Mr. Toms must have conceived this 25-foot monster as a theatrical coup, but the effect was fleeting and, eventually, ridiculous.

Ms. Fischer played it with patience and dignity, with never a performer's big gesture or a theatrical coup.

The famous moments of "Pagliacci" are justly famous, and the murderous play that is not a play at the end is a theatrical coup.

He also scored the evening's theatrical coup when he approached his opponent's lectern and dared her to sign a pledge to swear off soft money.

In every other respect the risky experiment, the theatrical coup, if you like to call it so, seemed to have failed.

Blood-red lips surrounded the half-open mouth, creating an effect that one critic described as a "theatrical coup of the first rank."

And now comes Ms. Stewart's most dazzling theatrical coup.

The Shakespearean cycle, however, represents a theatrical coup that came about as a fluke.

Most theater people who come later in life to opera directing put the theatrical coup before the musical one.

The Shakespearean cycle, though, represents a theatrical coup that came about as a fluke, and enhances a season abounding in cultural richness of international scope.