New York Times
November 14, 1990
'Shogun' Lead Is Injured By Scenery in Performance
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/14/theater/shogun-lead-is-injured-by-scenery-in-performance.html?scp=5&sq=%22philip%20casnoff%22&st=cseA large piece of scenery fell on Philip Casnoff, the lead actor in the Broadway musical "Shogun," at last night's performance at the Marquis Theater. Mr. Casnoff, who was struck on the head, was taken by ambulance to St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center, where he was reported to be conscious and undergoing tests early this morning.
The performance was canceled immediately after the incident, which occurred at 10:20 P.M., well into the second act of a preview heavily attended by critics before the show's scheduled opening tomorrow night. Sam Rudy, a press representative for "Shogun," said it was unclear whether the production would open as scheduled. He said all decisions would depend on Mr. Casnoff's condition.
Mr. Casnoff was kept at the hospital overnight for observation.
"He appears to be fine," said Susan Bolotin, a friend of Mr. Casnoff.
She said that Mr. Casnoff had said he felt he could go back onstage for tonight's performance, but that his wife disagreed.
Doctors at the hospital were awaiting the results of tests, including a CAT scan, before commenting.
There was no immediate indication of whether an understudy had been fully prepared to step in to assume Mr. Casnoff's lengthy role in the show.
Mr. Casnoff assumed the lead in the New York production, replacing Peter Karre, a British actor who opened the show in Washington. A Spark, Then a Fall
The incident began with what seemed to be an electrical spark. A moment later, a screen fell at center stage and knocked Mr. Casnoff to the floor amid screams from the audience and cast. Members of the cast and the backstage crew rushed to his side, and people called for a doctor. An unidentified orthopedic surgeon made his way to the stage, and an announcement was made canceling the rest of the performance. When Mr. Casnoff did not get up, stagehands assembled a makeshift stretcher. Twenty-five minutes after the accident, he was taken to St. Vincent's by ambulance.
While Mr. Casnoff was surrounded by the musical's personnel, the audience was asked to leave the theater.
"Shogun," whose cost was estimated in March at $6 million, is a stage version of the James Clavell novel. It had its premiere on Sept. 6 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Mr. Clavell began planning the musical stage production even before the 1980 television mini-series.
The musical is the story of a 17th-century English sea captain who is shipwrecked on the coast of Japan, falls in love with a Japanese woman and becomes involved in that country's political power struggles. It was produced by Mr. Clavell, Joseph Harris and Haruki Kadokawa, a Japanese publisher and film producer.