Final Taboo Performance

[pimpernel86]

Posted: 2/8/04 at 11:42pm

My friend and I arrived at the Plymouth Theatre at around 6:00 tonight to find out that the final Taboo performance was sold-out. We waited on a cancellation line and were two of six very lucky people to get tickets! We ended up sitting in the third row of the house!!! The theatre was packed with screaming and excited fans. Rosie O'Donnell arrived shortly before the curtain rose and made a very emotional speech , promising that "Taboo" would be back. When the house lights went down , the crowd went wild!! I've never been to a Broadway show where the crowd was so pumped. Every actor recieved thunderous applause as they made their entrances , and everyone went nuts over the jokes and the songs. Seated in the audience was Joanna Gleason and STEPHEN SONDHEIM!! I was so star-struck!! I actually got the courage to get their autographs and take a picture with them!! It was incredible...Every actor in the show , including the ensemble, gave electrifying performances ! It was my third time seeing the show and Raul Esparza still gave me chills with "Petrified"....ditto Euan Morton's "Stranger In This World". And Liz McCartney brought down the house with "Talk Amongst Yourselves." In the end , it was a very exciting and energized way to end the run of Taboo. For those who say that "Taboo" was a bomb, are full of it. If you were to look around the theatre, you would have seen all the fans who enjoyed Taboo so much. For some people it was their 6th or 7th time, and it had touched many people in different ways. I think "Taboo" was a success on many levels. It found its audience , and they all came and filled the theatre with their support. Thank-god Boy George's remarkable score has been recorded and preserved forever. "Taboo" went out on a great note , and I think we will be seeing much more of it to come.

[Wicked_Elphie]

Posted: 2/8/04 at 11:48pm

Oh I wish I had been there!! I really do hope this is not the end of it!! I will def be there to support it if it comes back!

[SweetCarolineFan]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:15am

OMG i wish i was at TABOO Final performance saw it soo many times and am pissed that its closed but with Rosie saying it will be back it will and im soo happy to hear that but still Im crying my TABOO river that have been since i heard of the closure of it!

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:16am

well maybe next time it comes back it will have a book that makes sense....

[mebice]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:20am

I agree...obviously. I was very very sad to hear it was closing. But i think it will be back with a more of focused book. Its too good not to be back.

[bestofbroadway]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:21am

""Taboo" went out on a great note , and I think we will be seeing much more of it to come."

Where will be seeing more and why?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:24am

Now, BoB, you'd catch more flies with honey! You're just gonna end up alone and sad if you don't learn how to smile and say nice things.

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:36am

let's not dig up a buried show

[IssaMe]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 10:59am

Haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere - but one of the most charming parts of last night's final performance was outside the theater at a little before 7 o'clock...when cast members in various costumes and outfits scampered down four flights of outdoor fire escapes from their dressing room windows to congregate on the outdoor balcony above the marquee of the theater - giving fans an impromptu show with lots of love flowing to and from them. It was a really exciting 5 or 10 minutes for those watching from the street and across the street. Then when it was almost "half-hour", they scurried back up the fire escapes to their dressing rooms.

Talk about being "touched by the hand of cool"...

Also, the whole evening was being taped for a documentary - and there were lots of interviews being held outside with the fans...and great coverage.

Almost knocked poor Rosie over when she entered from the lobby right before showtime and I was blocking the door --- sorry, doll.

She looked tremendous and was just so gracious to everyone. All producers should be like her...Broadway would be a better place! (by the way, there were a fair number of other theatrical producers in the final audience).

Cheers to her and everyone else...for a glorious night capping a glorious run.

Updated On: 2/9/04 at 10:59 AM

[QueenS]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 12:00pm

IssaMe, I was there for the balcony appearance and agree that it was very charming to be welcomed by the cast.

I also haven't heard anyone mention Boy George's 'response' to Rosie's comments pre-show ("Never say die, I promise this show will be back..."). During his address to the audience he said, "Let's not pretend that it isn't the end, because it is."


This was my first time seeing the show stateside, though I did get to see it early in its London run. I have to say that as much as I enjoyed the Bway version, I liked the original better:

First and foremost, the book. I appreciated, in London, that there was a main storyline with the Boy George/Leigh Bowery stories being related but peripheral. They were still very much a part of the play, but not front and center. It felt less like a biopic than the Bway version. I'm almost surprised that they kept the title, as the club Taboo seemed almost parenthetical. In London, the club itself was so present that it almost seemed a character in the story.

Secondly, the production values. As much as I loved all the costumes and make-up, I thought that the sets were actually too flashy. Everything looked so shiny and new (odd, yes, but glamorously so). The $10 million price tag that has been stated so often was extravagantly on display. And while the set was not so huge as to be the star of the show, compared to the minimalist London set, it resembled a Cameron Macintosh extravaganza. The "slide show"/film of the actual Leigh was very moving and fascinating, yes. But one of the best moments in London was when Big Sue sang "Il Adore" at Leigh's bedside. So utterly powerful and moving. Nothing onstage but a hospital bed and a chair and a woman opening her soul through that song. The song was lost on Bway. A nice moment, but thanks to technology. Poor Sarah barely needed to be onstage.

Tied into this, the venue. The play would work so much better in a Studio 54/Henry Miller type space. "Cabaret" was delayed for months while an appropriate space was hunted down. Taboo would have benefited from similar patience. It isn't an issue of on or off Bway. It's an issue of a proscenium stage, which distances the audience from the piece.

Finally, Boy George. In London, Leigh came across as a force to be reckoned with. A ball of energy (quite literally) all but unstoppable. Boy George's understated portrayal made me wonder which was closer to the real man. During the footage of the real Leigh, though, those few minutes of 2 dimensional images had more life, joy and expression than I had seen by the man who played him.

All that being said. I still enjoyed the show and am sorry to see it close. Raoul and Liz were so incredible, I hope that the Tony committee remembers them come nominations season. Perhaps it is never fair to judge different productions. However, my ultimate point is this: Rosie saw a show in London that she loved so much that she made it her mission to bring it to NYC. By the time it opened, it scarcely resembled the original. This wasn’t tinkering or fine-tuning, but a major overhaul. So what happened to the show that she loved so much?

[pimpernel86]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 4:43pm

we will be seeing more of it because Rosie O'Donnell has a lot of money and she is very powerful and because the score is awesome... Stop being so bitter BOB ...its not becoming

[LC]

Posted: 2/9/04 at 4:46pm

"So what happened to the show that she loved so much?"

It's currently on tour in the UK