By Jenna
I had loved the show If/Then since it first opened at the Richard Rodgers Theater about a year ago. The show captivated me with the realism in the plot and characters, and how it explored the limits of what we know about the future. Idina Menzel headlines the show with her performance as the wary Elizabeth, starting her life over in New York after a failed marriage. With one seemingly minor decision, choosing between two activities with two different friends, Elizabeth’s story splits into two paths: one where she’s called Liz, and one where she is called Beth. One decision led to “Liz’s” story: a struggle with a second chance at love with the optimistic soldier Josh. “Beth” struggled with her career as a city planner, and her old college boyfriend Lucas’s feelings for her. The show follows BOTH of her paths, hence the “if” “then.” The show felt smart, entertaining, and poignant, daring to go places many shows don’t go. I was so moved by If/Then, I saw it nine times; and I hoped this amazing show would last long enough to touch many people in the way it did me.
Not unlike most final performances, the inside of the theater was a madhouse, buzzing with conversations between production executives, cast family members and diehard fans. The energy was like none I have ever felt, even at other final performances I have seen. Before the first note of the opening music was even played, people were randomly bursting into applause.
In the darkness of the theater, the spotlight found Idina Menzel, towering over her audience from the catwalk, like a queen addressing her subjects. Before she could finish saying, “Hey, it’s me”, the audience went wild, applauding and shrieking for a full 29 seconds. We rose to our feet for the first standing ovation of the night. Menzel patiently waited for the uproar to calm before repeating her line.
The megastar was not the only performer to receive applause upon debut; every performer in the show was welcomed by cheers, even Jenn Colella (who played Anne), whose entrance was a casual walk into a subway car, talking to LaChanze (Kate). Anthony Rapp as Menzel’s old college friend, and James Snyder as her new lover were greeted with high volumes of applause and whistles.
The actors managed to hold it together for their final performance; many even had an extra dose of enthusiasm and played with their choreography or vocal techniques, such as Idina’s new tae-kwon-do move during “Here I Go”. When Menzel belted her pensive solo number (“Always Starting Over”) at the end of Act Two, the sad crack in her voice may have represented her own emotions as well as those of her character. That standing ovation lasted nearly a full minute.
As is the custom for a show’s last performance, some of the creative team joined the cast onstage during the final final bow, including writers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. Kitt took initial control of the mike for the goodbye speech, thanking cast, crew, designers, house manager, and the fans that wrote to him about their personal If/Then experiences. He said those fans made him and Yorkey “better writers.” He then thanked Yorkey, who had given him the idea for their previous project , Pulitzer prize-winner Next to Normal. Yorkey then spoke, reminiscing about when Kitt suggested to him, “How about a show about the choices we make in life?” which led to the development of If/Then. He made very touching remarks about the “courage” it takes to develop a brand new musical rather than a revival or adaptation, as it’s less certain how a new musical will touch audiences. He then praised the American musical as an art form. “You and I may disagree on which new shows move the art forward,” Yorkey told the crowd, “but we all have to agree that without new shows, we will never move the art forward.” If/Then definitely moves the art forward. (Yorkey was also lucky enough to receive a huge smooch from Idina Menzel, which he admitted threw him a little off guard).
The stage emptied and the ghostlight was placed. I had never been in a theater long enough to see one. It was hauntingly beautiful, and marked the finality of the show for me.
Outside the theater, we were not surprised to see the crowd so thick at stage door that people had to wait across the street. Cast and crew popped their heads out of dressing room windows to say hi before coming outside. Even the Les Miserables community next door joined in the fun, making a few window appearances as well. The rest of the cast came out and spoke with the fans for one last time, signing playbills and posters, and said goodbye to the familiar faces who had supported them for over a year.
If/Then has closed on Broadway. The show leaves New York, the city that the story glorifies as not only the setting, but a character in itself. The lessons it taught about life and the choices we make, about the roads we choose, and those we don’t, will stay with myself and all who witnessed the musical masterpiece that If/Then was forever.