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RedPiggy
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I also posted this on Crystal Moon, a Labyrinth forum. I think it was there someone wanted to do a play of the Labyrinth. This is my take on how it should pan out:
I think the play should start out with the lights barely dimming before Costume Sarah comes through the audience from the back, reading her red playbook, basically giving the backstory she gives Toby later on in the movie. The curtain is open and the stage is empty aside from a lone section of fence with a (stuffed?) barn owl, as if they haven't even prepped the stage yet for the play. By the time she gets to the stage, she has trouble remembering the final line, says it in frustration, the beginning bars of Underground begin playing, she looks up and realizes the audience is full, and runs backstage in a panic.
The instrumental version of Underground continues as the curtains close only to open back up with the interior of the Williams living room, which is the stage level. There are stairs leading to both Sarah's room and the Williams' room in cutaway fashion, with the balcony opening to the back of the stage instead of at the side like the movie to better hide Jareth until his entrance. The music abruptly stops as Mrs. Williams comes in from a door, berating Sarah about being late. Sarah's excuses could use lines from the movies or 4th wall breaking lines. Mrs. Williams tells her to babysit Toby who is in a crib (doll -- though it'd be nice if it were those Family Class types of dolls that you can actually interact with) and leaves with Mr. Williams, who just waves hi-bye at Sarah. Sarah angrily marches upstairs and goes to her room, finds out Lancelot is missing from her display case, and storms into the Williams' room, finding the teddy bear in the crib. While she's busy berating Toby, who starts crying, the house begins to have random crap happening, progressing to lights' out in the bedroom where Toby and Sarah are and a silouhette of the owl can be seen throughout the set as well as throughout the theater. Sarah starts talking about wanting to wish Toby away, but uses the overly-dramatic line from the movie. Meanwhile, goblins (puppets?) are eavesdropping from outside the room and gripe that she's not getting it right, offering up their correct version. Sarah says it, lightning flashes "outside", the goblins scatter and the balcony doors burst open in a flash of light, with Jareth appearing on the balcony and entering as Toby's cries suddenly stop. Their movie conversation occurs and Jareth offers her a chance to go to the Labyrinth and get Toby back. Lightning flashes again and the backdrop behind the balcony window changes to an exterior shot of the Labyrinth. Jareth takes Sarah out onto the balcony, the lights in the house flicker back on, and the curtains close.
The curtains open back up as Jareth and Sarah are standing next to a dead tree surveying a Labyrinth mural/projection. Jareth tries to get turn back but naturally Sarah says she has to get her brother back (perhaps in song, even including the reason I think she's worried ... that her parents will kill her or she'll be arrested, LOL). Jareth leaves in a resigned huff. The curtains close.
The curtains open back up and we are at the entrance to the Labyrinth, which is just a big fake stone wall. A projector or something is concealing the large door to the entrance. Hoggle is at the water fountain taking a bathroom break. They have their conversation and Sarah ends up going inside finally. As Hoggle angrily leaves the stage, he waves at the air and some tv screens come down with a line map of the Labyrinth (digital or otherwise). A little purple arrow or something shows the audience where she is so that the fact you can't really appreciate the depth of the Labyrinth from a theater audience won't be so bothersome. My idea is that as Sarah goes through key scenes in the movie, some poor goblin has to keep redrawing the map. By the time she hits the oubliette, this goblin gives up in frustration and the screens go blank, which will help explain why Jareth later is so surprised when Sarah appears in Goblin City, LOL. Each scene in the Labyrinth can be altered as the set will consist of moveable sections. Goblins in costume will manually shift the scenery after character or puzzle moments. The scenes will be Worm, Alph/Ralph, and Ludo (if it's too hard to do something like the costume of the movie, then Lion King it
). Sarah then gets trapped in the Oubliette, and Ludo disappears too. Hoggle comes to save Sarah and they have to run past the stage in a brick tunnel as the Cleaners drive through. Hoggle and Sarah just barely climb up a ladder and the curtains close.
The curtains open back up. Jareth has been watching the events in the crystal ball (also displayed onscreen) in his throne room. However, when the screens go blank, Jareth gets tired of Toby crying in the center and begins Dance Magic. The set is altered so that instead of cabling, goblins and Jareth/Toby can jump onto moving platforms that rise from the ground or come out from the walls, displaying further Jareth's abilities to manipulate the environment. They hop up onto the platforms during the "jump" parts of the song. Jareth begins to enjoy Toby's presence and offers him the position of heir. Curtains close. End of Act 1.
