Alec Baldwin - MACBETH - Slip-up?

I don't care; I'm starting a new thread for this.

Anyone surprised that he actually said "Macbeth" in the Tony broadcast? I was thinking he would say "The Scottish Play," since Mary-Louise Parker did so very shortly before he presented. Wonder if it was a slip-up or a snub to superstition. Anyone think anything will...happen? Just curious. Had to post. No morbidity intended.

Updated On: 6/16/08 at 10:03 PM

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=962856&boardid=1

---

You must now spit and run around the Theatre three times.

I kind of stopped breathing when I heard it.

---

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 11:28 PM

"Maybe it only counts if it's a theatre actor who says it."

Really???

So being off and on a New York Stage over the past several years doesn't count? So the fact that Baldwin received a Tony nomination, an Obie Award, and a Theatre World Award before many on this board were born doesn't make him enough of a theatre actor?

---

I think Alec Baldwin gets the privilege to say Macbeth around a theatre just because he is such a badass. He's just a little cooler than the rest of us common folk.

I never believed in the whole superstition and think its a bit over the top. But, nonetheless I was surprised when he said Macbeth.

I did think that when Parker said it she took a pause to not read form the teleprompter and to say what she wanted to say and disregard the prompter. I think the prompter said Macbeth but she decided to say the scottish play instead.

However, no one died or had anything bad happen to them when Macbeth was said in a theatre so that is only further proof that the superstition is bull.

---

Exactly. That is one of the many reasons why I don't believe in the superstition. People say that it doesn't count if it is in the play and your saying it because it is in the play your in. But, that sounds like a cop out to me.

---

Check out the Wikipedia, it's a barrel of laughs and covers the 'Macbeth' superstitions. You can say Macbeth when you're performing the play, but you should avoid it during rehearsals where possible, and never use it loosely in conversation.

I reckon the teleprompter says "Macbeth" on it, then it's up to the individual if they want to pander or not. The [tos] cast were having fun talking around it at the Drama Desk awards "'Macbeth'... YEAH I SAID IT!", that kinda thing. As this is just an awards ceremony and they're not rehearsing a show, they don't need long-lasting good luck (like continual good health, good reviews, healthy box office), so they're much easier-going about whether people say it or not.

I'm a theatre person who knows the superstitions, but I'd still totally say it at an awards ceremony. Mind you, I'd totally say it backstage at a play as well, which could well get me tutted at a lot. XD

---