Curtain Calls
Curtain Calls#0
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:39amWould anyone feel cheated if they saw a show and there was no curtain call at the end? Just lights up, show over, done.
re: Curtain Calls#2
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:43amIn any show though? See, I just think there are some shows that are all the more powerful for not having one. Shape Of Things, in its original London run, did not have one.
re: Curtain Calls#3
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:44am
On rare occasions, it may suit the show.
I'm currently directly "Fool for Love" for the New Hampshire Theater Festival and may decide not to do a curtain call.
Did the revival of Cabaret at Studio 54 have a curtain call?
re: Curtain Calls#4
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:45am
I would not feel cheated at all. While a curtain call is a nice acknowledgment for the cast, and, as an actor, it a great feeling after the hard work one puts into a show. As and audience member, I'm there to see the performance so if a cast decided to not have a curtain call, I would respect that decision and know that I got what I came there for in the first place, the show.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Curtain Calls#5
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:47amAlthough this is not entirely on the subject, I have to say no one does a curtain call like Zoe Caldwell. It's a one act play all by itself.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Curtain Calls#6
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:48amThere were many times when I saw A CHORUS LINE (yes, I saw it MANY times) that the audience didn't realize the "One" reprise was the curtain call - and I heard many comments when the houselights came up.
re: Curtain Calls#7
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:49amMikewood, yes it did and it's one of the shows I was thinking of that would actually have been better off not having one.
re: Curtain Calls#8
Posted: 5/26/05 at 10:59amThe reason I ask is that I saw a fantastic, (and yet very derivative community theater production of Cabaret last year) and they foregoed the curtain call. There was a rather disquieting lull and then the actors appeared in the back of the theater to meet and greet.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
re: Curtain Calls#9
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:03amAs much as I loved seeing the Cabaret cast get applause and cheers thrown their way (and some of my favorite actors no less), it was rather disconcerting, especially after the way the revival ends. I would have completely understood had they not done a curtain call.
re: Curtain Calls#10
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:12amBut then there's also the argument that not having a curtain call and not giving the audience "closure" can have a detrimental effect on how you feel about a show. You think?
re: Curtain Calls#11
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:14am
Maybe you don't want closure....maybe sometimes a show should leave a kick you in the gut....whoa! feeling.
Like a musical about the holocaust should. Not that this thread is about Cabaret per se.
re: Curtain Calls#12
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:16amNo indeed. And I did find it interesting that Shape Of Things received so many complaints about the lack of curtain call, they put a notice up front of house about it, explaining why there wasn't one.
re: Curtain Calls#13
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:23amI was in a production of "The Glass Menagerie" once where we decided not to have an actual curtain call. We did a tableaux. At the end of the show, the lights came up on us in a grouped, frozen position and as the audience applauded the lights slowly faded to black.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/05
re: Curtain Calls#14
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:26amWhile I can understand not having a curtain call in some instances; Cabaret for example, I actually think they do some good. Even if the emotional impact of a show is intense, I like the curtain call because it gives me a minute to pay tribute to those hardworking people who have brought me to that emotional level. It also gives me a moment to readjust my state of consciousness before going back to "real" life. Also, putting the performers at the back of the theatre to meet and greet, is really a muted equivalent of the curtain call and serves the same purpose, so what's the difference?
re: Curtain Calls#15
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:28am
As an actor, I HATE curtain call. It;s my least favorite moment of my job.
I am not in theatre to have people applaud me. I perform because I love the process of the creation of my character and the physical pleasure it gives me to act, hit a great note and dance my legs off.
At curtain call (especially when I am the lead), I am always worrying, "Are they going to applaud, cheer, boo?"
I don't need that kind of pressure at the end of my day. I just want to get dressed and go home.
re: Curtain Calls#16
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:29am
I think the actors would feel more cheated by not having a curtain call than the audience. It's their moment of glory....
re: Curtain Calls#17
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:30amVERY interesting, Di2.
re: Curtain Calls#18
Posted: 5/26/05 at 11:32am
Well, I have to admit I am the complete opposite, I love curtain call as an actor, especially when I am a lead.
It never occurs to me in that moment I might get booed.
OHMIGAWD! That would suck.
re: Curtain Calls#19
Posted: 5/26/05 at 12:44pm
Here's a question for our British fans:
In several musicals I've seen in the West End, they didn't play music at the curtain call. Is there any reason for that? On Broadway, I don't think I've ever seen a musical that didn't play music for the curtain call.
re: Curtain Calls#20
Posted: 5/26/05 at 12:46pmI am doing a show right now and we are not doing curtain calls. I am not trying to sound snobby, but I definitely feel cheated.
re: Curtain Calls#21
Posted: 5/26/05 at 12:48pm
Gotham: Maybe it's because the audience ALWAYS ends up clapping in rhythm to the music at the curtain call, so it doesn't sound like genuine applause?
And keggss23, does the audience still applaud at the end?
re: Curtain Calls#22
Posted: 5/26/05 at 12:50pm
I just finished Miss Saigon and the orchestra was silent during our curtain call. I hated that. The audience had no clue what was happening and it was just...odd.
re: Curtain Calls#23
Posted: 5/27/05 at 5:17am
I know that for the Woman in White, all the cast come out and take their separate bows, then the orchestra kicks in for the company bow. I can't quite remember, but I think that it's the same for Les Mis as well. That seems to work quite well, and as popcultureboy said, when the audience is clapping in time, it never sounds quite genuine. And when that does happen, I always get the one person who has no sense of time next to me and claps maybe half a beat later than everyone else
re: Curtain Calls#24
Posted: 5/27/05 at 6:45amI think it depends on the show. I, for one, like curtain calls, when I am performing or when I'm in the audience. It's kind of nice to regroup after a show and know that you were appreciated and when in the audience it's, as someone else said, a chance to get back to reality. However, you don't always *need* one. I'm currently in a show and our finale would have been fine as a curatin call because of the way everyone is set up and the way it's staged, but we do have a curtain call right after. I don't think that it's necessary in this particular show, so it really does depend on what you're seeing and/or acting in.
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