The Final Bow - With A Bang, Not A Whimper

A packed house stood and roared for a good five minutes as the cast of the Roundabout Theater's production of Assassins took their final curtain call on Sunday night, July 18. It hardly seemed like a show whose closing notice had been posted in response to dwindling sales, though I suppose the impending closing motivated more than a few stragglers to get themselves in line for a ticket before there weren't none to be had.
The performance was a little wired, as closing-night adrenaline seemed to etch each moment a little more deeply. The carefully modulated production that Joe Mantello had orchestrated still led the audience adroitly through the script's wild mood swings. From our seats in the center of the house, the sound mix was divine, and the stereophonic effect of the orchestra placement added a spatial frisson to Michael Starobin's multi-hued arrangements. It was a feast for the senses, to be sure. Katie, one of my students, saw the show the day before and said it left her breathless, and that was the effect on closing night, too.
After it was over, we shook the authors' hands and made our way to the exit in a daze, hoping to pick up something at the merchandise kiosk, but the only thing left was magnets. Magnets! (We bought two.) John Weidman said it right when he told me beforehand, "there's nothing as gone as a show that's closed." So, now - the aftermath. Does the imprimatur of Broadway and a bagful o' Tonys means there'll be a new spate of productions in the A-list regional theaters in the next few years? Bring 'em on!