Lord, Deliver me From "In the Mood"

[WGWTR180]

So you think you have problems?

This guy did eight-a-week of "Phantom of the Opera" for 23 years... and then they fired him.

NYT: After 9,382 Performances, Actor to Leave ‘Phantom’


I imagine many NYC pit musicians have done lengthy runs, also

I was at Phantom for almost 21 years and knew George. Great guy and was a fixture during that run. I only played about 5,000 performances out of approximately 8,400 during my tenure. The entire run of 35+ years almost made it to 14,000 Performances!!!

[robcat2075]

I was at Phantom for almost 21 years... I only played about 5,000 performances out of approximately 8,400 during my tenure. The entire run of 35+ years almost made it to 14,000 Performances!!!

5,000 is a lot!

I recall once thinking nine performances of "Oliver!" was enough for me but 5,000 is somewhat more.

But how does 5000/8400 work? Is there a Red band and a Blue band? Or perhaps you get one season off?

[WGWTR180]

I was at Phantom for almost 21 years... I only played about 5,000 performances out of approximately 8,400 during my tenure. The entire run of 35+ years almost made it to 14,000 Performances!!!

5,000 is a lot!

I recall once thinking nine performances of "Oliver!" was enough for me but 5,000 is somewhat more.

But how does 5000/8400 work? Is there a Red band and a Blue band? Or perhaps you get one season off?

Good question. Every chair holder on Broadway has to maintain a 50% attendance rate per quarter. There are 104 shows per quarter, thus 416 per year. I was working other places too during the run so I subbed out a decent amount to "work elsewhere" while my long list of subs received a lot of work from me. It was a win win for everyone.
The Actors, however, are held to a much more strict attendance policy. Most times vacations are planned 1 year in advance. I took off for Christmas to be with my family-the cast rarely could take off during the Holidays. George Lee Andrews, the actor profiled in the article you posted rarely missed a show. By the end of the run and close to 14,000(13,981) performances the 27 piece orchestra still had 8 original members!!! They started on January 26, 1987 and finished up April 16, 2023. I'd guess that our timpanist and harpist did the most performances but that would be a guess. I joined the show in 2002 full time after subbing for a few years.

[Macbone1]

We played "ITM" well past its natural death in the active Air Force band program. Yeah, the Army Air Force was Glenn Miller's branch, and we sort of "owned it", but enough is enough. St Louis Blues March was almost as overdone. I'm sure today's band troops are still playing them.