Have any of you been to a Last Night show on Broadway?

[Midoria]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 2:16pm

Hello Musical Lovers,

To start, I want to apologize to anyone who is seeing this post for the second time. I'm putting it on different sites to get more feedback!

I had a question about what happens on the last night that a person is performing in a production. I have seen a lot of comments of different fans going to XYZ's "last night", and I wondered how exactly it's different. Are most of the audience members fans of the performer? Do they do something after the show (I mean with the public, not with fellow cast members)?

Have any of you been to a Last Night show on Broadway? What was it like?

Sorry, but it's just in the last past year that I've started to focus more on the performers, and not as much on the the whole production. So I'm not sure what goes on. Thanks!

Cheers!

Updated On: 7/29/07 at 02:16 PM

[Midoria]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 8:28pm

BUMP.

I know somoene here knows something they can tell me!

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 8:35pm

Have any of you been to a Last Night show on Broadway? What was it like?

Yes.

Depends on the show/person/people- I was at the last night of a majority of the OBC of Spelling Bee, where there were nice little speeches said about everyone who was leaving. I was at the closing night of High Fidelity, where, barring the addition of people who aren't usually there in the last scene, nothing was said/done after the show to indicate that it was different than any other show...

ps- a suggestion: you might want to change your header here, to reflect what your post is actually about/what your question is.

[Midoria]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:07pm

Thanks for your answer and suggestion, Anakela. I set it to email me whenever someone replied, but I don't think I did it right. Otherwise I would have replied earlier.

That's again!

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:13pm

I've been to a few. Many audience members, no matter what the show, are fans of the performer leaving, and the performer will sometimes add a few touches in to make their last performance sweet for them.

From what I've seen, the cast will most likely party with the cast members of the show afterwards. Nothing with the public, besides stage dooring sometimes.

[Marissa2]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:50pm

I saw Norbert Leo Butz and Jonathan Pryce's last performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I'd say that the majority of the audience were fans of theirs. Everyone I spoke to around me had come to the show just to see the two of them, and after Dirty Rotten Number, the applause went on for at least two minutes. There were speeches made about the two of them, and Norbert made a long speech (to make up for the lack of a speech at the Tony's.)

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:56pm

First 'final performance' I ever attended was the closing night of FOSSE on Broadway in August 2001. Thank God I had seen the show numerous times before this 'final' performance as it was horrible. If it were my first time, I would have thought it was the most annoying show on Broadway.

Reason? Simply...it was the audience. Literally, during EVERY dance/musical number, the audience was screaming and hooting for EVERY little dance step -- overly applauding EVERY dancer entrance, etc. This went on for almost the entire Act 1. The novelty of it was wearing thin quite quickly PLUS this obnoxious girl in the row in front of me was reacting as it were an *NSYNC concert and applauding with her arms over her head the ENTIRE Act 1. I was tempted to lean over and tell her to calm the f*ck down.

After the show, Ben Vereen and Ann Reinking gave a nice long curtain call speech, with roses being thrown on stage, etc. THAT was a magical night at the theatre -- too bad the performance itself was a tad annoying as it didn't reflect the normal way the show was performed, etc.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:58pm

Dracula, LoveMusik, Sweeney Todd

[jg4892]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:58pm

Light in the Piazza. THE most amazing theatrical experience I've ever had.

[Midoria]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:11pm

Thanks to everyone who has already answered. Of course, this question is ongoing for anyone else who has input on their experiences. Details, please. Just naming names doesn't do much. =)

I'm thinking about going to Julia Murney's last night in Wicked. The play is cute, but I LOVE her as a performer. Plus, I'm moving to the UK for at least a year come winter, and feel as if I have see her one more time. I just wanted to know if there would be more JM fans there on her last night and I wanted to know if it was worth it or not.

I googled clips from Shoshanna's and Kristy's last nights in the show and it seemed to be filled with lots of their fans (read: very loud screaming). I think it would be fun to go and cheer Julia on.

Updated On: 7/29/07 at 11:11 PM

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:14pm

Not on Broadway, but I was at the closing show of the Piazza tour last week. I'm still recovering from it. Toward the end I was literally doubled over in wracking sobs.

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:14pm

Wedding Singer, Pirate Queen, Grey Gardens!, Gypsy,Lupone if the counts :)

[mikem]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:14pm

I agree that the last show can have an overly enthusiastic audience, many of whom have seen the show before, and it can really throw the rhythm of the show off. I went to a final performance where the OVERTURE got a standing ovation.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:17pm

I've been to three now. The Vertical Hour, 110 in the Shade, and Beauty and the Beast. And I'll be at the closing of The Year of Magical Thinking.

For me, it's a special way to say good-bye to something that has really and truly touched my life.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:23pm

I was at the last performance of Little Women, and that was the show that sparked my interest in Broadway. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I think Sutton Foster might have thought I was hurt or something when I saw her at the stage door.

[Eileen2]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 12:22am

I think alot of it is the added energy of closing night. While the performers are sad to see it close, I think they respond to the audience's energy. I was at the closing night of The Boy from Oz, and it was like no other Broadway performance I had ever been at. The performers kicked it up a notch, the audience was at it's peak, and everything was just in top form. Yes, the applause got a bit much at times, the reaction of the performers made it worth it.

[Parks]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 12:44am

I saw Norbert Leo Butz's LAST LAST LAST performance--in the DRS tour. Sadly, since he was in Texas, not many people knew who he was (or that this was his last day). Thus, he didn't even get ENTRANCE APPLAUSE. It was kind of a secret that it was his last day. I didn't know until a few days before. He was originally going to be in the show for its full 3 week run in Dallas, but he suddenly decided to switch to 2 weeks. I had front row tickets (which I magically came upon just the day before on Ticketmaster). It was a great performance--and just about everybody who was associated with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was there. There were a few speeches (pretty lengthy) given at the end. He was fighting back tears during Dirty Rotten Number, I could tell--er...right after. Great performance.

[adrian55]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 9:16am

Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and.....Prymate!

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 9:20am

I went to a final performance where the OVERTURE got a standing ovation.

At the record-breaking performance of "The Phantom of the Opera," the entire audience erupted in cheers the moment the chandelier began to rise.

I was at Hugh Panaro's final night in the show. The great majority of people in the audience were there specifically because it was his last show there, but I know there were some random people who had never seen the show before, had no idea he was leaving, and just happened to have tickets for that night.

The crowd was very enthusiastic and very loud...but sincere about it.

Hugh was, by his own admission, "sick as a dog" with a cold. It wasn't too obvious to the audience unless you knew.

The curtain call cheers were ear-shattering. Sandra Joseph made a very, very beautiful speech for him and Hugh attempted a striptease.

There was a private party for him after...pizza and champagne on the stage.

The crowd at the stage door was larger than usual, a little pushy at times, and willing to wait until he came out very late. One of my friends is a lifeguard and was trying to put her crowd-control training to work to keep things clear for him.

[RentHead2]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 11:45am

I went to the last performance of High Fidelity and that was so sad, I don't think I ever want to do a "last performance" ever again. The cast was visibly upset at stage door. Only reason I did it was because I loved that show. I wanted to do The Wedding Singer on New Years Eve but 6 times was enough I suppose...

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 11:52am

I've been to many. The original closing of "A Chorus Line" was a big event. Media was everywhere and the crowd clapped and yelled throughout the show. Same deal with "Hello, Dolly!". When both of those closed, they closed as the longest running musical in Broadway history so they attracted a lot of attention. I've also been to the closing shows of "La Cage" (the original), "Saturday Night Fever" and "Side Show".