The inter'acte or whatever you call it is Underground with the lyrics. Upon the end of the song, the curtains open back up and Sarah and Hoggle are in a courtyard with the wiseman. Their conversation happens but since Ludo's not back, it devolves into an argument about whether or not to go look for him. Hoggle ends up abandoning her. Sarah leaves through a gap in the hedge maze only to find herself in the forest. The fierys do their thing against a dark forest background so that the puppeteers in all black are better hidden. Sarah is saved by Hoggle who opens a door in a very large tree. The curtains close.
The curtains open and they are in the Bog of Eternal Stench. Sarah and Hoggle come across Ludo and Sir Didymus fighting as Ambrosious looks on, wagging his tail (SD being a puppet, of course). Sarah tricks SD into giving permission to get out of the Bog and the curtains close as Hoggle gives Sarah a peach, which she bites into. She faints as Hoggle curses Jareth and runs off.
The curtains open to the ballroom scene and As the World Falls Down happens. The backgrounds are pretty but when Sarah breaks the spell, all the backgrounds fall to the floor, revealing a junky background. Agnes the Junklady begins her hard sell about returning all of Sarah's toys, but Ludo howls and the walls crumble. Sarah escapes through the gaps and the curtains close.
The curtains open to the Goblin City with the castle looming in mural form behind the goblin buildings. Team Sarah briefly talk about how Ludo's powers work before the goblins stage an ambush. Ludo's howl brings down the houses and Team Sarah can escape toward the castle. Curtains close.
The curtains reopen to the throne room, which has been on a moveable set. As Sarah tells the others that she must do this alone, the others follow the throne room set offstage as a three-dimensional set of complicated stairs rolls onto the stage with a giant platform in the center, where Toby is. Within You plays as Jareth and Sarah traverse the different staircases, with Sarah trying to find a decent way to get to the platform where Toby is. At the end of the song she finally just jumps for it, falling with Toby through the platform and out of the audience's sight. The curtains close.
Finally, the curtains open and there is nothing but a dark background and the two tower gates and the walkway in between. Jareth and Sarah have their face-off. Jareth is defeated and goes through the floor as a barn owl rises from his cloak and flies away. Sarah kisses Toby and walks through the door of the tower gate. The sets are changed so that we are back to the house set. Sarah and Toby come in through the balcony and she rests him in the crib. She goes to her room and starts taking down her toys with a smile. As the lights fade, she is heard singing a perhaps altered version of Dance Magic to reflect her changed attitude. End of Act 2.
I think the play should start out with the lights barely dimming before Costume Sarah comes through the audience from the back, reading her red playbook, basically giving the backstory she gives Toby later on in the movie. The curtain is open and the stage is empty aside from a lone section of fence with a (stuffed?) barn owl, as if they haven't even prepped the stage yet for the play. By the time she gets to the stage, she has trouble remembering the final line, says it in frustration, the beginning bars of Underground begin playing, she looks up and realizes the audience is full, and runs backstage in a panic.
The instrumental version of Underground continues as the curtains close only to open back up with the interior of the Williams living room, which is the stage level. There are stairs leading to both Sarah's room and the Williams' room in cutaway fashion, with the balcony opening to the back of the stage instead of at the side like the movie to better hide Jareth until his entrance. The music abruptly stops as Mrs. Williams comes in from a door, berating Sarah about being late. Sarah's excuses could use lines from the movies or 4th wall breaking lines. Mrs. Williams tells her to babysit Toby who is in a crib (doll -- though it'd be nice if it were those Family Class types of dolls that you can actually interact with) and leaves with Mr. Williams, who just waves hi-bye at Sarah. Sarah angrily marches upstairs and goes to her room, finds out Lancelot is missing from her display case, and storms into the Williams' room, finding the teddy bear in the crib. While she's busy berating Toby, who starts crying, the house begins to have random crap happening, progressing to lights' out in the bedroom where Toby and Sarah are and a silouhette of the owl can be seen throughout the set as well as throughout the theater. Sarah starts talking about wanting to wish Toby away, but uses the overly-dramatic line from the movie. Meanwhile, goblins (puppets?) are eavesdropping from outside the room and gripe that she's not getting it right, offering up their correct version. Sarah says it, lightning flashes "outside", the goblins scatter and the balcony doors burst open in a flash of light, with Jareth appearing on the balcony and entering as Toby's cries suddenly stop. Their movie conversation occurs and Jareth offers her a chance to go to the Labyrinth and get Toby back. Lightning flashes again and the backdrop behind the balcony window changes to an exterior shot of the Labyrinth. Jareth takes Sarah out onto the balcony, the lights in the house flicker back on, and the curtains close.
