A
curtain call (walkdown, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when individuals return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for their performance. In musical theater, the performers typically recognize the orchestra and its conductor at the end of the curtain call.
Luciano PavarottiLuciano Pavarotti Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He was one of "The Three Tenors" and became well-known for his televised concerts and media...
holds the record for receiving 165 curtain calls, more than any other artist .
Curtain calls are not solely limited to actors in theaters.
A
curtain call (walkdown, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when individuals return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for their performance. In musical theater, the performers typically recognize the orchestra and its conductor at the end of the curtain call.
Luciano PavarottiLuciano Pavarotti Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He was one of "The Three Tenors" and became well-known for his televised concerts and media...
holds the record for receiving 165 curtain calls, more than any other artist .
Curtain calls are not solely limited to actors in theaters. Athletes who also perform well may return to the field of play after a big play or at the conclusion of the game for recognition. Professional
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
players usually take their cap or helmet by the rim and hold it in the air.
In film, the term "curtain call" is used to denote the film's end credits showing clips, stills, or outtakes of each character with the actor's name captioned. This sequence results in a similar individual recognition by the audience as a stage curtain call. This is usually only done in films that are light-hearted and have many characters, or perhaps a long list of cameo appearances.
Films that use curtain calls during their end credits
- Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, and the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. It was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories, but won only for Best Original Screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles...
: The first film to ever use a curtain call.
- 12 Angry Men: A curtain call was necessary since the characters' names are never revealed in the film.
- The Bad Seed
The Bad Seed is a 1956 Academy Award-nominated horror/thriller film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. It is based upon a play by Maxwell Anderson, which in turn is based upon William March's 1954 novel The Bad Seed. The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin for the screenplay of the film...
: A curtain call (as well as a humorous blooperA blooper is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. These bloopers, or outtakes as they are also called, are often the subject of television shows or are occasionally revealed during the credit sequence at...
) was specifically added at the request of the Production CodeThe Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry censorship guidelines which governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It was originally popularly known as the Hays Code, after its creator, Will H...
to reassure the audience after the intense film)
- MASH
MASH is a American Academy Award-winning satirical dark comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr. based on the novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker...
: This curtain call used a voice-over (of the film's PAA public address or "PA" system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a given sound, e.g., a person making a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often...
announcer) to announce the names of the cast instead of captions.
- The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War...
: A rare occurrence for a downbeat film, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
.
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It was released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire core cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. It was directed by Nicholas...
: Scrawled signatures of the cast are superimposed over a star field, suggesting the finality of this series.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Sketches of the actors' faces are presented with their names, suggesting finality in this third film of the trilogy.
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2: Characters from both films in the series are listed in order of appearance, suggesting finality.
- Zatoichi (2003 film)
is a 2003 Japanese samurai drama and action film, directed, written, co-edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano as his 11th film. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman himself.
The film is a high-budget revival of the classic Zatōichi series of samurai film and television dramas...
: This curtain call is in the form of a tap dance number.
- Many of Mel Brooks
Melvin "Mel" Kaminsky , better known by his stage name Mel Brooks, is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer, best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction...
's films, including both versions of The Producers (1968The Producers is a comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks, which tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who attempt to cheat their investors by deliberately producing a flop show on Broadway...
and 2005The Producers is a 2005 American comedy-musical film starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Uma Thurman. It is based on the 2001 Broadway musical of the same name and a remake of the 1968 film of the same name starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, and Andréas Voutsinas. The movie is directed by...
), SpaceballsSpaceballs is a 1987 science fiction parody film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks. It was released on June 24, 1987, and earned only modest returns, but has gone on to become a seminal cult classic on video...
, and Dracula: Dead and Loving ItDracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. It is a parody of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, and of some of the films it inspired....
. (Robin Hood: Men In TightsRobin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 comedy of the story of Robin Hood. Produced and directed by Mel Brooks, the film stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle...
only contains a curtain call for the cameos in the film, not for the main actors.)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 British musical comedy film that parodies science fiction and horror films. Still in limited release 34 years after its premiere, it has the longest-running theatrical release in film history. It gained notoriety as a midnight movie in 1977 when audiences...
- The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James Brown,...
- 1941 (film)
- Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors is the musical film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a vicious plant that feeds on human blood...
