Ballet Bloopers – Ballet West – Sleeping Beauty – And the Stairs Exploding

The special effects in ballet are not anything like the big blockbuster movies that we watch on television, but we do have some really great ones.

In Sleeping Beauty, there is a moment when Carabosse is supposed to disappear in an explosion with a great puff of black smoke.
As the fireworks go off, I am supposed to melt into the staircase. The people and king are running after Carabosse trying to stop her even though the curse is tempered by the Liliac Fairy for Aurora to fall asleep for a hundred years … instead of dying.

In one particular show, the King (Malcolm Burns) is running after me trying to stop Carabosse and make her remove the curse. I run up the stairs and there is one stair that has a grate on top of it and that is where the explosion and smoke will come from.
I stand pissed off at the top of the staircase insisting that Aurora will die and that I will be triumphant! When instead of a small explosion and smoke happening as I disappear into the floor … an enormous explosion happens as I am going down into the staircase (Thank God!).
The staircase rips apart wood and it flies everywhere. The explosion and smoke are way bigger than in any previous show.
Malcolm is supposed to be running to stop Carabosse. Just before the staircase he is to be repelled by the smoke and explosion. It will make him pull back in horror.

Let’s just say this time … he is literally blown off his feet. Debris is scattering and he is trying to not get hit by it as the staircase explodes into rubble and the smoke is way bigger than normal.

As I happens, I am fortunately diving into the floor and away from the debris. The explosion was so loud that Malcom had some hearing loss for weeks. It was so strong it had a concussive effect on the air as it powerfully moved out in a wave.

Fortunately, that moment, is the end of Act I of the ballet, and the curtain comes down.
I am safe and sound, but I rush up to Malcolm after the curtain goes down, and he is clearly disoriented. The stairs are in pieces. Blown apart in the explosion.

The audience had made an audible gasp. I wondered if they realized that the realness of the effects was not supposed to be so … real!

The next day, the crew guys explained that they had been using some older gun powder, but it had run out. They had tested that type and knew its explosive potential and had make the adjustments for how much to use.

But they got new gunpowder and had made the mistake to not test it. They assumed it was the same strength as the last one.
…. Clearly it was not.
At least no one was hurt … permanently.
Malcolm’s ears did recover and as far as I know there was no long-term damage.

~Suzanne Wagner~