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| A Chorus Line's dazzling night - and others | |
| Posted by: TheBroadwayMaven (DavidBenkof@gmail.com) 03:29 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| From this week's Broadway Maven Weekly Blast: A Chorus Line’s was one for the ages. On September 29, 1983, when the show broke Grease’s record to become the longest-running show on Broadway, the producers “cast” 332 dancers from Broadway companies past and present around the world. The performance included original cast members like Donna McKechnie and Priscilla Lopez as well as dancers from productions around the world. But the unforgettable part came with the final reprise of “One,” in which gold-clad dancers sang and danced down the aisles of every level of the theater, eventually ending up onstage together. It is said to have been a magical night. Here are some ways other shows observed their landmarks: • When Fiddler on the Roof played its 3,225th performance in June of 1972, 3,225 balloons were released over the audience, and the show’s creators were greeted with hearty applause. Tevyes from four productions around the world joined together to sing “Tradition.” • On December 8, 1979, Grease took the mantle from Fiddler, with its 3,243rd perfomance. Many past performers appeared, including John Travolta (who was Doody onstage and Danny in the movie); Olivia Newton-John (the film’s Sandy); Barry Bostwick (Danny onstage) and Adrienne Barbeau (Rizzo onstage). • CATS took the lead on June 19, 1997 with what The New York Times called “6,138 Lives.” When playgoers exited the theater, they were greeted with Klieg lights, bursts of confetti, pyrotechnic displays, and flowing champagne. Original cast members like Betty Buckley and Ken Page were present, and choreographer Gillian Lynne was chosen to come up on stage to dance with Rum Tum Tugger. During the final song, more than 100 CATS alumni rose at their seats to sing along. The evening ended with a surprise from Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Morgan, the Cat of the Door“ — a song he had written for the show that had been cut. • On January 9, 2006, it was The Phantom of the Opera’s turn. It celebrated its 7,486th chandelier crash with a symbolic passing of a baton from a woman dressed as a cat to the Phantom himself. The patrons enjoyed a silver cloud of confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling, followed by what else? A masked ball. |
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| And the cats will reign again | |
| Last Edit: dramedy 05:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| Posted by: dramedy 05:47 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: A Chorus Line's dazzling night - and others - TheBroadwayMaven 03:29 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| When lion king beats phantom. Maybe the phantom can give the baton to simba. I kind of doubt wicked will best lion king. And Hamilton success just mystifies me. | |
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| re: And the cats will reign again | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 06:13 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: And the cats will reign again - dramedy 05:47 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| As a huge Phantom fan, this makes me sad. Goodness knows plenty despise it so I may not get any sympathy for my own lack of enthusiasm for The Lion King. But I think Phantom is a lot more special. I had two family members visit and they always wanted to see the big popular show of the moment. We splurged for excellent seats to TLK and all three of us fell asleep. Yes, the opening number is amazing. But otherwise it's overly long and, I don't know, doesn't have a great score. I never liked the movie much either. LOL. Maybe I'm just INSANE :-) | |
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| re: And the cats will reign again | |
| Posted by: Jack1009 06:23 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And the cats will reign again - EvFoDr 06:13 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| Exactly | |
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| re: And the cats will reign again | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 06:38 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 06:35 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And the cats will reign again - EvFoDr 06:13 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| Yes, the opening number is amazing. But otherwise it's overly long Yes. I've only seen the tour, not the Broadway production. But I have to confess that by Act II, I had really had enough. What seemed visually magical and dazzling in Act I was really an overload by that point - and in reality the plot and the pace of the show aren't enough to sustain all that scenic eye candy after a while. It made me restless. Sure, there are moments, like Mufasa's face appearing during "He Lives In You" that still made me gasp in delight. But in general, to borrow from Lewis Carroll, the whole show was way too much of a muchness, and I would have liked it much better if they had followed the iconic showbiz idea of "always leave 'em wanting more" instead. I feel the other problem with the show is that the performance style generally avoids real integration of the songs - they become their own standalone moments instead of truly advancing the plot. I felt this right from the top where "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" even gets its whole own custom set out of nowhere. It became a spectacle of a show within a show, instead of simply the "I want" song it wants to be. I have to say that I respect the show a lot for what it accomplished, and for the joy that it obviously brings so many people. But on another level, the material just doesn't excite me emotionally in the way that I feel the best of shows can and do. Is it trying way too hard to be something it didn't need to be? I also can't imagine I'm the only person that feels this way. But yes - the opening number - both sonically and visually - is truly something amazing to behold. Just that, I tend to wonder if Taymor got too caught up in the temptation to keep having to top that number in every subsequent one, without there being a strong enough story to require that. |
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| re: And the cats will reign again | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 10:20 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And the cats will reign again - Chromolume 06:35 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| Fifteen to twenty minutes of magic. Then an utter bore. And—the stunning costumes and puppetry aside—the slavish adherence to the characters as depicted in the movie, because nothing could possibly deviate from that lest the masses rebel in protest. Laura in LA |
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| Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 03:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: A Chorus Line's dazzling night - and others - TheBroadwayMaven 03:29 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| The Chorus Line one sounds especially thrilling. | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: dsikula 05:01 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - DistantDrumming 03:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| I was and wasn't at the Chorus Line performance. I lived in California, and even though I'd already seen it about 20 times at the LA Shubert, wasn't able to snag a ticket, but arranged a trip for that week. I saw "Night, Mother" earlier in the evening, knowing it was short and that I'd be out before curtain time at the Shubert. I went to the theatre, hoping to somehow scrounge a ticket, and couldn't do that, but got lucky and was able to watch the whole thing on the monitors of the TV truck that was recording it. It was indeed fabulous. |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: claploudly 09:51 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - dsikula 05:01 am EST 12/30/22 | |