- Top Gun
Top Gun may refer to:* The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, commonly referred to as TOPGUN* Top Gun , a 1986 movie starring Tom Cruise set at the school**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie...
- The Fighting Temptations
The Fighting Temptations is a 2003 romantic comedy film produced by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. It stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. and singer Beyoncé Knowles as they attempt to revive a town's choir traditions in a modern society and along the way they fall in love with each other.-Synopsis:Darrin...
- Predator
Predator is a 1987 science fiction, action and horror film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. The story follows an elite team on a mission to rescue hostages from a guerrilla group in Central America. Unknowingly, the...
- The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is a 1973 novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich....
- Seed of Chucky
Seed of Chucky is a 2004 comedy-horror satire which is the fifth entry in the popular Child's Play series. Seed of Chucky follows the events of Bride of Chucky and stars Jennifer Tilly , Billy Boyd , and Brad Dourif...
- Nixon (film)
Nixon is a 1995 American biographical film directed by Oliver Stone for Cinergi Pictures that tells the story of the political and personal life of former US President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins. The film portrays Nixon as a complex and, in many respects, an admirable person, though...
- Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a American musical film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006, with a nationwide release on December 25, 2006 and a home video...
- In and Out
- Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 CGI comedy produced by DreamWorks Animation. In the story, a young fish named Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss to win favor with the mob boss' enemies and advance his own community standing...
- Dogma
Dogma is a American adventure-comedy-fantasy film, written and directed by Kevin Smith; he also co-stars in the film along with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, George Carlin, Janeane...
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 film written by, directed by, and starring Kevin Smith, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of his cult favorite Clerks...
- The Scream
Scream is a 1996 horror film directed by Wes Craven from a screenplay by Kevin Williamson, and the first of the Scream series. Filmed mostly in Santa Rosa, California, the film tells the story of the fictional town Woodsboro, CA being terrorized by a masked killer who enjoys tormenting his victims...
Trilogy
- Not Another Teen Movie
Not Another Teen Movie is a 2001 comedy film released on December 14, 2001 by Columbia Pictures. It is a parody of the teen movies and other cinematic portrayals of adolescence which have accumulated in Hollywood over the last few decades...
- Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a American film adaptation of the satirical stage musical Chicago, the film explores the themes of celebrity and scandal in Jazz age Chicago. Directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted for film by screenwriter Bill Condon, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including...
- Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a computer-animated American comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second film in the Shrek series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek...
- The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
- Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film directed and produced by Ben Stiller. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr. as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their fed-up writer and director decide to drop them in the middle of a...
- Con Air
Con Air is a American action/thriller film by Touchstone Pictures that stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of Crimson Tide and The Rock, and directed by Simon West...
- High School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a 2008 musical film. It is the third installment in Disney's High School Musical film franchise. Its theatrical release in the United States began on October 24, 2008...
This curtain call shows the "High School Musical" logo and plays the song "High School Musical"
- Born on the Fourth of July
Born on the Fourth of July is the best selling autobiography of Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who became an anti-war activist. Kovic was born on July 4, 1946, and his book's ironic title echoed a famous line from George M. Cohan's patriotic 1904 song, "The Yankee Doodle Boy"...
- Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is British film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
- Role Models
Role Models is a American comedy film directed by David Wain about two energy drink salesmen who are ordered to perform 150 hours of community service as punishment for various offenses. For their service, the two men work at a program designed to pair kids with adult role models. The film stars...
- Chaplin This film combined images of the actors and the characters they portrayed with biographical texts regarding the fates of the real-life individuals portrayed.
- Notorious
Notorious is a 2009 American biopic about the life of iconic hip hop star Christopher Wallace / Biggie Smalls / The Notorious B.I.G., who is played by Jamal Woolard. The film co-stars Angela Bassett as his mother Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur...
This film is based on the life of late gangster rapper Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious BIG. The curtain call features the cast members and photos of the people they portray.
TV series that used a curtain call
On occasion, television series have included curtain calls at the conclusion of their runs, with the cast breaking character and often showing the audience and crew:
- In 1977, the Australian prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm...
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Number 96Number 96 was a revolutionary Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
, paid homage to both its cast and loyal audience by devoting a significant part of its final episode (#1218) to a curtain call of many of the series' regular stars, past and present.
- Also in 1977, the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977...
