The Ed Sullivan Theater may have disappeared into a wormhole during the finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but apparently a few miniature versions survived.
Bette Midler, who memorably serenaded a departing Colbert with a version of her song “Wind Beneath My Wings,” revealed on social media late last week that Colbert sent her a replica of the snow globe featured in the show’s final moment, accompanied by a personal note thanking her for being part of its run.
LateNighter understands that Midler was one of several hundred staffers and friends of the show to receive the gift, marking the revival of a Colbert farewell tradition that dates back to the end of The Colbert Report.
When that show wrapped in December 2014, Colbert commissioned 200 custom snow globes as gifts for the program’s staff and crew. Each contained a rendering of the Colbert Report set, rotated and played the show’s theme music.
The idea was inspired by the 1988 finale of St. Elsewhere, which suggested that the medical drama’s entire universe may have existed inside the imagination of a child staring into a snow globe.
That project took six months to design, test and manufacture. After the finale, the globes were shipped directly to recipients’ homes in custom packaging.
“The reaction was of surprise and amazement when everyone opened the package left at their doorstep,” the show’s executive in charge of production and supervising producer Tanya Michnevich Bracco later recalled. “Almost everyone admitted to crying upon receipt and many have said it will be cherished by them and their families for years to come.”
More than a decade later, Colbert put the same St. Elsewhere reference onscreen when, in the closing moments of his Late Show, the Ed Sullivan Theater was swallowed by the interdimensional wormhole that had been looming over the show throughout the finale. When the wormhole disappeared, it left behind a vacant lot and a snow globe containing a miniature version of the building.
The globe appears to be identical to the one featured in the finale. As it spins, the miniature reveals both the exterior of the Ed Sullivan Theater—with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the marquee—and a recreation of the show’s set inside.
The model also includes the 53rd Street entrance to the Ed Sullivan Theater office building and Rupert Gee’s Hello Deli, the neighboring sandwich shop that became a fixture during David Letterman’s Late Show and remained next door for most of Colbert’s run before closing in 2023.
The card accompanying the globe sent to Midler read: “Thank you for being a part of the Joy Machine. From your friend and fan, Stephen.”
In her Instagram post, Midler responded: It was one of the great honors of my life.”
