BROADWAY ACTORS WHO MISS ALOT.- Page 2

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/13/06 at 4:12pm

Okay, while most people think I would come on here and defend them all, I won't.

There are some instances where misses are crucial and necessary. There are some people who have to have surgery and who have SCHEDULED misses. There are some people who have a personal/familial emergency. And there are some people who do get INCREDIBLY ill. It happens to all of us at some points in our lives.

However, OTHERS, I think, just tend to have no excuse.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/13/06 at 4:43pm

What's Laura Benanti's deal?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/13/06 at 5:06pm

I think, while performers are now mic'd, it has become increasingly difficult to perform certain scores 8 times a week. Scores are no longer orchestrated the way they used to be. Not to mention...nowadays, there is certainly an obsession with constant high belting in the stratosphere that not only exhausts one's voice more quickly than classic and legit styles, but also calls for one to be that much more careful when he/she becomes ill because it is that much easier to cause serious damage.

[Cosette2]

Posted: 7/13/06 at 5:06pm

I think if people actually worked as a chorus/lead in a show, they would understand a little better.

The energy used in a 3 hour show is probably as much or more than 8 hours sitting at a desk. It is physically, mentally and emotionally taxing work. To stay at one's best, you have to rest, eat well, exercise etc.

As for missing, why does anyone miss work? Sickness, personal emergency, regular vaccation, health issues....

I'm a singer and have had a sinus infection for almost 2 months. My voice doesn't sound that great right now. I lead a choir, so it isn't that big a deal...but if I was being paid what a broadway star makes, I would feel like I was robbing the audience of their money.

Isn't it better for the audience to see a *good* performance, than a specific person doing a bad job?

Imagine every cold, a sprained ankle, broken arm, minor surgery, stomach flu....which may keep you from work for a day, if that. Then imagine singing your heart out and dancing and having to look great doing it. It's completely different. You can go to work and take a bathroom break if needed. Not true if you're on stage!

As for all the talk about mics, the way broadway singers sing ( in chest voice ) is potentailly damaging. It has nothing to do with volume, but chest voice gives that theartre/pop sound that is expected. Singing in "head voice" is not usually damaging to the voice, but has a classical, not contempory sound.

Try belting out songs for even 1 hour a day in chest voice and you'll see-mic or no mic, it can hurt physically and damagae your voice.

People on broadway are human being, not robots or super-heros. Yes we love them, but they have their limits like everyone else.

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 7/13/06 at 8:38pm

What I never understand is why there are actors who don't talk a whole day before a show...

Even actors at my school who think they're the best at what they do respond with shouldar shrugs and ask why they can't talk is because they have a show ... your voice would not go bad if you talk before a show if you are mic'ed during the show.

I don't understand actors.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 1:01am

Because it does save your voice. Most people--even some professional actors--don't really have a "proper" speaking technique. So if they need to perform in a play that night umic'ed and project to the entire theatre, or if they need to perform in a musical, not speaking throughout the day is important to saving one's voice.

I am half convinced that there are some prententious people who just like to not speak all day because it make them feel like they're serious, important actors or something.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 1:51am

I miss when people used to spell "a lot" as though they were two words.

*sigh*

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 6:34am

It's a new world WannaBe.

Sigh

[Sargar]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 7:25am

OMG, speaking as someone who's biggest pet peeve is to see spelling mistakes, GET OVER IT! It's not that big of a deal, it certaintly is not a foolproof sign of intelligence, and has nothing to do with the subject at hand. hmph!

*gets off soapbox*

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 8:23am

"In the 50's, 60's & 70's, the stars had a 'show must go on' attitude, simply because back then, it was difficult to get someone to be an understudy who was truly another star. now we have Kathie Lee Gifford understudying Carol Burnett, we have Judy Kaye understudying Patti LuPone and Tina Maddigan understudying Laura Benanti. Oftentimes, if a star didn't go on, they would cancel the show. With the budgets of Broadway shows the way they are in this generation, The producers would much prefer to throw on a standby to losing the couple hundred grand by closing the show that night. Meaning, if a star didn't go on then, they were literally disappointing the 1500 people that wanted to see the show that night."

I'm afraid this is pretty inaccurate in a few ways.

First, Kathy Lee Gifford was not Burnett's understudy; Gifford was the alternate, with an ongoing performance schedule. Burnett had a separate understudy.

It so happens that Gifford did go on at least once when Burnett was otherwise out, but that was because Gifford was available and happy to do it, not because it was her job to do so.

