Meryl Streep! Darren Criss! Audra McDonald! 2012’s Biggest Stars in the Best Curtain Calls of the Year

Forty-four Broadway shows opened their doors in the calendar year 2012. Productions welcomed new cast members galore, while a handful of long-running favorites closed up shop. And then there were the off-Broadway openings, the benefits, and the endless stream of one-night-only events, the sheer number of which we couldn’t count. TheaterMania’s photographers were on hand to capture it all. As the year comes to a close, we share our favorite curtain calls of 2012.

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January 3: In his purple bow tie, Darren Criss rings in the New Year as J. Pierrepont Finch in Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

January 8: The Imperial Theatre fills with confetti as the curtain comes down on Broadway’s Billy Elliot.
(© Tristan Fuge)

January 12: Audra McDonald hands a rose to an elated Philip Boykin during the opening night curtain call at The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

January 17: Carla Gugino, Rosemary Harris, and Jim Dale are proud to open The Road to Mecca on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

January 24: Michael Urie, Rose Hemingway, Nick Jonas, and Beau Bridges sing an encore at Jonas’ opening night curtain call in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
(© David Gordon)

February 7: After a successful run at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway’s Venus in Fur, starring Hugh Dancy and Nina Arianda, moves a few blocks away to the Lyceum Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

February 11: Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera cast members Kyle Barisich (Raoul), Hugh Panaro (the Phantom), Trista Moldovan (Christine), celebrate the musical’s landmark 10,000th performance at the Majestic Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

February 14: Legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim takes the stage at New York City Center with past and present Merrily We Roll Along cast members.
(© David Gordon)

February 16: Country singer Brad Paisley joins television favorite William Shatner for a duet after the opening night of Shatner’s one-man show, Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It, which ran at the Music Box Theatre through March 4.
(© Tristan Fuge)

February 28: Amy Rosoff, Bobby Steggert, Michael Esper, Virginia Kull, Sue Jean Kim, and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe open Leslye Headland’s Assistance to great acclaim at Playwrights Horizons.
(© David Gordon)

March 1: Marin Mazzie and Molly Ranson have a bloody good time during curtain call of the revival of the infamous flop musical Carrie, which made its way back to the stage courtesy of MCC Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

March 12: Evita holds its first preview at the Marquis Theatre, with a cast that includes starring (left to right) Rachel Potter, Michael Cerveris, Elena Roger, Ricky Martin, and Max von Essen.
(© David Gordon)

March 15: After a taxing three-hour performance, Finn Wittrock, Linda Emond, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Andrew Garfield let their emotions hang out at the opening night of Death of a Salesman at the Barrymore Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

March 18: Overcome with emotion, Once star Steve Kazee is hugged by his younger co-star on the opening night at the Jacobs Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

March 22: As cast members Josh Young and Chilina Kennedy look on, Paul Nolan gives a bouquet to Jesus Christ Superstar writers Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber during the show’s opening night at the Neil Simon Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

March 27: Making her Broadway debut, Raven-Symoné joins the cast of Broadway’s Sister Act.
(© Tristan Fuge)

March 28: Now. Here. This. stars Jeff Bowen, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenstaff, and Hunter Bell take their triumphant off-Broadway opening night curtain call at the Vineyard Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 1: Hail to the Chief! James Earl Jones appreciates his audience’s ovation following the opening night performance of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 2: Tracie Bennett is over the rainbow to make her Broadway debut as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow at the Belasco Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 11: Magic/Bird stars Tug Coker and Kevin Daniels celebrate the show’s opening night alongside their real-life counterparts, basketball legends Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson at the Longacre Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 15: Adam Chanler-Berat, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Christian Borle capture some star dust upon opening on Broadway in Peter and the Starcatcher at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 17: Broadway’s Godspell welcomes their new Jesus, a clearly overcome Corbin Bleu, to the company at the Circle in the Square Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

April 18: Oliver Chris, James Corden, and Jemima Rooper can’t believe they’re on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in the hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 22: The hunky Blair Underwood shows a different side of Stanley at the opening of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Broadhurst Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 23: Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman embrace during their Broadway curtain call of Ghost the Musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

April 26: Drenched with water (and emotion), Raul Esparza and Jessica Phillips step into the light during the opening of Broadway’s Leap of Faith at the St. James Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

