This was the final show of the Civil War on Broadway, after poor ticket sales, and not enough good reaction from the Tonys. Now, I had really had no intention of going to the show on this particular day, but I went to visit many of my friends (such as Kristal, Lindsey, Joanna, Jen, etc) who were there the last weekend, and it just ended up that I went! :-) We also waited overnight in front of the theatre to get our tickets, which is a whole other story in and of itself. :-)
I spent Act One in the balcony, and enjoyed most of it quite a bit. "How Many Devils?" was just as magnificent as I'd remembered. I went to the washroom during "Greenback". :-) "I'll Never Pass This Way Again" was particularly moving, if you stopped to think that this was the last show in New York.
For Act Two I got to move down to the front row, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Wiegers. :-) It was only once I was sitting that close that I realized that most of the cast had tears in their eyes as they were singing, and the sadness of this show closing after a scant few months of performances really hit me. So I cried too. :-) Especially during "The Glory", which is a moving song to begin with.
We did a flower toss for the cast at the end of the show, and Leo Burmester threw money back at us. :-) The stage door was a bit of a mob scene, so I didn't really talk to anyone, since I didn't know the cast that well. I think I was just there to try to comfort some of my poor friends, who took the whole thing rather hard. :-)
"He's got Terry eyes! He's a Terry-eye-guy!"
Jen and I, after more than 12 hours of sleeping on a sidewalk. :-)
"Ow."
Leo, when Gene shot him.
"It's going to be okay..."
Countless cast members, trying to console Kristal and Lindsey!
The pictures:
The cast:
Another view of the St. James
Curtain call, for the last time
They were just throwing money away! :-)
Some of the "greenback" used in the show
Joanna, Jen, Lindsey, Gene Miller, Kristal, me and Aimee
after the show
Captain Emmett Lochran
MICHAEL LANNING
Sergeant Patrick Anderson
ROD WEBER
Sergeant Byron Richardson
ROYAL REED
Corporal William McEwan
GILLES CHIASSON
Private Conrad Bock
RON SHARPE
Private Elmore Hotchkiss
BART SHATTO
Private Nathaniel Taylor
JOHN SAWYER
Captain Billy Pierce
GENE MILLER
Sergeant Virgil Franklin
DAVE CLEMMONS
Corporal John Beauregard
MIKE ELDRED
Corporal Henry Stewart
DAVID M. LUTKIN
Private Darius Barksdale
ANTHONY GALDE
Private Cyrus Stevens
JIM PRICE
Private Sam Taylor
MATT BOGART
Frederick Douglass
KEITH BYRON KIRK
Clayton Toler
MICHEL BELL
Bessie Toler
CHERYL FREEMAN
Benjamin Reynolds
LAWRENCE CLAYTON
Exter Thomas
WAYNE W. PRETLOW
Harriet Jackson
CAPATHIA JENKINS
Liza Hughes
CASSANDRA WHITE
Autolycus Fell
LEO BURMESTER
Auctioneer's Assistant
DAVE CLEMMONS
Sarah McEwen
IRENE MOLLOY
Violet
HOPE HARRIS
Mabel
BETH LEAVEL
Mrs. Bixby
BETH LEAVEL
Nurse
HOPE HARRIS
Voice of President Lincoln
DAVID M. LUTKEN
Pit Singers
DAVID MICHAEL FELTY
HOPE HARRIS
MONIQUE MIDGETTE
RAUN RUFFIN