Buzz
Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous philosopher, once remarked, 'To see others suffer does one good.' This rings true when it comes to live theatre, where the possibility of witnessing a disaster can often be just as thrilling as the performance itself.
Unlike movies or TV shows, which are meticulously polished and edited before they reach the screen, live theatre involves actors performing in real-time, and with it comes the possibility of human error—sometimes these mistakes can be just as captivating as the show itself.
Typically, these errors are small—such as a missed lighting cue or a forgotten line. However, in these ten instances, the blunders were far more dramatic, and the theatre experience took a disastrous turn.
10. Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!—the iconic ABBA musical—has long been known for delivering an uplifting, feel-good experience. However, during a performance in London in 2014, one audience member received a bit more than they expected when they settled into their seat.
Kim Ismay, portraying the wealthy divorcee Tanya, was belting out 'Dancing Queen' into a hairdryer when disaster struck—the cable snapped, sending the hairdryer flying into the crowd and striking an unsuspecting theatre-goer right in the face. As a gesture of goodwill, the theater gave the victim some champagne during intermission—hopefully, enough to numb the pain!
9. Titanic
Creating a musical about one of history’s most notorious tragedies was bound to cause some unease among the audience, especially during the Broadway preview of Titanic on March 29, 1997.
Before the curtain even rose, the director warned the audience that they were in for a bumpy ride. True to his word, the performance was repeatedly halted due to technical glitches with the complex three-story tilting hydraulic lift. At one point, a cast member had to step forward and entertain the crowd with jokes while the crew worked tirelessly to resolve the issues. The show finally wrapped up after three and a half excruciating hours—an entire hour longer than it took the original ship to sink!
9. The Queen of Spades
In 2002, opera singer Susan Chilcott demonstrated remarkable dedication to her craft when she continued performing an aria even as her dress caught fire. This fiery incident occurred when another performer failed to extinguish a candle after burning a love letter onstage, and the lingering flame set the back of her gown ablaze.
Oblivious to the growing danger, the soprano carried on with her performance in The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky, even as the audience shouted to warn her of the fire. It wasn't until a fire officer rushed onto the stage to put out the flames that the singer, confused, mistook him for an intruder attempting to interrupt the show at the Royal Opera House.
7. Way Upstream
In 1982, when veteran playwright Alan Ayckbourn proposed flooding the stage for his production of Way Upstream at the National Theatre, he understood that it would be a colossal task. Set on a boat floating in 8 inches (20 cm) of water, the production led Ayckbourn to quip, 'We may all drown… Come and see it. You will need Wellingtons.'
In fact, the production turned out to be an even bigger disaster than initially anticipated, gaining a somewhat infamous reputation due to the numerous problems that plagued it. The water tank burst before the technical rehearsal, threatening the theatre's electrical system and causing £3000 worth of damage to the floor. Consequently, the opening performance began late as repairs were made, only to be abruptly halted halfway through the first act when the boat collided with the riverbank.
After an 18-minute pause to address the issue, the show resumed, but disaster struck once more when the front row of the audience was drenched by a 12-minute-long rain effect. Not exactly a stellar night in theatrical history!
6. Macbeth
The Scottish play has long been infamous for its supposed curse—so much so that actors avoid uttering its title in the theatre, fearing that it will bring misfortune. Legend has it that the curse originated with a coven of witches who were offended by Shakespeare's use of their incantations in the 1606 production. Since then, performances of Macbeth have been haunted by accidents, setbacks, and even deaths, some occurring right on stage.
In a 1672 performance in Amsterdam, the decision was made to depict the murder of King Duncan onstage, rather than offstage as originally written. Unfortunately for the actor playing Duncan, there had been ongoing tension between him and the actor portraying Macbeth. One fateful night, this animosity reached its peak when Macbeth swapped the fake dagger with a real one, killing Duncan instantly.
Around the same time, a performance in London also took a tragic turn when one of the actors met his demise onstage (in the most literal sense) as Henry Harris, playing Macduff, accidentally thrust a sword through Macbeth's eye, killing him instantly.
5. Henry VIII: All Is True
Macbeth isn't the only Shakespearean production tied to onstage tragedy. On June 29, 1613, a performance of his historical play Henry VIII: All Is True ended in catastrophe. A cannon, used in a pivotal scene to mark the first meeting between King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, misfired.
While the audience was distracted by the grandeur of the spectacle, the thatched roof of the Globe Theatre caught fire. Within moments, the flames spread and engulfed the wooden structure. In less than an hour, the entire theatre was reduced to rubble. However, there was a silver lining—only one casualty was reported. A man’s breeches caught fire, but he managed to extinguish the flames by pouring ale on himself!
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Theatres haven’t only faced damage during live performances in Tudor times. In December 2013, London’s Apollo Theatre was struck by a tragic event when a balcony collapsed mid-performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
At first, the crackling noise from the ceiling and the ensuing commotion were mistaken for part of the show. However, when debris began falling from the roof and 25 ambulances arrived, it became clear that something had gone terribly wrong. Over a hundred audience members sought compensation for injuries sustained during the incident, though thankfully, no lives were lost.
3. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Surely, a musical featuring actors performing intricate aerial stunts on wires high above the stage couldn’t possibly lead to any major disasters!
The infamous catastrophe known as Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has etched its name in theatre history, not for its dazzling success, but for the multitude of technical failures and injured performers it left behind.
Bringing the show to the stage was a disaster in itself, plagued by soaring costs, financial issues, a divided creative team, composers unfamiliar with Broadway musicals, and the tragic death of the lead producer. But none of these setbacks could prepare the audience for the calamity that would unfold during the preview performance.
A rushed backstage cable disconnection caused a carabiner to fall onto an actress’s head, resulting in a concussion. Yet, this backstage mishap paled in comparison to the front-of-house issues that arose just before the intermission.
As the first act neared its end, Spider-Man was meant to soar toward the balcony, thrilling the audience as he flew overhead. Unfortunately, the cable mechanism malfunctioned, leaving the actor hanging 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the first few rows. With no way to retrieve him, the crew resorted to poking him with sticks like a Spider-Man piñata. It was a memorable moment—but for all the wrong reasons!
2. Wicked
Even the most iconic Broadway shows aren't exempt from onstage disasters. Remarkably, one such calamity struck veteran actress Idina Menzel during her January 8, 2005, performance in Wicked when her 'melting scene' went horribly wrong.
Towards the conclusion of the musical, Elphaba is supposed to dissolve into a puddle of clothes while a hidden elevator beneath a trap door takes the actress playing the Wicked Witch down below the stage. Unfortunately, on this particular day, the elevator began its descent without Menzel being in position, causing the star to fall through the trap door and sustain a rib fracture. The performance was halted abruptly, and her understudy had to step in, not only for the remaining scenes but for the rest of the run.
1. The Full Monty
While the structure of the Manchester Opera House held firm during the September 2014 production of The Full Monty, some cast members might have wished the curtain had dropped early. A lighting failure left them exposing much more than they'd planned to the unsuspecting audience.
In the final scene of the show, the stripping steelworkers are meant to bare it all, tossing their hats offstage while a bright light covers their modesty, followed by a blackout. Unfortunately, during the September 18 performance, the lights intended to shield their modesty malfunctioned, leaving the actors fully exposed to the shock (and possible delight) of the audience. It was certainly a moment when the song “You Can Leave Your Hat On” was perfectly fitting!
