Have you ever been at a show where a cast member had to leave mid-show?
Have you ever been at a show where a cast member had to leave mid-show?
Leadingplayer
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#1Have you ever been at a show where a cast member had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:23pm
I don't think I ever have.
Updated On: 8/21/12 at 11:23 PM
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#2Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:26pm
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
#2Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:26pmYes. When my friend and I saw ROCK 'N ROLL, he had to leave at intermission otherwise he was going to die from boredom. I was going to die from the same thing, so I left also.
#3Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:27pmI left at intermission of The Woman in White--was complete garbage and decided my time was more valuable that the second act!
Leadingplayer
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#4Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:30pmI meant someone in the show!!! Better change that post!!
#5Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:34pm
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.
#6Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:35pm
ohh a CAST member (just re-read your topic)...
Last year in London I saw Lend Me a Tenor-the Musical. During the first act there was a scene where one actor threw a wine bottle for the other to catch. He dropped it and wine (yes actual wine) and glass went all over the stage and into the orchestra pit and front row along with shards of glass. The actor tried to catch it before it fell and would up slipping and gashing his arm. He was AMAZING...was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and no one knew he was injured until the shirt turned red--he was pouring blood but continued and sang a song and did another scene. The stage hands were off stage waiting on him--he did a costume change and finished the first act. At intermission they announced that there would be a delay. Turns out he needed 12 stitches and he STILL finished the performance.
Was amazed and awed at his effort and talent. The show only lasted a few months, but was a great take on a classic play...loved the music.
#7Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:36pmI left during Million Dollar Quartet. It was just SOOO boring.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
tphiliboy152
Featured Actor Joined: 6/14/12
#8Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/21/12 at 11:37pm
I haven't been at a show when it's happened, but a couple of instances come to mind.
When Eden Espinosa took over for Idina after Act 1 of Wicked.
Many many many many women being replaced by the witch-switch half way through Act 1 or during Act 2 in Wicked.
Aaron J Albano recently had a show where he couldn't play Finch after Seize the Day in Newsies.
#9Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:38am
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.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#10Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:39amI saw the Lion King tour a few years ago, and the guy playing Pumbaa was out after Act I. They made the announcement for Act II, but I would have never noticed otherwise
#11Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:42amWhen 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.
Gypsy - Betty Buckley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUN5XoB5vFs&feature=youtu.be
#12Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:42amI saw them switch Gavroches during intermission of the Les Miz tour in 2003. I think that's it, though.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#13Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 12:44amI 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.
Men don't even belt.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#14Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 1:01amI was at ANYTHING GOES when Sutton left and was replaced mid-first act. Definitely an interesting experience.
#15Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 2:02am
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.
Scottsacto
Stand-by Joined: 4/3/05
#16Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 3:05amWhen I saw "In The Heights' at the 37 Arts Complex--Lin-Manuel started the first act--then at the intermission an announcement was made that the Understudy would be playing Usnavi for Act 2.
#17Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 4:16am
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
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
egghumor
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/9/11
#18Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 5:51am
I saw a performance of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' when Nell Carter left the performance at intermission. Terri White took over for Act Two. The announcement was rather humorous: "The role of Nell Carter will be played by Terri White."
I'm trying to remember other performances where this happened...
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#19Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 6:16am
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
#20Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 7:25am^ Love that story!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#21Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 8:18am
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).
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 8/22/12 at 08:18 AM
#22Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 8:42am
I was at Chicago during previews, Halloween 1996. Anne Reinking had to leave midway through Act 1. An announcement was made and Nancy Hess finished the show.
P.S. the theater was empty. This was literally days before it became the monster hit that it is now.
Other than that, did you enjoy the play Mrs Lincoln?
Urban
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/05
#23Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 8:47amThe 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).
Hank
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#24Have you ever been at a show where someone had to leave mid-show?
Posted: 8/22/12 at 9:14am
Michael McGrath performed the first act as Patsy in Spamalot, but was replaced in act 2, which opens with the scene featuring Patsy's lead in "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
I remember the date, April 19, 2005, because it was Tim Curry's (King Arthur) birthday.
btw McGrath, Curry, and some of the other stellar cast members signed my Playbill. I did not get the reason for the switch, just asumed some minor voice thing. I was realy more interest in meeting Tim Curry and I wished him a happy birthday and told him I'm a long time fan. He responded with that trademark silly grin of his.
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