Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd- Page 2
Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
#25Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 3:36pm
QueenAlice said: "This is absolutely conjecture on my part, but don't forget there is also the possibility that Glenn Close has a standby who is not billed in the program. Usually a star of this caliber in a role this size indeed has a "standby". Contractually, standbys often choose not to be billed in the playbill. Nancy Anderson is the understudy, but if there were a standby, she would only go on as a second option.
"
If Close had some secret celebrity standby, we would know by now. Or at least have heard some rumors. Nothing stays secret for long, especially in the theater community.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#26Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 3:40pm
Nancy Anderson will go on in the event that Close calls out. That is the whole story.
#27Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 5:29pm
Scarywarhol said: "They would not cancel the performance, and that's an absurd assertion to make.
I was at a performance in the 90s that Glenn was not able to perform. The place emptied out like a herd of Buffalo. It quickly went from a standby announcement to a cancellation announcement. Management will cancel if it's an empty house I assure you.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#28Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 5:45pm
I saw both Karen Mason (standby) and Susan Dawn Carson (understudy) go on for Close at performances in 1994.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
#29Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 5:50pm
To quote Nancy Anderson at the stage door when asked if she was aware if she'd be going on at all, her response "Only in the event Glenn gets hit by a train and even then she might show up!"
#30Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 5:51pm
Bettyboy72 said: "
I was at a performance in the 90s that Glenn was not able to perform. The place emptied out like a herd of Buffalo. It quickly went from a standby announcement to a cancellation announcement. "
That "herd" should never ever visit a theatre again.
#31Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 6:19pm
I love Nancy, but I imagine the theatre clearing out if only for the fact that tickets are so expensive. People aren't paying $300 to see an understudy
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#32Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/7/17 at 7:53pm
Expensive? There are discounts and codes all over for this. I got a perfect front mezzanine view for less than $80 each.
I'd need a backstage tour and a drink from Glenn's dressing room bar to pay those kinds of prices. While a great show with fantastic performances by all, especially Glenn, this ain't the OBC of Hamilton.
I am big. It’s the REVIVALS that got small.
10086sunset
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/16
#33Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 7:46am
Phillytheatreguy10 said: "To quote Nancy Anderson at the stage door when asked if she was aware if she'd be going on at all, her response "Only in the event Glenn gets hit by a train and even then she might show up!"
Hilarious. Nice to read Nancy Anderson is good natured about the situation.
wendy72
Chorus Member Joined: 3/5/17
#34Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 8:46am
It depends on the production, but sometimes when there's a major star in the show, they plan to cancel the show if the star is out, and the understudy is there only in the case of a rare last-minute or mid-show emergency. Nancy Anderson is very talented. I'd be interested to see her do the role!
#35Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 1:16pm
Actors' Equity requires that all principal actors have understudies at most major theatre companies, and certainly on Broadway. Glenn Close will likely go on for every performance unless she is, as Nancy Anderson humorously put it, hit by a train. Anderson is understudying her because they needed someone to do it in order to follow union rules. Her being way to young for the role only further indicates that it was a "well, someone's gotta do it" scenario.
I know a guy who was asked to be the standby for Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman on Broadway in the late 90's. He was told that there was literally no chance of him ever going on unless Dennehy was somehow injured mid-performance. If Dennehy would have to miss one night, they would simply cancel the show (and they did, a couple times). My friend, who was a Chicago actor who did not want to spend a year in New York sitting in a dressing room doing nothing, turned down the job.
#36Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 1:33pm
Yes but as stated before, Glenn has a history of missing at least a few performances each time she has played the role. As this production keeps getting extended I think it's highly likely she will be out at least once. She is not superhuman and it's an exhausting role.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
#37Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 4:29pm
Bettyboy72 said: "I love Nancy, but I imagine the theatre clearing out if only for the fact that tickets are so expensive. People aren't paying $300 to see an understudy
"
Yep - I will be first in line for a refund if Glenn doesn't show up. I'd be interested to see Nancy but not at $300.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
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Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#38Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/8/17 at 9:02pm
The Distinctive Baritone said: "Actors' Equity requires that all principal actors have understudies at most major theatre companies, and certainly on Broadway."
Someone of Glenn Close's caliber does not need to have an understudy, according to the Production Contract.
73. Understudies
(A) All parts for which contracts are issued, except parts of stars and "bit" players, shall be covered by Understudies. Nothing contained herein shall require Chorus to be understudied.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#39Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/9/17 at 7:05am
David Furr had an understudy in NOISES OFF, however therexwas no mention of the u/s in the Playbill. The same may be true here.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#40Norma Desmond understudy in Sunset Blvd
Posted: 3/14/17 at 1:53pm
Bettyboy72 said: "I love Nancy, but I imagine the theatre clearing out if only for the fact that tickets are so expensive. People aren't paying $300 to see an understudy"
That's the thing. I paid the premium price, and I don't think that would be fair for anyone but Ms. Close. But, that doesn't mean I wouldn't stay and enjoy the show if the cover was on; I just think I should get a partial refund.
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