, entitled "The Last ShowThe Last Show is the 168th and final episode of the television sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and was written by Allan Burns, James L. Brooks, Ed Weinberger, Stan Daniels, David Lloyd and Bob Ellison. It was first broadcast on CBS on March 19, 1977....
" ended with Mary Tyler MooreMary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms.Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as Dick...
addressing the studio audience and introducing and paying tribute to her castmates. Discounting live broadcasts of the past and shows-within-shows such as The HoneymoonersThe Honeymooners is a situation comedy television show that was created by Marvin Marx, and shot before a live audience which debuted as a half-hour series on October 1, 1955...
, this was one of the first times a filmed American network series had broken character in this fashion.
- In 1990 the final episode of Cop Rock
Cop Rock is a short-lived American television series that aired on ABC in 1990. The show, a police drama presented as a musical, was created by Steven Bochco, who also served as executive producer...
, a short-lived attempt at a musical police proceduralThe police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
series, ended with the cast and crew breaking character and gathering to perform a closing song.
- In 1992, the final episode of The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, first airing on September 20, 1984 and running for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992...
ended with actors Bill CosbyWilliam Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, The Bill Cosby Show,...
and Phylicia RashādPhylicia Rashād is an American actress, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the 1984-1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
breaking the fourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. The term also applies to the boundary between any fictional setting and its audience...
and dancing past the cameras and towards the studio audience.
- In 1999 the final episode of the sitcom Home Improvement
Home Improvement is an American television sitcom. starring Tim Allen, which aired 1991 to 1999. The show was created by Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra and David MacFadzean. In the 1990s, it was one of the most watched sitcoms, winning many awards...
used the same curtain call technique as Mary Tyler Moore by having the cast break character and take a bow after the story ended.
Sports curtain calls
According to baseball historian Peter Morris, in May 1881 Detroit fans cheered a home run by Charlie Bennett until he bowed to them.
On October 3, 1951, after
Bobby ThomsonRobert Brown Thomson , nicknamed The Staten Island Scot, is a Scottish former Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .-Early baseball career:Thomson had a superb rookie...
hit the pennant-winning home run for the
New York GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
in the ninth inning of the third game of the National League playoff, jubliant Giant fans swarmed the playing field of the
Polo GroundsThe Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City used by baseball's New York Metropolitans from 1880 until 1885, New York Giants from 1883 until 1957, the New York Yankees from 1912 until 1922, and by the New York Mets in their first two seasons of...
, running after the triumphant Giant players, who raced towards the clubhouse which was located in center field. Author
Joshua PragerJoshua Philip Prager MD MS is an American physician. Dr. Prager specializes in pain medicine. He is the immediate past president of the North American Neuromodulation Society...
, in his definitive volume of Thomson's homer The Echoing Green, wrote, "(T)housands of fans hungry for a curtain call stood now outside a green clubhouse chanting 'We want Thomson!' We want Thomson!'" Several minutes later (about 15 minutes after the actual home run), "word reached Thomson that he was wanted outside, that only a curtain call might dissipate the stubborn throng (...) And so out Thomson went, wading through the packed clubhouse to its top outdoor step." New York Times sportswriter John Drebinger called the crowd's response "the most frenzied 'curtain calls' ever afforded a ballplayer."
Curtain calls in games
Curtain calls showing the characters in video games are fairly uncommon. "Parades" showing the characters without naming them is used in a variety of games, including Super Mario RPG and
Paper MarioPaper Mario, known in Japan as , is a role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 game console. It was first released in Japan on August 11, 2000, in Europe on October 5, 2000, and in North America on February 5, 2001...
, both of which featured actual parades. Curtain rolls showing the names of the characters are also used, notably in Mother 2 and its sequel
Mother 3Mother 3 is a role-playing video game developed by Brownie Brown, HAL Laboratory, and Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 3. It was published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance handheld game console. It has only been released in Japan, alongside a limited supply bundle...
, in which the characters scroll from bottom to top with their name underneath. Some games, including the
Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
's
Donkey Kong CountryDonkey Kong Country is a platform video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies...
and
Art of Fightingis a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
2, show characters performing a typical
special attackA special attack is a literary device of fiction, particularly comic books, manga and anime, though this is not universal; videogames, primarily those in the fighting genre, feature these attacks as well...
or delivering characteristic lines of dialogue in the character's level (video games) as part of the credits.