[ConverseSneaker]

I'm curious how else might the special effects (Most notably the various flying scenes and melting) might be done without the use of a flying harness of any kind or trapdoor without looking cheap and pathetic. I have some ideas of my own, but would like other's opinions and suggestions.

Ideas on how to work other special effects like the twister would be nice too!

[I-Hope-I-Make-It]

i've seen the twister done quiet well, the stage was in black and dorothy stood in doorway which was spun around by the stage crew. only the doorway was in light so im guesing they used battery operated birdies or simply christmas lights to light the door. it was really effective!!

[Stargazer]

Our twister was done by 3 movers... We originally decided to project it but you weren't able to see the projection on the black scrim that was down because we flew our gultch... We had the main characters double cast and with the black scrim in we flew the www who wasn't called that night as gultch while we flew our www of the night as the www back to back to give a cool effect... And we used the 3 movers on the black scrim to give the tornado effect, also with turning the house in a circle across the stage... You could also get big fans, if they don't make a lot of noise, and have that blowing too to give a wind effect if you really want it...

With the flying stuff, I'm not sure how to do the flying monkeys without use of FOY... You could do the flying monkey sequence without them actually flying in, but they have wings on their back... We only flew two monkeys but had a lot of monkeys run out to attack the quartet on stage... We only were allowed to fly two side to side and we wanted to fly our dorothy so we had the one fly in, unhook them, hook up dorothy and have the other fly in... but with all the commotion, you weren't able to notice the hooking and unhooking...

for the melting, if you have fog and a platform which has a hole cut out in it and you pump up the fog you can have them shrink down into the platform slowly...

[wicked_boy]

Melting:

I've saw the witch melt into a set of stairs. The company had a set of three of four steps built and she simply walked up there, and melted into them, using a trap door type thing.

[Beagle On Stage]

My favorite way to do the melting of the witch is to have her get hit by the water, at floor level, in front of a narrow arched doorway in low, shadowy lighting. She just melts down to the ground and then peaces through the door under the cover of the steam that is, of course, billowing up around her. When it subsides, she has left her hat and broom. It's the simplest way and perfectly effective - and certainly less irritating than the old "standing on a platform, then backing down the escape ladder" routine. (Though if you have the ability to put a lift directly into the stage floor, nothing beats having her melt in plain view of the audience, downstage center.)

It's nice if you can fly the monkeys, but honestly it isn't missed if you just have them on foot flapping their arms despite the fact that they have wings. Flying actors is complicated and expensive, and if you weren't going to spring for it anyway for the Witch, it isn't worth doing it just for the monkeys.

Dorothy's journey home can be either exciting or lame. I've seen probably ten different productions, and I've never enjoyed seeing a full minute of flashing lights and her twirling around the stage just because there is more music than they know what to do with. The best I've seen had her tapping her heels AFTER repeating "There's No Place Like Home," and cutting to a total blackout immediately while a flash pot erupted in her place. It thrilled the audience, and they burst into applause during the scene change - whereas the flickering lights method lulls and bores them.

[wicked_boy]

Depending on the budget this might seem a lot or a little, but you can fly someone (in the UK) for £250 for one night.