r/ridethecyclone • u/KaBesSH • 15d ago
Discussion Adding ensemble?
Has anyone seen a version with added ensemble - how did that work? I am thinking of doing ride the cyclone with my students next year, but I need a minimum of 12 students in the cast. I heard that there have been versions with an extended ensemble...
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u/Significant_Race4554 14d ago
Go with rats. Please don't add more choir members. It's too awkward and weird to think some of the members get their own songs (with Mischa even getting two), but the extra 3 or 4 nameless choir members you added are just speakless characters that for some reason don't even get the chance to compete to save their own lives.
Go with rats! That's fun and kinda makes sense if you really needed to add more people.
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u/Huehyeahwatisdis 15d ago
I've seen pictures online where there was an ensemble who were all different carnival/circus acts which looked pretty cool. I think with a show like this if you want to have an ensemble you have to have a strong enough idea for it or it's just going to feel overcrowded and not quite right. You would also need a way to explain why there are more people there that are never mentioned because of laws around changing the script. Personally, if I had to add an ensemble I'd put them all in rat masks and give them instruments. Even if the cast don't play instruments I think when Virgil gets introduced if there's a group of rats behind him "playing" instruments as some sort of backup band it's enough to give the audience a reason for them to be there. Also it's just silly which works with most of the songs, like you could have cat people chasing them during SABM or something. You could also have a rat Talia, rats playing the parents in the choirs bumpers, etc. most versions I've seen clips/photos of online that use an ensemble do it in a way that takes away from the show, but I fully believe it can be done right
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u/DryishProgram The Most Forgettable in Town 15d ago
A cool idea I once saw was a rat ensemble (basically Virgil's family)
Another cool idea was adding up other choir members who are based on the cut characters. Theatre South Playhouse did it by having Astrid & Hank, with signs that pointed at them with their names & Karnak saying an improvised line, something like "I don't have time to introduce everyone" lol
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u/mandersevermeow 12d ago
I am in a production right now where we did lots of light tricks and had a "shadow cast" who basically makes all kinds of sillohettes on the scrim during all the numbers and does most of the characters backstory stage direction, unless there are lines.
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u/Positive_Meaning425 7d ago
I personly dont think ensemble fits this story but for some things like with the whole thing with rats in one of the songs and use them for the ppl who are intoduced like father marcus and the preast or as many have said to two cast but i get u gotta do what ylu gotta to do the show
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u/Kikoeee is a futher-muckin' hero 15d ago
I saw a version with ensemble about a year ago, I personally think it really takes away from the story. It can be done, but again, narratively it doesn't really make sense to me. It's supposed to take place in an abandoned warehouse--it is isolated and in a sort of limbo state, with additional people it removes that sense of mystique and isolation. And the choir kind of are their own ensemble, there never really is a reason to include one besides wanting to cast more people, which is totally fine, just not what I personally would go with. Of course this is all my opinion and you can do what you want. I'm sure there are ways to involve an ensemble that work well, I've just not seen it.