None of this "The Scottish Play" for Alan Cumming

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 8:55pm

I asked Alan Cumming whether he would say "Macbeth" inside the Ethel Barrymore Theater, which is supposed to be bad luck. He replied:
"I am going to say Macbeth everywhere, even in the theatre. None of this 'Scottish play' stuff for me!"

The reactions so far (link below) have been funny and scary.
Alan Cumming will say “Macbeth” even in the theater

[aaronb]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 8:52am

Haha good for him.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 9:54am

But doesn't he know that theatre is MAGIC and operates using different rules of reality than the rest of the world? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS? IS HE TRYING TO KILL US ALL??????

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 10:05am

Hasnt he read Patti Lupone's book?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 10:20am

This would have been a great plot for SMASH season 3.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 10:23am

"This would have been a great plot for SMASH season 3."

HA!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 11:26am

In a SMASH/AMERICAN HORROR STORY mashup.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 7:30pm

Thank God! That "Scottish play" nonsense is so tired.

Almost as tired as "break a leg."

[chewy5000]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 9:11pm

I'm sorry, but since when did websites start lifting twitter posts and calling it an article? Drives me mad.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 9:23pm

I like having traditions like this in the theater, even if don't mean anything it makes it more exciting! I love talking about things which people on the outside don't understand.

[aaronb]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 9:47pm

I'm sorry, but since when did websites start lifting twitter posts and calling it an article? Drives me mad.

You don't read Buzzfeed, Gawker, etc.? They do it all the time.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 10:17pm

I like having traditions like this in the theater, even if don't mean anything it makes it more exciting! I love talking about things which people on the outside don't understand.

I'm probably biased about "the Scottish play" because I share a last name with a leading character and I hear the play mentioned all the time. Just say the title already!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/22/13 at 11:49pm

It was one of the best theater pieces I've seen in years.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 2:25am

Thank you PalJoey.
Chewy, to make my post more of a story, I've included Patti LuPone's account in her memoir of what happened when Gypsy director Arthur Laurents "said out loud what must never be said inside a theatre: He uttered the actual title of the Shakespearean tragedy we call 'The Scottish Play'" -- and "the time-honored procedure" they performed in order to break the curse.
Alan Cumming will say “Macbeth” even in the theater, despite “The Scottish Curse

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 4:33am

I said it once backstage without knowing I wasn't supposed to....later on in that performance during a death scene there was an epidemic of contagious giggling throughout the cast. I blamed myself.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 11:43am

I knew a girl who uttered the word "Macbeth" once.

And then she died.

Updated On: 3/23/13 at 11:43 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 11:46am

Little known fact - Everyone who uses the word "Macbeth" will die.

[BWFan101]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 12:19pm

Anyone else get creeped out by AC?