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| WAIT dsikula - you mean it was recorded????????????? | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 02:37 pm EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - claploudly 09:51 am EST 12/30/22 | |
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| It was shot for the Theatre on Film and Tape collection at the Library for the Performing Arts (TOFT). It may be viewed there. Not sure if special permission is needed. There was also a great deal of television coverage that included some excerpts from the performance. |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: simbo 02:28 pm EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - claploudly 09:51 am EST 12/30/22 | |
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| I think the curtain call was broadcast ... it's on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo0iIoWePYI | |
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| It was my most exciting night in the theatre | |
| Posted by: GreatMartin (greatmartin2003@yahoo.com) 11:46 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - DistantDrumming 03:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| My friend Buddy Vest, who played Zach on the tour and who was in "Dreamgirls" at that time, gave me and our mutual friend, Bob Kingsbury of the University of Illinois in Carbondale, tickets. We rented tuxes to wear at that performance and my hands were sore and I had a sore throat from applauding and clapping during the whole show. I have seen "A Chorus Line" on stage for 101 performances all over the USA . I have been going to the theatre since 1944 when I saw Alfred Drake in "Oklahoma" and saw many memorable performances of musicals and plays plus performers BUT seeing Michael Bennett's special performance for "A Chorus Line" still takes my breath away when I see youtube's shots of that performance. Sadly Buddy died in the 1990s but memories of him AND "A Chorus Line" will never die'. |
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| re: It was my most exciting night in the theatre | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 03:06 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: It was my most exciting night in the theatre - GreatMartin 11:46 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| Thank you for sharing, GreatMartin. Sounds incredible. And, gosh, from 1944 to 2020, you must have seen some amazing productions. I'm curious to know if there are other memorable nights in the theatre you'll never forget... probably too many to name, I imagine. | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 06:06 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - DistantDrumming 03:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| I attended the performance where Phantom became the longest running show in Broadway history. Darn, it wasn't that long ago but the details are fuzzy :-) I do remember a very beautiful special program booklet and I think a mask of sorts for everyone. The party was at the Waldorf and Lauren Bacall was there. Sorry it's a slim recollection, but overall a very magical night. That said, my number one "special" performance experience was the closing night of the original production of Les Miserables....which 15 years earlier had been the first Broadway show I ever saw. But that's another story for another time :-) | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: NoPeopleLike 07:30 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - EvFoDr 06:06 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| The party was not at the waldorf. | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 11:08 am EST 12/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - NoPeopleLike 07:30 am EST 12/30/22 | |
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| LOL. Really? And there's Betty Bacall with Hal Prince in the gallery thumbnails, third from the bottom in the far left row. "The music of the night was heard up and down Broadway on January 9, when Andrew Lloyd Webber's epic musical The Phantom of the Opera played its 7,486th performance and broke the record for the longest-running show on the Great White Way, displacing Cats for the title. On that fateful night, the curtain call at the Majestic Theatre brought together Phantom cast members past and present as well as producer Cameron Mackintosh, director Harold Prince, choreographer Gillian Lynne and Lord Lloyd Webber himself for an emotional and exciting curtain call. After the record-breaking performance, an enormous gala celebrated the milestone at the WALDORF-ASTORIA. Here's to another 7,486 performances, Phantom!" |
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| Link | https://www.broadway.com/shows/the-phantom-of-the-opera/photos/the-phantom-unmasks-its-record-breaking-performance |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: FleetStreetBarber 04:02 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - DistantDrumming 03:48 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| I attended the performance at which "Fiddler" became Broadway's longest-running show. I had purchased my ticket using a twofer and sat in the rear orchestra. Hal Prince invited the audience onstage after the final curtain, along with the casts of every other show on Broadway, for supper catered by Nathan's. In addition to our Playbills, we each received a one-sheet cast list printed in black on gold fabric. | |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 05:26 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - FleetStreetBarber 04:02 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| What a fun memory! Did you know it was going to be such a special performance when you bought the tickets? The cast, the audience and the casts of every other Broadway show fit on the stage? That's impressive! |
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| re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? | |
| Posted by: FleetStreetBarber 06:22 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Were any of you at these record-breaking performances? - DistantDrumming 05:26 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
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| I should amend my previous email to clarify somewhat. The performance I attended was on Friday evening, July 21, 1971, when "Fiddler" became Broadway's longest running MUSICAL. In June of 1972, it surpassed "Life with Father" to become Broadway's longest-running SHOW. To answer your question, yes there was some advance publicity that there would be a celebration at the theater, although I don't think the casts of most of the other shows playing at the time showed up in droves. The only performer I remember seeing was Dom DeLuise who had recently replaced James Coco in "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers." |
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