Gifford is hardly the only high-profile performer to have been an alternate. In the '60s. Phyllis Newman—a recent Tony winner and a celebrity widely known from regular TV appearances—was Barbara Harris's alternate in The Apple Tree. As with Gifford, she did occasionally go on when Harris was out at performances other than the Wednesday and Saturday matinees at which she was scheduled to go on, but she was under no obligation to have done so.

Other examples: Kate Reid and Elaine were matinee Marthas in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? even though both were certainly established performers and Stritch had already been nominated for Tonys a couple of times and starred in big musicals on Broadway. And later, again.for Burnett: Tony-winner Janie Sell (who, admittedly, was coming back to the business after a long break) in Moon Over Buffalo.

Gordon McRae and Carol Lawrence were Robert Preston and Mary Martin's matinee alternates for a while in I Do! I Do! This was slightly different because McRae and Lawrence were hired to also replace Preston and Martin when they left (and prior to their being hired as the alternates, the show was a rare example of a show that performed only six or seven times a week). Still, they were the matinee alternates for a while.

Also, it was by no means unheard of in the past for some actual understudies or standbys to be well-known performers. For example, Gretchen Wyler was Lauren Bacall's standby in Applause. Later, Louise Troy, a Tony-nominated actress, stood by for Bacall in Women of the Year. For much of the Broadway run of Hello, Dolly! Bibi Osterwald, well-established as a performer, was the Dolly standby. And one of Pearls Bailey's standbys would be Novella Nelson, also an established actress.

Helen Gallagher not only played Nickie in Sweet Charity, but also understudied Gwen Verdon. Gallagher had already won a Tony and had starred on Broadway a few times.

Iva Withers played Julie Jordan for most of the original run of Carousel, and later was a standby or understudy in a number of shows (often for Tammy Grimes).

And nothing against Tina Maddigan, but all of these women were probably better-known than Maddigan.

Finally, Judy Kaye is not understudying Patti LuPone. (And I'm sure she wouldn't as she's said a number of times in interviews that she didn't even want to be an understudy in On the Twentieth Century. She hates the idea of waiting for someone to get sick so that you can go on.) She's replacing LuPone during her vacation and during a leave of absence. Prior examples of high-profile temporary replacements in similar circumstances include Alfred Drake for Yul Brynner in The King and I, Carol Lawrence for Chita Rivera in KIss of the Spider Woman, Betty Hutton for Carol Burnett in Fade Out—Fade in, Celeste Holm for Lansbury in Mame (before Holm went off to head the national company), Hermione Gingold for Molly Picon in Milk and Honey, and Raquel Welch for Bacall in Woman of the Year. Again, this sort of thing is nothing new. And much as I love Judy Kaye, she was never as well-known as any of those people.

Regarding mics: I actually think that body mics are contributing the vocal problems of performers on Broadway by giving a false sense of security. Actors think, "Oh, I don't have to worry," and out goes proper technique, even for actors who have it. I think that when you know you have to project, there's an instinctive sort of self-protection that happens.

I also think that performers sometimes get scared of really singing out with the mics right there on their face or body. And a self-consciousness results that can be harmful, that can cause tension.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/14/06 at 3:31pm

Sorry, Sarger but there is a reason many people comment on poor spelling. As someone who has hired people in business I can tell you that people DO judge you by how well you can write a sentence and whether you use proper grammar. Sometimes (as on message boards) that is the ONLY way you can judge someone's intelligence. I have no problem with typos but if someone consistently omits capital letters at the beginning of sentences, misspells words and forgets punctuation...well...DUH.

As for this thread, can't we just say we have beaten this horse to death years ago? We always go round and round and start talking about years gone by when NO ONE EVER MISSED A SHOW. I am an old timer (compared to many on these boards) and have been in and around theater for years. Yes I remember Merman and Channing etc. The fact is that the business is different today. Everything from the number of people available to cast in chorus roles, standby and understudy roles to the type of score written and sung to the number of tunes in a musical score.

When we start comparing the 1940s and 1950s to now, I think of the comparisons made between baseball players today and those of the time of Babe Ruth. There are too many variables to allow us to compare apples to apples. I remember the good old days but I also applaud the people working today (many of whom DO have a good work ethic) and it troubles me when someone hits a bad spell with their health or personal life and everyone wants to hang them. You don't work on Broadway unless you LOVE it because the pay stinks (for the most part) and the work is hard. If you love your job, you don't find just any excuse to stay home sick.

P.S. I say that in reference to the pros out there...not to those who sweep into New York and do 30 days on Broadway and then go into a hospital to recover from exhaustion. If you ain't got the chops...don't step on the stage!