The curtains open back up as Jareth and Sarah are standing next to a dead tree surveying a Labyrinth mural/projection. Jareth tries to get turn back but naturally Sarah says she has to get her brother back (perhaps in song, even including the reason I think she's worried ... that her parents will kill her or she'll be arrested, LOL). Jareth leaves in a resigned huff. The curtains close.
The curtains open back up and we are at the entrance to the Labyrinth, which is just a big fake stone wall. A projector or something is concealing the large door to the entrance. Hoggle is at the water fountain taking a bathroom break. They have their conversation and Sarah ends up going inside finally. As Hoggle angrily leaves the stage, he waves at the air and some tv screens come down with a line map of the Labyrinth (digital or otherwise). A little purple arrow or something shows the audience where she is so that the fact you can't really appreciate the depth of the Labyrinth from a theater audience won't be so bothersome. My idea is that as Sarah goes through key scenes in the movie, some poor goblin has to keep redrawing the map. By the time she hits the oubliette, this goblin gives up in frustration and the screens go blank, which will help explain why Jareth later is so surprised when Sarah appears in Goblin City, LOL. Each scene in the Labyrinth can be altered as the set will consist of moveable sections. Goblins in costume will manually shift the scenery after character or puzzle moments. The scenes will be Worm, Alph/Ralph, and Ludo (if it's too hard to do something like the costume of the movie, then Lion King it
The curtains open back up. Jareth has been watching the events in the crystal ball (also displayed onscreen) in his throne room. However, when the screens go blank, Jareth gets tired of Toby crying in the center and begins Dance Magic. The set is altered so that instead of cabling, goblins and Jareth/Toby can jump onto moving platforms that rise from the ground or come out from the walls, displaying further Jareth's abilities to manipulate the environment. They hop up onto the platforms during the "jump" parts of the song. Jareth begins to enjoy Toby's presence and offers him the position of heir. Curtains close. End of Act 1.
The inter'acte or whatever you call it is Underground with the lyrics. Upon the end of the song, the curtains open back up and Sarah and Hoggle are in a courtyard with the wiseman. Their conversation happens but since Ludo's not back, it devolves into an argument about whether or not to go look for him. Hoggle ends up abandoning her. Sarah leaves through a gap in the hedge maze only to find herself in the forest. The fierys do their thing against a dark forest background so that the puppeteers in all black are better hidden. Sarah is saved by Hoggle who opens a door in a very large tree. The curtains close.
The curtains open and they are in the Bog of Eternal Stench. Sarah and Hoggle come across Ludo and Sir Didymus fighting as Ambrosious looks on, wagging his tail (SD being a puppet, of course). Sarah tricks SD into giving permission to get out of the Bog and the curtains close as Hoggle gives Sarah a peach, which she bites into. She faints as Hoggle curses Jareth and runs off.
The curtains open to the ballroom scene and As the World Falls Down happens. The backgrounds are pretty but when Sarah breaks the spell, all the backgrounds fall to the floor, revealing a junky background. Agnes the Junklady begins her hard sell about returning all of Sarah's toys, but Ludo howls and the walls crumble. Sarah escapes through the gaps and the curtains close.
The curtains open to the Goblin City with the castle looming in mural form behind the goblin buildings. Team Sarah briefly talk about how Ludo's powers work before the goblins stage an ambush. Ludo's howl brings down the houses and Team Sarah can escape toward the castle. Curtains close.
The curtains reopen to the throne room, which has been on a moveable set. As Sarah tells the others that she must do this alone, the others follow the throne room set offstage as a three-dimensional set of complicated stairs rolls onto the stage with a giant platform in the center, where Toby is. Within You plays as Jareth and Sarah traverse the different staircases, with Sarah trying to find a decent way to get to the platform where Toby is. At the end of the song she finally just jumps for it, falling with Toby through the platform and out of the audience's sight. The curtains close.
Finally, the curtains open and there is nothing but a dark background and the two tower gates and the walkway in between. Jareth and Sarah have their face-off. Jareth is defeated and goes through the floor as a barn owl rises from his cloak and flies away. Sarah kisses Toby and walks through the door of the tower gate. The sets are changed so that we are back to the house set. Sarah and Toby come in through the balcony and she rests him in the crib. She goes to her room and starts taking down her toys with a smile. As the lights fade, she is heard singing a perhaps altered version of Dance Magic to reflect her changed attitude. End of Act 2.
I've been longing to work on a Labyrinth play myself (Ironically since I;ve never actually watched the movie, just clips...)
) I also had this vision of Sarah at the beginning of As The World Falls Down twirling around like a music box figure, which I really think captures Sarah's innocence in her entrance into adulthood (which is what that sequence is all about, really... 
) I think it would also be cool to have live instruments, kind of like what Cirque du Soleil does at their performances... 