May 13: Stephen R. Buntrock and Clarke Thorell carry an overjoyed Megan Hilty off stage following the closing night performance of New York City Center Encores!’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
(© David Gordon)

June 14: Jim Parsons (center) leads the cast of Broadway’s Harvey in applauding the audience.
(© David Gordon)

June 18: Meryl Streep basks in the glow of Central Park and her costars Jesse L. Martin and Kevin Kline during the curtain call of the Public Theater’s benefit reading of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theatre. Streep played Juliet to Kline’s Romeo.
(© Tristan Fuge)

June 21: A joyful Lily Rabe (center) leads the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park company of As You Like It in their opening night curtain call at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.
(© Tristan Fuge)

July 12: Director/choreographer Bill T. Jones and performer Sahr Ngaujah dance up a storm following the Broadway reopening of Fela!, a four-week engagement at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

August 1: Pals Jason Gotay and Elle McLemore hug it out during the opening night curtain call of Broadway’s Bring It On: The Musical, in which they make their Broadway debuts, at the St. James Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

August 5: Patrick Page bids farewell to Broadway’s Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark and the role of the Green Goblin (which he originated) after nearly two years at the Foxwoods Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

August 9: The cast of the Shakespeare in the Park production of Into the Woods, including Tony Award winners Denis O’Hare and Donna Murphy and Academy Award nominee Amy Adams, take their curtain call at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.
(© Tristan Fuge)

September 5: The cast of Broadway’s Newsies welcomes Corey Cott (center) to the fold as Jack Kelly at the Nederlander Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

September 10: The principal cast members of Broadway’ s Chaplin, Christiane Noll, Wayne Alan Wilcox, Rob McClure, Erin Mackey, and Jenn Colella, throw bouquets of flowers in the air to celebrate their opening night.
(© David Gordon)

September 20: Off-Broadway welcomes Brian F. O’Byrne, Annie Funke, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Gomez in If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet at the Laura Pels Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

September 27: Richard Thomas and Boyd Gaines prove they’re not enemies during the opening night curtain call of An Enemy of the People at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

October 4: Ed Asner (right) thanks the heavens alongside co-stars (from left) Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and Paul Rudd at the opening of Grace at the Cort Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

October 11: Tony Award winner Douglas Hodge thanks the theater gods for letting him return to Broadway as Cyrano de Bergerac at the American Airlines Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

October 13: Edward Albee celebrates the 50th anniversary of his play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, with director Pam MacKinnon at the Booth Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

October 19: He can’t hear you! Legendary singer Frankie Valli asks the audience to sing louder on the first night of his engagement with the Four Seasons at the Broadway Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

November 1: Alongside dashing leading men Dan Stevens and David Strathairn, Jessica Chastain and Judith Ivey celebrate their opening night in Broadway’s The Heiress at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

November 8: Lilla Crawford can’t contain her enthusiasm as she is given a bouquet of flowers at the opening night of Broadway’s Annie at the Palace Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

November 13: It’s no mystery why Jessie Mueller, Betsy Wolfe, Stephanie J. Block, and Chita Rivera are so happy … it’s opening night of their show The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Studio 54.
(© David Gordon)

November 15: Carolee Carmello basks in a heavenly glow as Scandalous opens on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

November 18: The Lion King co-composer Lebo M and director Julie Taymor help celebrate the show’s 15th anniversary on Broadway.
(© David Gordon)

November 19: The cast of A Christmas Story, The Musical, including Caroline O’Connor, John Bolton, Dan Lauria, and Johnny Rabe, feel the holiday spirit on stage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

November 29: Katie Holmes grins from ear to ear upon her opening night in Broadway’s Dead Accounts at the Music Box Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

December 2: Patti LuPone and Debra Winger share a laugh at the opening of David Mamet’s The Anarchist at the John Golden Theatre.
(© Tristan Fuge)

December 3: The cast of Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2004 production of Assassins reunites for a one-night-only benefit reading of the musical at Studio 54. A killer group of stars including Alexander Gemignani, Mario Cantone, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Cerveris, James Barbour, Annaleigh Ashford, and Denis O’Hare were among the cast.
(© David Gordon)