Michael Bennet wanted the show to run and run and never stop. Before his death, he planned to stage it at 890 (his dance studio) if it ever had to leave Broadway and let it run and run for ever. He never wanted it to end.
The night the president went to see the show the lighting board failed and had to be
patched with paper clips, scotch tape and chewing gum.
One night during the 'Mother' song, Deborah Henry playing Cassie got soaked by a
pocket of water flooding down on her from the roof. Another time three bats flew around the stage for her entire Cassie dance. She is stated to have said of the night: 'I have never done so many head pops in my entire life'
During one peformance on Broadway, all of a sudden Zach called to Paul completely out of
context 'I would like you to turn to the left and lead the line off stage immediately. Do not ask me any questions. Just follow Paul and walk immediately out of the stage door.'As the cast did as he said and hung around in the alley behind the theatre they learned there had been a bomb threat and the whole auditorium had to be cleared. It was half an hour before they could go back and the show could continue.
Any time that the crew thought the actors on stage were getting sloppy, they would spray
the cologne that Michael Bennet wore around the wings and stick a baseball cap on the stage manager like the one Michael wore. As soon as the cast smelt the cologne and saw the silhouette of a man in a baseball cap in the wings, they would assume Michael was there watching, and the show immediately became ten times as good as it had been a minute before.
One night when a flu epidemic hit the company all the understudies had to go on as the
line characters, which left no-one to cut in the opening. The dance captain went on as 'headband' and when Zach made his cut, there was only this one person to cut, left alone at the back at the stage whilst everyone else got in line.
In an early draft of the show there was a number called 'Confidence' sung by Connie and
Richie about the rivalry between the two ethnics on the line as they felt only one would get in. The song however was taken out as it was considered to be too 'musical comedy'.
Originally, the Finale was going to be danced in red costumes. Michael Bennet was only
persuaded to change them to gold by Theoni Aldredge who told him that red 'would be a big fiasco'.
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