Cool Curtain Calls

[MollyJeanneMusic]

I was watching High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and during the final episode, the bows of the in-show "show" are shown - and the school brought out a marching band to take part in the bows with the cast.  It got me thinking about some cool, innovative ways to do curtain calls on Broadway, and I was wondering about some of your favorites!

[Daniel M]

The Public Works' Hercules had a wonderful curtain call. Everyone, every costume, every prop came out. I can't remember specifics right now but it was joyous and pretty.

[seriously13]

Moulin Rouge!
American Idiot

[DoTheDood]

One really neat detail was the costume change Beetlejuice has for the curtain call. Each character having a variation of the iconic black-and-white theme and the fact these costumes are not used at any time throughout the show (at least for most of the characters, BJ and Lydia might be in their normal costumes) was a nice touch.

[MattieIce2018]

I loved the Matilda curtain call with the entire cast coming out on scooters.

[BenjaminNicholas2]

All these new musicals mentioned.  Is everyone here 15?

OBC of Crazy For You.  Stro is one of the few choreographers that, in her prime, knew how to keep an audience on the edge of their seat.   

[Tag]

Everybody's Talking About Jamie has a great curtain call.

[tomwsjr]

The OBP of Nine call

[BrodyFosse123]

The last Broadway revival of BOEING, BOEING.

[JuneJune]

Regardless of what you think of the show itself, I thought Tootsie's curtain call was a lot of fun.

[ctorres23]

BenjaminNicholas2 said: "All these new musicals mentioned. Is everyone here 15?"

In their defense, it does seem like innovative curtain calls are just more common in newer shows. It seems like almost every show these days does something novel with their curtain call.

In terms of current shows, I love Hadestown's curtain call. Shows are getting bigger and bigger with their post-curtain call numbers, and Hadestown took it in the the other direction and went small, quiet, and poignant. It fits the show beautifully.

[PatrickDC]

JuneJune said: "Regardless of what you think of the show itself, I thought Tootsie's curtain call was a lot of fun."

I’m still waiting for backstage footage of Santino’s last quick change. Now the show is closed I keep hoping it will surface. I’d love to see “the army” as Santino called it that made it happen. 

[mailhandler777]

I like Jagged Little Pills with every single cast member getting their own bow.

[Broadway Buddy]

I love the Beetlejuice, Newsies, and Matilda ones

[Emmaloucbway]

Head Over Heels's curtain call was a lot of fun!

[BrodyFosse123]

PatrickDC said: "JuneJune said: "Regardless of what you think of the show itself, I thought Tootsie's curtain call was a lot of fun."

I’m still waiting for backstage footage of Santino’s last quick change. Now the show is closed I keep hoping it will surface. I’d love to see “the army” as Santino called it that madeit happen."

For your viewing pleasure, here’s the entire TOOTSIE curtain call: 

 

[Jarethan]

For me the best ever were the original productions of Hello Dolly and Mame. and the original Lend Me A Tenor (I did not see the revival, so I don't know if it was in that).  I say original for Hello Dolly because the singing was just lusher in the original version.  The crescendos in Sunday Clothes and Dolly were just not as exciting as the original.  The excitement for both mounted as the score was being reprised.  Lend Me A Tenor's curtain call provided a 2 minute revisit of the entire show...it was the most enjoyable part of an enjoyable evening.

The show Over Here had a great curtain call since the Andrews Sisters sang three or four of their biggest hits, which was a hoot.  Maybe a stretch to call it part of the curtain call, but the audience loved it, including me...and I was too young to have any real interest in the Andrews sisters.

Also, the last revival of the Music Man, where the entire company played 76 Trombones using real instruments.  It was a very clever hoot.

On the other hand, I hated the curtain call for Hamilton and Nicholas Nickelby in particular, because they gave the individual performers no recognition, and a number of those individual performers gave stupendous performances.  Hamilton and Eliza were the only ones who got their own bows, which made no sense to me i.e., how could  they single out Eliza for a bow and not the cast members portraying Burr, Lafayette/Jefferson, Angelica, or George Washington.  But I have never liked curtain calls where individual bows were excluded.

 

 

[ghostlight2]

"The last Broadway revival of BOEING, BOEING."

I'll second that.

DRACULA THE MUSICAL was interesting, because Tom Hewitt, who played Dracula, was not expressive for the entire show. When he bowed, he went down as Dracula, but when he rose, he came up smiling, as Hewitt, and that freaked some people out.

[magictodo123]

Not my favorite but a question about one...do the people playing Elpaba and Glinda always hug? Just something I noticed the last time I saw Wicked and watched a few curtain calls and it made me wonder. 

 

Not my favorite, but a memorable curtain call was when Katharine McPhee shared her final bow in Waitress with Stephanie Torns. What a moment. Absolutely amazing to do. 

[PatrickDC]

BrodyFosse123 said: "PatrickDC said: "JuneJune said: "Regardless of what you think of the show itself, I thought Tootsie's curtain call was a lot of fun."

I’m still waiting for backstage footage of Santino’s last quick change. Now the show is closed I keep hoping it will surface. I’d love to see “the army” as Santino called it that madeit happen."

For your viewing pleasure, here’s the entire TOOTSIE curtain call:"

Oh yes, I’ve seen that video and the others online. What I’m interested in finding is what happens after Santino goes down the lift and has seconds to change from Michael to Dorothy. 

[superiska123]

One of my favorite curtain calls is the one from the Hedwig and the Angry Inch revival. It's so simple, but very effective...

And the actors playing Hedwig and Yitzhak would very frequently share a kiss at the end of the curtain call, which is just such a tender moment that adds to the story and overall experience of watching the show.

[magictodo123]

Oh! I didn't see the show in person but I saw the MTV...pro shot? of Legally Blonde and I really liked that curtain call. SO MUCH ENERGY!!! 

[GottaHaveAGimmick]

Billy Eliott with tutus for everyone onstage. 

[Ravenclaw]

I've always liked Chicago's curtain call (which I believe was a thing Fosse did in all his shows?) where each dancer gets their own bow and everyone's name is announced by the conductor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JAW9wpENzg

[ClumsyDude15]

The Prom's curtain call was so much fun and had such high energy that always had me leaving the theater with the biggest smile on my face. 

I second the Tootsie and Legally Blonde mentions as both were super fun. I think I have the Legally Blonde curtain call song committed to memory just because I loved it so much.