Does the leading lady always get the last bow?

Question:In a play, doesn't the leading lady always get the last bow, even if the leading man is more famous? We were arguing over this at school today, and I can't remember ever seeing a play where the last bow went to a man.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: In a play, doesn't the leading lady always get the last bow, even if the leading man is more famous? We were arguing over this at school today, and I can't remember ever seeing a play where the last bow went to a man.

Odd that you should ask, and that Doc should answer first, as he and I have had a discussion about this:

A Lead Actor should always give the subsequent bow to the Lead Actress. It is just polite, regardless of the size of the Role.

The Actor Ego in me demands the Final Bow, but the last bow always belongs to the Company.

In all forms of amateur theatre, most especially school theatre, there should only be company calls. The leads are at the center of the line of course, but eveyone take bows and the same time. There should be no separate bows for anyone. In the professional theatre, the star gets the last bow. no gender preference, equal billing, the lady gets it.

No

Generally the Leading Lady invites ALL back for a unison bow.

That's called team playing.

The LEAD person gets SECOND to the last bow.

The LAST bow is eveyrone and the Leading PErson may even point to the Orchestra and Band Leader and have them also share in the bow.

And the cast USUALLY holds hands during this bow.

Who would get the last bow in Hamlet? Ophelia? Gertrude? NO, the leading lady does not always get the last bow. What about in Death of a Salesman? Willie or Linda gets the last bow? The LEAD gets the last bow, period. If the lead role is a lady, then she gets the last bow; if the lead role is a man, he gets the last bow. There are some shows where it is a close call to make. What about Taming of the Shrew? Kate or Petruchio? What about in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? What about South Pacific? Nelly or Emile? In some professional shows it will go to someone who is more famous than the rest of the cast. A producer brought in an aging actress to play Aunt Eller in Oklahoma and she got the last bow. Go figure.

Think about The Phantom of the Opera... who takes the next to last bow? The Phantom... def. not a woman

In "Wicked" the too leading ladies, Glinda and Elphaba, take the last bow together. Why? because they are the stars, billed equally.

The last bow is always the company bow. The last individual bow, if there are any, should go to the lead -- male or female. A male/female couple bow should bow together, then the man offers an individual bow to the woman if appropiate for the production.