Records of the Art World – Unusual Theatrical Performances

Theatrical performances

Today we have prepared for you a selection of theatrical performances included in the Guinness Book of Records. The materials are presented from the Guinness Books of previous years, so some information may be out of date. We hope this doesn\’t spoil your reading experience. If you want to find more extreme entertainment, then sports betting on TonyBet is the place for you.

Most Expensive Stage Production

The stage version of the Disney film The Lion King, which premiered on Broadway in November 1997, became the most expensive theatrical production. Its budget was $15 million.

The largest theater fees

Andrew Lloyd Webber\’s musical The Phantom of the Opera has been played in 18 countries and grossed $3.2 billion since its premiere on October 9, 1986 at the Theater Royal (London, UK). the same Lloyd Webber, who raised $ 2 billion.

Longest stage life

Agatha Christie\’s The Mousetrap premiered on November 25, 1952. By April 23, 2001 at the St. Martin\’s Theater (London, UK) it was given 126 times. For 49 years, the box office was $ 33.3 million and it was watched by about 10 million viewers.

Most Tony Awards

For 40 years, Harold Prince (USA) received 20 Tony Awards. This award is named after theater actress Antoinette Perry and is one of the most prestigious in the theater world. The full name of the award is Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theater.

The biggest performance insurance

The musical \”Barnum\”, which premiered on June 11, 1981 at the London Palladium, was insured for the largest amount in the history of the theater. In general, it was $ 9,867,000 at the rate of those days, of which actor Michael Crawford was insured for $ 3 million. During the performance, he walked on a wire and descended onto the stage on a rope from the topmost box.

Musical Champion

The off-Broadway musical \”The Fantasticks\” by Americans Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt premiered on May 3, 1960. By 2000, the number of his performances at the Sullivan Street Playhouse (New York, USA) reached a record number of 16,562.

Most tap dancers

On August 17, 1997, outside the Macy\’s Department Store in New York, USA, 6,776 people tapped in unison for two minutes to the tune of \”Puttin\’ On The Ritz\”. 34th Street served as the stage for this event. The age of the participants ranged from 1 to 91 years.

The biggest failure

On May 17, 1988, the musical Carrie, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and costing $7 million, was filmed after 5 performances on Broadway (New York, USA). King, a musical about Martin Luther King, lost $5,128,200 in its 6-week run ending on June 2, 1990, equaling the record failure of Ziegfeld in London in 1988.

Longest play

The longest theatrical production is \”Perversion\” by Neil Oram (UK). The premiere of the 10-act play took place at the Institute of Contemporary Art (London, UK) on January 18-20, 1979. The performance lasted 18 hours and 5 minutes. All this time, with the exception of 5 minutes, actor Russell Denton was on stage.

Fastest theater production

The musical \”Oklahoma!\” staged by Velvet Jacket Limited was presented at the Playhouse Theater (Edinburgh, UK). Its production took 23 hours and 55 minutes after the selection of actors and the first acquaintance with the text, it was shown at 8 pm on May 6, 2000.

The largest number of actors hanging in the air at the same time

In the show \”Period at home\” of the Argentinean dance theater \”De la garda\”, 33 actors hung in the air at the same time. In April 1998, 14,000 people watched 5 performances of this show at the velodrome in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

The most active participant in the creation of the play

In the play “Money or Love”, staged at the Grand Theater (Lancaster, UK) in September 2000 by the Lancaster Red Rose Society of Opera and Dramatic Art Lovers, Phil Gibson was the author of the original idea, composer, libretto author, choir conductor, orchestrator and leading man.

Most Tony Award Winning Actress

Julie Harris (USA) won the first Tony Award in 1952. Now, along with the award for her contribution to the arts, she has 5 of them – more than any other actress. Julie Harris also holds the record for most Tony nominations with 10 in 45 years. She made her Broadway debut in 1945.

The shortest play

Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett (Ireland), the author of one of the most famous plays of the post-war theater \”Waiting for Godot\”, wrote the shortest play in the world – the 30-second \”Breath\” (1969).

Most Tony Award Winning Plays

Winning plays of 5 Tony Awards: A Man for All Seasons (1962) by Robert Bolt, Who\’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1963) by Edward Albee, Child\’s Play (1971) by Robert Marasco, Amadeus (1981) ) Peter Shaffer, The Present (1984) by Tom Stoppard.

Photo by Liam McGarry on Unsplash

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