COMPANY - Closing Performance Stories

I can only imagine how emotional Raul blowing out candles will be this afternoon.

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Not for another 45 minutes or so

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...and I guess it's about over now. God, I can't even imagine how emotional it's like in there.

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Oh, well my um...special recording was over. :]

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* His last name is Esparza

I literally JUST got off the phone with Tony Award-winning producer Stewart F. Lane (interview posted on BWW.com soon) and I asked him what his next project is...

His answer: The PBS recording of "COMPANY." So given his track-record and personality, I feel the filming is in good hands.

I saw the show in March and again last Thursday and whether it's knowing that it's all coming to an end or just feeling freer with the material, it was SO much better this time around and I'd liked it a lot before! All the humor clicked (Kristin Huffman in particular seemed forced to me last time, but nailed every last line to perfection Thursday), the audience responded in kind and it still sounds amazing.

Did a walk-by of the theatre Friday and all the equipment was there...took some pictures....and definitely wish I could have stayed a few days longer.

One thing did piss me off though and it nothing to do with the perforance, but an encounter atthe stage door that does not exactly given me hope for the tourist trade. Leenya was signing autographs and this woman asks her how much they actually played their instruments, since there HAD to be a orchestra hidden somewhere. I know there are people out there who don't read up on Broadway and may not know the particulars of the show, but I still found it incredibly ignorant. I said to Leenya in passing, "People need to read," referring to sites like this and Playbill, to which she said "Seriously!"

OK so Company has been filmed and is in the tissue paper. Now can we get round to rooting for Grey Gardens. The filming of Company came about very quickly, why cant the same be done with Grey Gardens. We'll be putting that to seed in 4 weeks so hows about it guys?

Back from COMPANY here.

It was an extremely emotional, more than usual, "Being Alive."

An insanely fierce "Ladies Who Lunch," not spoiled even by the cell phone that went off during the silence after her final "RISE!"

A massive standing-O following "Being Alive" that went on for five minutes.

A beautiful, tearful speech at the end by Raul tracing the cast's history with the production, and explaining what an ensemble it is-- "if you clap at 'Being Alive,' you're clapping at a moment that was created by all of us together..." or something along those lines. He also talked about how despite some saying Broadway is declining, he thinks we're on the verge of another golden age. He acknowledged the 50% houses during recent months, and the struggle to keep the show open. Just very classy, moving, appreciative and sincere-- got about 5 or 6 applause breaks. During it, they brought out the understudies as well as Heather Laws's baby.


I'm sure others can offer more/better/any detail, but that's coming off the top of my head.

Updated On: 7/1/07 at 07:28 PM

i'll Fifth GREY GARDENS, if that helps at all!!!!

Thank you MiracleElixer!
And awesome new icon (autographed Playbill).

I'm with Raul... feeling like we're on the verge of a new Golden Age. I'm glad he said it standing on a Broadway stage out to a thousand-person audience (holds more oomph than starting a thread on these boards)

I'm sure it was just a delightful performance. Can you remember anything in any of the other songs or scenes that were special?

Haha The Dreidel Song?

I fifth the request, even though I've never seen GG. It must be good.

For the most part, just certain big character moments (such as Harry talking his drink while his wife's licking the brownie plate) got huge applause. Each character's big moment seemed to have this happen.

The only really standout moment was during Marta's presentation on peoples' asses. Raul had an odd response, like a "Hmmm" that I hadn't seen him do before, and it got a huge response, and then he broke character for a second and laughed, and Angel fought to control hers.

Also, when the cast returned to the stage at the beginning of Act 2 and the audience went nuts, you could see some of the cast members holding back smiles, except Barbara Walsh who couldn't control it, before immediately going back into Joanne's blase stare.