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Despite a Broken Turntable, Opening Night Goes On for Rebecca Hall and Broadway's Machinal

Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Sophie Treadwell’s 1928 drama is directed by Lyndsey Turner.

Broadway New York City

January 17, 2014

The cast of Machinal is joined onstage for a post-performance bow by the volunteer stagehands who helped spin the broken turntable throughout the show. — The cast of *Machinal* is joined onstage for a post-performance bow by the volunteer stagehands who helped spin the broken turntable throughout the show.
(© David Gordon)

In the true spirit of "The Show Must Go On," the show did go on during the opening night of Sophie Treadwell's Machinal at the American Airlines Theatre, despite a broken scenic turntable that brought the performance to a grinding, hour-long halt. The true collaborative nature of theater was realized when, after recognizing that the problem couldn't be fixed in a timely fashion, a host of volunteer stagehands manually turned the rotating set piece themselves so that the performance, directed by Lyndsey Turner and starring Rebecca Hall, Suzanne Bertish, Morgan Spector, and Michael Cumpsty, could finally continue.

Roundabout Theatre Company's production of the 1928 drama also features Damian Baldet, Ashley Bell, Jeff Biehl, Arnie Burton, Ryan Dinning, Scott Drummond, Dion Graham, Edward James Hyland, Jason Loughlin, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Daniel Pearce, Henny Russell, Karen Walsh, and Michael Warner. High-profile opening-night guests included Susan Sarandon, Campbell Scott, F. Murray Abraham, Alan Cumming, Vanessa Williams, and Julie Taymor.

Click here to read TheaterMania's review of Machinal.

Click here for more information and tickets to Machinal.