Just before Albin's big number at the end of the first act, while George is speaking to him through the dressing room door, the soundboard died, or so we learned when a young woman came out on stage and told everyone.
The audience was having a blast, was perfectly happy to wait, and Kelsey Grammer kept the mood light. Everyone went off stage for a few minutes, then Grammer came back and sat on the stage and started chatting, then told a joke, which went something like this:
And Italian and a Greek are debating their cultures. The Greek says, "We invented democracy." The Italian says, "We built magnificent cities." The Greek says, "What about our cuisine, our feta cheese and our phyllo dough ...." And the Italian says, "Don't even talk to me about cuisine. We Italians OWN cuisine." So the Greek says, "We invented sex." "Yes," the Italian says, "But we introduced it to women."
Hey, blame Grammer, not me.
Then at the end, after he's tamed the standing ovartion and done his Broadway Cares pitch, he says, "What happened here tonight will probably never happen again. We share it. We will be connected by it for the rest of our lives. How f-ing amazing is that?!" The abbreviation is mine; he used all the letters.
So...like...what happened to the good old days where singers didn't have microphones, everyone wasn't amplified, and people had to actually use their voices and project over the orchestra?
Exactly right, JasonM. At HAPPY HUNTING(1956) my father and I sat in the very last row of the balcony of the large Majestic and had no trouble hearing Ethel Merman belting "Gee But It's Good To Be Here". No sound boards back then. As a matter of fact, one of the first uses of a soundboard was for the 1968 PROMISES, PROMISES!
It should be added that when Grammer told the joke the audience LOVED IT! It was obvious that it was in good fun, and he was doing his best to keep them entertained. Come on, jokes throughout history are always aimed at someone. Fat jokes, blonde jokes, racial jokes...yer mama jokes.
Everyone's a little bit racist.
After his joke, and attempt to make small talk with the house, he spoke to the stage manager asking if there was a piano that he could use. When told "no, only an electric...we will be back up in a few minutes"... he began to ask if there was a guitar he could borrow..when he was denied again..he asked for an accordion. He was bending over backwards to make sure that the audience continued to have a good time. It was witty and charming.
Once given the cue that they were back, he began to inform the audience that they were going to take it from a few lines back, to make sure they all knew what was going on. Introducing the characters by name and intention as they resumed their places. It was really quite a treat to see. Live theatre, it is what we live for!
It should be noted, you could hear him load and clear without his mic.
Thanks to everyone who added to my post - - I take it some of you work at the show? I was writing very quickly on my hotel's one free computer, which others were waiting to use. So glad to see those other fun details added.
"So...like...what happened to the good old days where singers didn't have microphones, everyone wasn't amplified, and people had to actually use their voices and project over the orchestra?"
So like what happend to the good old days where composers wrote music for strings and horns and there were no electric guitars to scream over?
And Merman is a bad example because even the deaf in Australia could hear her without a microphone.
It was not a matter of not being able to hear the orchestra or the performers. There was a loud boom heard off stage left, during Grammers monologue. When he finished, Hodge walked out of the dressing room in full za-za flair and said.. "are we going on?" Grammer, and the rest of the cast did not get the word that they were not going to continue, and Hodge explained to him what was going on. While the stage manager started to explain the problem to the house, Grammer then apologized to the house and said that they should be up and running shortly. A few moments later he began his chat with the house.
It is my opinion that they paused for the actors safety. Not to mention the quality of the show. Could you imagine how many people would have complained or wanted their money back if they could not hear I Am What I Am?
I was there that night. It was disappointing to lose the build-up to I am What I am, but hey some things cannot be helped. I didn't mind the halt, and the crowd didn't seem to either... it was a great audience in my opinion. Grammer apologized again at the stage door, which was super nice. I also thought the joke was funny.
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joined:5/29/03
Posted: 4/25/10 at 10:27pm