It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's Nightman Cometh Live Shows Were A Result Of Incorrect Advertising
Forget "The Phantom of the Opera." Who needs "Wicked"? The best musical is "The Nightman Cometh" from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." The fourth season finale aired on November 20, 2008, and quickly became one of the most beloved episodes of the series. It perfectly encapsulates everything we love about this outrageous show: dark, absurd humor and crazy hijinks resulting in chaos.
It's hilarious and kind of sweet how committed the gang is to their amateur performances of Charlie's original musical, another misguided attempt to win The Waitress' affection. Charlie writes a twisted fairytale about a princess in lust with a little boy who transforms into the Dayman to conquer the cat-eyed Nightman, all while dodging a greedy Troll. Songs like "Troll Toll," Little Boy," or the titular "Dayman" are infectious and have strange, sexual overtones that make them unforgettable.
Don McCloskey, musician and friend of the "Always Sunny" actors, also loved the episode when it aired. He explained in GQ's 2018 oral history of "The Nightman Cometh" that on a whim and hoping to sell some more tickets, he invited some of the cast members to perform a song or two from the zany musical during his show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. But what was supposed to be a one-off performance turned into something much bigger.
Living like a rock star
Even though Don McCloskey told the Troubadour to advertise special guests — since only a few cast members would sing one or two songs from "The Nightman Cometh" — the venue billed it as "The Cast of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Performing 'The Nightman Cometh' Live" with McCloskey's name below. With this headline, it sold out in seven minutes, causing them to add a second performance.
This small guest appearance, promoted as a full-blown show, inspired the cast to actually put on their own full-length theatrical production. In September 2009, they toured the musical in six cities. These live performances made the cast realize their television series was a success. Pre-social media, the gang was unsure of audience response, believing they only had a small, underground following. They were in awe of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-esque response, where fans dressed up as the quirky characters and knew every lyric.
Charlie Day described the shows to GQ as "a glimpse into what it was like to be a rock star for a minute, to have people singing your songs, and a really raucous crowd interacting with us. It was an adrenaline rush." Fueled by the crowd's energy and having to live in the moment without a camera, Danny DeVito explained how their theatrical run was an exciting change:
"You miss that interaction in movies and TV shows. We don't have an audience; we have the crew. So we do a run-through for the crew and they laugh — or not — and then we do it for the cameras. But in a theater, there's that feeling of being out there. I don't think anybody expected the amount of enthusiasm that our fans have."
Every great musical deserves a revival and I think it's time for "The Nightman Cometh" to have one.