Have you ever been at a show where a cast member had to leave mid-show?

Not that I'm saying this thread is a copy, but there was a discussion about leaving during Evita here:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1048076#4303299

I left at intermission of The Woman in White--was complete garbage and decided my time was more valuable that the second act!

I actually understood your question and was logging in when you changed the title....

I was at How To Succeed... when Rob Bartlett who played Twimble and Wally Womble left at intermission. He played the Twimble in Act 1 and then they announced that his understudy would be playing Womble in Act 2.
He had a very flushed face during Act 1, I assume he became more ill and had to leave.

I left during Million Dollar Quartet. It was just SOOO boring.

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I've been to the theatre an assload of times and I've only experienced this once, and of course, it was at a performance of Les Miserables.

December, 2004; 3rd national tour; Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, Leslie Henstock was Cosette for act one. Ali Ewoldt was Cosette for act two. Never found out what happened, but I'm assuming Leslie got ill, although she looked fine to me. I do recall her voice sounding a bit scratchy but nothing obvious.

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When the tour of Ragtime came through Tempe, Tateh was played by a different actor in the second act. When Evita came through Tucson I went to a matinee and the guy playing Che left due to illness at intermission and was played by the swing for the second act.

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I saw a performance of the Rent tour in Buffalo and Harley Jay scooted out right before the Life Support scene. His understudy looked like Harry Potter.

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I almost left LEAP OF FAITH at intermission, but I someone said the second act was better than the first. They were wrong.

I did leave the City Center Summer Stars THE WIZ a few years ago at intermission. It was intolerable. Don't play the race card. It just sucked.

Back in the ear'y '80s when I first saw "Evita" in the national tour, Florence Lacey was replaced after Act I with her alternate Patricia Hemenway.

Lacey was very good, but Hemenway was a knockout. Both played the part on Broadway eventually.

Sadly Hemenway contracted spinal meningitis not long after. She recovered and was involved in theatre, married, etc., but her "glory days" as Eva Peron seemed to have been the pinnacle of her theatre career.

She passed away all too young at 59 in 2009. I still remember the chills I got when I heard her voice.

Patricia Hemenway obituary

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AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND - National Tour - Chicago-1993.

Marin Mazzie had been given the night off so that her understudy, Jeannie Croft, who was a Chicagon, could go on. There were probably about a hundred actors in the audience who had come to see her that night. When the announcement was made: "At this performance, the songs usually sung by Marin Mazzie will be sung by Jeannie Croft", there was applause and cheering instread of the usual groans.

About 15 minutes into the first act, another cast member, Shelly Dickinson, twisted her ankle badly during "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup". She was able to continue for most of the act, but clearly would be unable to do the intricate roller skating choreography for "The Rink", the Act I finale. Trouble is, Jeanne Croft was her understudy also.

Luckily, Marin Mazzie was a few blocks away, having dinner with her parents. "The Rink" starts with the two men, with the women adding on later. What a surprise when suddenly, Marin Mazzie rolls on instead of Shelly Dickinson.

Before Act II, the announcement: "For the rest of the evening, the songs usually sung by Marin Mazzie will be sung by Marin Mazzie. The songs usually sung by Shelly Dickinson will be sung by Jeannie Croft."

So, Jeannie's friends got to see her do one role in Act 1, and a different one in Act II. The only glitch was during "The Grass is Always Greener", when at one point, Jeannie and Marin were both singing the same harmony part, as Jeannie had briefly forgotten which role she was playing.

Updated On: 8/22/12 at 06:16 AM

A Saturday matinee of SUNSET BOULEVARD when Betty Buckley did not return, and Karen Mason replaced her (apparently summoned from home, make-up applied in the cab), bringing down the house. Buckely's act one was vocally solid, but she was muted (all noted only in hindsight; I would not have guessed illness.) I went back, and Buckley's victim-y/humorless take on the role was exactly the same, if more energized. Her "As If We Never Said Goodbye..." remains one of the best, if her overall performance disappointed. What I most recall about that day was Karen Mason's ability to leap in. Her "As if..." took on a new dramatic weight, because after the brief poolside scene with Joe, it was the moment when she had to make the audience believe she was Norma. A few people leaped to their feet (I was down front.) Of course Mason's voice is a force of nature. She was remarkable, and her performance, and take on Norma, seemed much more like Close's, whom she'd watched multiple times (an gone on for during vacation).

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Updated On: 8/22/12 at 08:18 AM

The only one I saw was Wicked where Amanda Harrison left at intermission to be replaced by Jemma Stevenson (who I previously saw in a matinee performance).