After 31 years, it was on this day that Disneyland’s show, that earned the Guinness world record for
“greatest number of performances of any theatrical production,”
took its final bow. Of course the Wild West Golden Horseshoe Revue could not go out without a bang, and the final performance was an unforgettable, enhanced version, allowing the show’s stars to shine just a little brighter that night.
Betty Taylor, who played Sluefoot Sue for 30 years and is the longest-running cast member, got the chance to sing “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey?,” a song she sang in the early years of the show. Betty also recorded that song for the soundtrack of the Disneyland Audio-Animatronics® attraction America Sings. The always jovial Irish tenor Fulton Burley had a little extra fun with his hilarious Irish tenor/comedy bit. When it came time for his sentimental solo to the girls of the “Police Gazette,” he called out the alternate Irish tenor Jay Meyer to sing it as a duet for the first time. Traveling salesman/comedian Dick Hardwick, who started as a Disneyland musician and replaced longtime cast member Wally Boag in 1982 for the first time in the Revue, got the chance to do a comedic drum solo.
For the traditional can-can quartet, the enthusiastic crowd was treated to a routine featuring eight of the show’s talented dancers. The final performance was certainly bittersweet for the cast, crew, and fans of the show, but as Disneyland’s head of marketing and future president Jack Lindquist took to the stage, he assured everybody,
“It’s not a sad day because you can’t make a sad day out of this fantastic show that has played to more than 12 billion people.”
