Wednesday Matinees

I have a few brief questions about Wednesday matinees (since I'm going to my first one, HAIR, in Feb)

1. Is the whole cast normally there, or are there more substitutions than normal?

2. Do alot of people see the Wed. matinee or is the audience smaller than normal?

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I've ever only seen wed. matinees & the only substational understudy I've had was someone on for Warner in Legally Blonde.

Attendance is often high BECAUSE of the groups.

Actors are only allowed a certain number of days out (sick days, vacation days) - just like regular jobs. So they are no more likely to miss a matinee then an evening show...on a regular basis.

MOST of the time the understudies are just as good and unless you've seen the show before, you'd never know what you were "missing".

That being said, it's impossible to say whether actors will be out. They get sick, they have doctor's apppointments, they have personal things to attend to. Try not to worry about it and just enjoy: regardless of whether or not an understudy is on.

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My second time seeing Hair was a Wednesday matinee, and there were no understudies, aside from one tribe member.

For years, many people have assumed a less complete cast appears at matinees. Not the case. It's true only in shows witha designated alternate (EVITA was one of the first, but I recall the revival of MOST HAPPY FELLA, the big one, not the twin piano version, with an alternate for Tony.) I think some shows give the alterate other performances, however. I believe PHANTOM has used a schedule with an alternate Christine on some evenings. Apparently, singing a role twice a day isn't always the issue; it's the amount of vocal rest factored in among the full 8 (my singer friends tell me that sometimes the evening of a matinee day is actually easier to sing, and that often the first show back -- Monday or Tuesday night -- is the most difficult. A warmed up voice used properly apparently works well after a matinee. But I'm relaying this second hand...)

I've always loved Wednesday matinees. Actors like 'em, too. The audience is good, awake, and responsive. The worst can be Saturday eves. I had a friend in WHOREHOUSE who swore the Sat Night show was the toughest. Everyone was full of booze and food. There's a buzz in a matinee house that's unique. People are just more alert.

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Updated On: 1/7/10 at 01:29 PM

To add to the discussion of which shows the actors like:

Jonathan Groff once said that Sunday nights were his favorite....they put every bit of energy they had left since Monday was their dark day, and he felt like Sundays were their best shows because of it. (or something like that)

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