Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher, once said that “To see others suffer does one good.” When it comes to live theatre, the prospect of seeing something go wrong can certainly be entertaining.
Movies or TV shows are polished and edited before reaching the screen. However, real-life actors on stage bring human error, which can be as entertaining as the production. Usually, errors are minor, like a missed lighting cue or flubbed lines. But these ten cases of live theatre went spectacularly wrong!
10 Times Live Theatre Went Spectacularly Wrong
10 Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!—the ABBA musical—has a reputation as a feel-good night out. However, one audience member got more than they bargained for at a 2014 London performance.
Kim Ismay, playing Tanya, sang “Dancing Queen” into a hairdryer when the cable snapped. The hairdryer flew into the audience, hitting an unsuspecting theatergoer in the face. They got champagne during intermission as an apology—hopefully, they drank enough to dull the pain! [1]
9 Titanic
Making a musical about one of history’s most famous disasters might have worried audience members during the seemingly endless Broadway preview of Titanic on March 29, 1997.
Before the show, the director warned the audience they were in for a rough crossing! The production repeatedly ground to a halt due to problems with its three-story tilting hydraulic lift set. Eventually, a cast spokesperson told jokes to entertain the audience while the crew fixed the bugs. The show ended after three and a half grueling hours—an hour longer than the actual ship took to sink! [2]
8 The Queen of Spades
Opera singer Susan Chilcott went above and beyond for her art in 2002 when she continued performing an aria as her dress caught fire. Another performer forgot to blow out a candle after burning a love letter onstage, and the flame set the train of her gown ablaze.
Blissfully unaware of her danger, the soprano continued performing in The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky as audience members yelled to alert her. The fire officer ran onstage to extinguish the blaze, confusing the prima donna, who thought an intruder had invaded the Royal Opera House. [3]
7 Way Upstream
When veteran playwright Alan Ayckbourn suggested flooding the stage of the National Theatre for his production of Way Upstream in 1982, he knew it would be no small task. Set on a moving boat in 8 inches (20 cm) of water, the show caused Ayckbourn to say, “We may all drown… Come and see it. You will need Wellingtons.”
The show was more of a disaster than he imagined, gaining a somewhat notorious reputation due to countless issues. The water tank burst before the technical rehearsal, threatening the theatre’s electrical supply and causing £3000-worth of damage to the floor. The first performance was delayed due to repairs and cut short when the boat collided with the riverbank.
Following an 18-minute hiatus, the show continued, only for the front row to be drenched by a 12-minute-long rain effect. Perhaps not the best night out! [4]
6 Macbeth
The Scottish play has a reputation for being cursed. Actors avoid saying its name in the theatre for fear of disaster. Legend says a coven of witches cursed the show from the start because they objected to Shakespeare using their incantations in the 1606 production. Since then, Macbeth performances have been plagued by disasters, problems, and deaths, some live on stage.
In a 1672 Amsterdam production, King Duncan’s murder was portrayed onstage instead of offstage. Unfortunately for the actor playing the king, the actor portraying Macbeth replaced the fake dagger with a real one, killing him!
Around the same time, a London performance ended with an actor dying onstage when Henry Harris, playing Macduff, accidentally ran a sword through Macbeth’s eye, dispatching him immediately. [5]
5 Henry VIII: All Is True
Macbeth isn’t the only Shakespeare play associated with onstage tragedy. The performance of his historical epic Henry VIII: All Is True on June 29, 1613, ended in disaster. A cannon used during a key moment to highlight the first meeting between the King and Anne Boleyn misfired.
While the audience watched the pageantry, the Globe Theatre’s thatched roof went up in flames. Within minutes, the wooden structure was alight. In less than 60 minutes, the entire theatre had been reduced to ashes. Only one casualty was reported—one man’s breeches caught fire, but he doused the flames with ale! [6]
4 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Theaters experienced damage even after Tudor times. In December 2013, London’s Apollo Theatre was the victim of a tragic accident when a balcony collapsed during a sold-out performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
At first, audience members thought the crackling noise and chaos were part of the show. However, when debris fell from the roof, and 25 ambulances arrived, it became clear something had gone wrong. Over a hundred theatergoers claimed compensation for injuries sustained during the incident, although there were no fatalities. [7]
3 The Full Monty
While the structure of the Manchester Opera House remained intact during September 2014’s production of The Full Monty, some cast members may have wished the curtain had come down early. A lighting malfunction revealed more than they intended.
The show’s finale sees the stripping steelworkers baring everything, throwing their hats offstage while shielded by a blinding light and then a blackout. Unfortunately, the audience-facing lights failed to work on September 18, leaving the male actors fully exposed. It was a moment to sing, “You can leave your hat on!” [8]
2 Wicked
Even the most famous Broadway shows aren’t immune to onstage disasters. Veteran actress Idina Menzel experienced one during her January 8, 2005, performance in Wicked when she took her melting scene to a new level.
Toward the musical’s end, Elphaba melts into a puddle of clothing while an unseen elevator takes the actress beneath the stage. Unfortunately, the elevator descended without Menzel in place, causing her to fall through the hole and crack a rib. The show stopped, and her understudy took over, not only for the last scenes but for the rest of the run. [9]
1 Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Surely a musical with actors performing aerial stunts on wires couldn’t result in major disasters!
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is legendary in theatre history, not for success, but for its technical hitches and injured performers.
Bringing the show to the stage was difficult, with spiraling costs, financial problems, a feuding artistic team, composers who had never listened to a Broadway musical, and the producer’s death. Even that couldn’t prepare audiences for the preview performance.
A hurried unclipping of a cable backstage led to a carabiner dropping onto an actress’s head, leaving her with a concussion. Before the interval, Spider-Man was supposed to fly toward the balcony. However, the cable mechanism malfunctioned, leaving the actor dangling 7 feet (2.1 meters) in the air. The crew prodded him with sticks like a Spider-Man piñata. It was a memorable performance for the wrong reasons! [10]
From malfunctioning equipment to unexpected accidents, these theatrical mishaps serve as a reminder that live performances can be unpredictable. Despite the chaos, these moments often become the most talked-about and memorable aspects of the show, offering both humor and humility.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen happen at a live performance? Share your stories in the comments below!
