Hi can anybody who had been involved in past Oliver productions please tell me how you staged the London Bridge scene when nancy gets killed?

[Timmy_Wishes he was Quast]

I ours Nancy was dragged off stage by bill sykes. He knocked her down, leaving only her legs on stage. There were various sound effects from the two of them before Nancy scremaed and bill delt his final blow, accompanied by a bizarly realistic sound effect of what was Nancy's head being smashed in.

This was achived by having a melon off stage with a mic positioned near it so that the full sound was heard as Sykes hit it. This was espically effective as Nancy's legs could be seen twitching. Then nothing. Sykes then re-entered whipping his crow bar with a bllody rag and nervously glancing around and moving off stage as the bow street runners enetred upstage.

That answer your question!?

[Aimee]

When I played it he grabbed Oliver from me and threw him to the ground. I made the one last plea to him, showing that I still loved him but that didn't stop his rage as he stared at me and realisation hit home that he was going to kill me. So I ran, full tilt, towards the audience, there was a bridge between me and them actually linking the stage to the auditoruim and about half way across that he would catch me up and drag me backwards and fighting and screaming onto the stage. He'd throw me onto the ground and I would scream. He'd hit 'me' [the ground behind me] and I'd scream louder as if in pain then he'd hit me again and I'd struggle less, then on the final hit go limp.

We had no sound effects and no hidden behind the bridge murder, our director wanted it all done in the open. Also it was a big venue so it was probably best for the staging so everyone could see it clearly.

[TR_Wolf]

There was once a big thread about Nancy's death scene but it seems to have been removed, along with other threads including the one with photos of our production!! (If you want to see them, let me know!)

In our production we had the raised bridge at the back, and a LOT of dry ice on stage with the lanterns on the bridge lit, and Mr Browlow stood on the bridge by a lantern on stage right.

Steps come down from the bridge on stage left, and for this one scene at the bottom of the steps (and in front of them) there was a large crate and a few barrels etc, as it was meant to be by the river.

Nancy enters with Oliver and talks to him, crouched down at his level, then from the opposite side, Bill Sykes walks on, though the fog, seemingly from nowhere, she runs to stage left with Oliver then walks over to Bill and delivers her lines, but he keeps walking forwards, so she walks backwards (towards the crate etc) then raises a hand in front of her face as Bill raises his club, and she stumbles backwards and falls onto the floor (so that she is out of view, behind the crates).

Behind the crates, Nancy pushes her head far left, as there was a sand bag to the right, so that when Bill strikes, he hits the sandbag for the sound effect and to aid the effect, Nancy screams with the first strike (and before it) then as the second hit strikes, she would stop screaming INSTANTLY as if that hit killed her.

When the townspeople come onto stage, the fog disappears, but only Nancy's legs show from behind the crates, the villagers looking over the crates and from above, on the bridge (some of the policemen holding people away from the crates).

Our icing on the cake was when one of the policemen places a large clean white sheet over Nancy's 'body', behind the crates, the actress tucks this sheet into a bit of the crate and pulls out a freshly "blood" stained sheet, which she places over herself, so when the townspeople are to carry her off across stage, the once clean sheet is now stained with fresh blood!

[Fantine]

[Aimee]

[Salome]

my death was rather brutal too..in full view of the audience with shadows. i was hit in the head with bill's jimmy. once i fell he kicked mei n the stomach and ribs from upstage so the audence didnt see my hand. he then kicked me i n the head area twice till irolled on my back groaning and gurgling.

[bean_C4U]

When I was in Oliver (some years back as a member of the fagin gang)

Nancy was on stage with Bill and Oliver. They did the dialouge, he geabbed her by the throat, pushed her to the ground and hit away (at the floor). Her screaming, crying etc. Rather brutal. She then rolled over so that he back was facing the audience and her arm was at a really bizare angle!

[girlofgrace_37]

Wow...some very gruesome and realistic deaths on here! I just finished playing Nancy a few weeks ago and ours was pretty simple but I think effective. We had a two-level structure upstage and underneath it was just planks that supported it. I walked on the stage with Oliver and as we waited and looked for Mr. Browlow to come get him, Bill came on and tried to get Oliver. We did our lines and then he grabbed me and kind of threw/pushed me under the structure(around the planks). I was kind of fighting back and saying "Bill! Bill!" He then took his gemmy out as..as he did that I screamed and let it die away as he started hitting me. He actually hit the floor right by my head (very scary!) It was a bit in the shadows, underneath and very upstage, so not seen that he wasn't really hitting me. Then after various chorus members came on and had lines, a few of them carried me off the back.

Our Bill Sikes went through so many gemmies. I think he broke about five of them!!! They were wood and he just put black duck tape around them.
Hope this helped!

[broadwaybaby124]

OH MY GOSH
obviously either my school didn't stage nancy's death well or i was just completely oblivious to the fact...(i wasn't in the show, i was still in middle school at the time)
i had NO CLUE that nancy died until i came here and read this post!
wow...talk about being naive

[dom-junkie]

Oh my god...That melon thing...xD I'm going to have to suggest that to my directors.

[broadwayprincess]

when i played in Oliver! last year we used a rosture at the back of the stage, with steps in the middle at the back. Bill sykes and Nancy where standing upper stage centre on the rosture and bill hit nancy and she fell down the stairs!

which really hurt!! lol oh i was nancy!

kim x

[SpinCycle]

My school did this show a few years back, and I guess we took the 'easy way out' and had Bill stab her with a knife instead of using a club or something. That way it could be done easily on stage and she just kinda fell to the ground. Not exactly the most realistic death scene...but it was high school

[Salome]

Problem is Bill would never kill Nancy with a knife. he gets carried away while beating her and only when she dies does he realize what he has done...he is in total shock.

[Marie-leah]

bill backed me up into a cornder under the brige till I was just out of sight and hit me on the head with a baton thing. It worked because you didnt see blood or gore and because we had the bridge running over the girl on top ogf it was able to look round and down in horror as if i was terribly disfigured as a corpse and scream in horror "its nancy hes murdered nancy!"

[Brackynn]

[Marie-leah]

[musical4eva]

Bill dragged Nancy under the arch in our bridge (just a wooden cut out) then beat the crap out of a cabbage and swapped sticks for one with fake blood on.

[Marie-leah]

[saber]

[Marie-leah]