No. I knew something was up because he was acting oddly - even for him. When I asked him if he was all right, he said he was just nervous and as I had too many other things to deal with for the opening, I let it drop. @Alexander Kirk
@@jonmaas wow. Thank you for sharing that crazy bit of Broadway history. I do question the wisdom of making that announcement in front of the audience- maybe it would've been better to gather the actors afterwards backstage. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
Wow, I remember watching this news report as a high school student in NJ. Don't recall that it was actually this reporter I watched (Stew Klein) as I'm sure all the stations showed it, but it certainly added to the ultimate legendary status of this show. I went on to see that show exactly 20 times, the 20th being closing night at the St James in 1989. (It moved to the Majestic and St James during it's run.) I was a major stage door kid at this show for a few years while it was at the Majestic. Everyone was very nice, and Jerry Orbach especially. Talk about a guy with no ego. A few years later when I moved to NY, my apartment was on 51st St, only 2 blocks from where he lived. I passed him on the street and other places here and there over many years and he ALWAYS waved and said hi to me. I don't think he even remembered who I was any more or why he was saying hello, but he always did. This clip truly has value. Back in those days everyone in the audience wasn't carrying a camera the size of a pack of cigarettes in their pocket, so I've seen no motion documentation of the original production except the Tonys where it was only one number pared down to save time.
Merrick had a great sense for creating a news worthy spectacle and his very dramatic announcement was on many many front pages of newspapers around the world which brought a great deal of attention to the show
Wow, I had only ever read about this historic moment. Thank you so much for posting this. A theatre nerd's dream. (And yeah, it's super sad and tragic!)
This moment is the type of thing that if it were scripted in a movie people who say it was too far fetched. 42nd Street made headlines not just for its reviews, which were pretty stellar, but for Merrick’s decision to announce the passing at the curtain call. This is an amazing price of theatrical history and aside from the obvious, it also reminds me that Orbach was in a class by himself. Thank you Spiderwoman!
