Betrayal Broadway: Closing Night (2019)

December 8, 2019: 

The best way to close out Betrayal Broadway? A four-minute standing ovation! Throughout their 17-week run, the show grossed nearly $10 million dollars ($9,890,441 to be precise) and had an attendance of 103,600! That's a lot of fans!

"We've lived this play that's such an extraordinary piece of work. We all think it's about - you make up your mind's what you think. We think it's about three people specifically who love each other very much and it's because they love each other they have the capacity to hurt each other. It's been a very profound experience to inhabit Harold Pinter's extraordinary work, and his pauses and silences, over this time. I couldn't personally have wished for more extraordinary artists to share this journey with. I'm so proud of them and grateful to them. Thank you." 

I apologize for the crappy camera work. I was busy crying. It was a very emotional night. In the trailer for Broadway Betrayal, Tom quotes Harold Pinter's famous line, "Our beginnings never know our ends." That may be true... but we were there for the beginning of this Broadway run and sure as heck were coming back for the end. 

The final performance felt like a completely different show than the one we saw back in August. If you had given me an audio from both nights, I would have thought it wasn't even the same set of actors. I don't know if that was a deliberate change they've made based on audience feedback over the past seventeen weeks or if the play felt sadder, more emotional because the actors themselves were feeling more emotional on such a significant night. Or maybe it's because I was armed with more information? The cast has done many extensive interviews during this run where they break down every aspect of their characters. 

Tom talked in an interview about how his character only has six words in the play that are said before he knows about the affair. Six words! Even before he says a word the affair is already sort of started. We get one scene of the Robert before, everything else is Robert after. So he can be forgiven for being a little douchey. But tonight Robert was the opposite of that. Gosh, he just sounded like a big old bully the first time I saw this play. And Robert is usually played that way. Tonight he spoke all the same words but his voice was softer, his words came out slower and more thoughtfully, his tears fell more freely. Brb, crying again. Even in the scene where he confronts Emma about the affair, Tom does it with such patience that it's almost painful. My favorite part was the collective oooooh that went through the audience. 

And Charlie. I don't really know how to describe his character. Jerry is like the guy from school who never studied or did any homework but still got all As. Maximum results with minimal effort. Don't ask me why but he reminded me of Frodo. For real Sam did all the work but somehow Frodo gets to be the hero! Jerry was so earnest tonight. His declaration of love had me ready to leave my nonexistent husband. His complete cluelessness of everything going on around him is the root of all the comedy in the show. I love all the reviewers trying to label Robert as the cuckold husband. I don't know what play they watched but in Betrayal Broadway Jerry is the monkey in the middle of this power struggle.

Now Zawe. This time I fully understand why people walk away from this play with hate in their hearts for Emma. I'm talking full Grinch "loathe you" hate. Especially with this production, because all the great emotional moments come from the men. Emma never really loses or at least she doesn't lose as much as the other characters. Emma is like the cat. She struts across the stage. She has nine lives. She bounces from one situation to another without too much damage - at least not outwardly. Obviously the scene when Robert finds out about the affair and the scene when she ends things with Jerry are tough on her, but deservedly so. And she doesn't have affairs with some random man? No, she has an affair with her husband's best friend. And then once that affair is over she moves on with another man who is close to both Robert and Jerry. A man whom they both need financially. So who's really on top here?

So long Betrayal Broadway. 

Here's the final send off message from Betrayal Broadway: 

Here is Tom's final Betrayal Broadway message: 

We're not even going to talk about how similar Tom's last picture at the Jacobs Theatre is to his first picture at the Jacobs Theatre. No we are not. 

Just when I thought I was finished crying. Nope... Also, we still need to know what they were recording stage door for!

If the first stage door was sponsored by heart eye emoji faces, then the final stage door was sponsored by red-rimmed heart eye emoji faces. I'm glad I had my sunglasses on because I was a mess. Tom, Zawe, and Charlie are all the loveliest of humans. 

Here's a video of Tom receiving his puzzle present. I'm sharing it to highlight how sweet our fandom (and Tom always) can be. I was way in the back on the stage door queue so the people around me made sure that Tom received it. People I had never even met before. They went full hype squad about it too. Also, if anyone desires to hear my voice I'm the one that says, "I don't know, I can't see it". Which everyone thought was hilarious because I'm obviously going blind.