Jim Parsons tripped onstage - Saturday Eve. performance cancelled- Page 3

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 9:37pm

Also, isn't the point of having a previews period to edit/change/tweak the production before it's frozen? It simply doesn't make sense to spend that time focusing on anybody other than the actors who have been principally cast (and then having the understudies learn the final track by opening). Otherwise, then you're coordinating 3 or 4 actors as you make changes between previews performances, and that's just not really possible.  

[Elegance101]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 9:44pm

As a former understudy, I had to watch the show during previews, but it’s true that there’s hardly any rehearsal, if any at all. The main cast is rehearsed during the day and understudies aren’t always even invited to these rehearsals (depends I guess). With a role as big as Parsons’, it comes as no surprise that the understudy wasn’t ready. He probably already knows the lines (as I don’t think the writing is being changed), it’s the blocking and the backstage traffic that was probably the issue.

Also, understudies begin getting paid the first week of previews, while the cast gets paid the first week of rehearsal. This is all for offstage play understudies, so it won’t apply to every situation. In my experience, offstage understudies don’t even really join the team until shortly before first preview.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 10:11pm

Exactly. And people also have to realize they are just finishing their second week of previews, out of four. It's ludicrous to assume they'd even think about understudies right now. What's there to rehearse if a show is weeks away from being frozen?

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 10:15pm

I get it "that's how it is", but it's incredibly dumb.  They should change the rules so they are prepared so people aren't disappointed or pissed off or waste their money traveling.  It doesn't seem like a huge deal and canceling the performance cost them more than rehearsing ONE actor.  

[Elegance101]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 10:31pm

Can you find the time in the schedule for them to rehearse the understudies? There's no time. Unless they break a bunch of Equity rules and make the actors and stage managers work 24 hours a day, there is no time to rehearse understudies.

[rodrigo_ca]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 11:05pm

How do you even rehearse with someone who will only be able to rehearse again God knows when and keep them up to the changes in the show in the minimal possibility they need to go on during previews? It's just not going to happen.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 11:29pm

If the show is so essential to you to travel to and you can't be assuaged, should it be cancelled, I'd recommend that you not buy tickets for early previews.

 

[A Director]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 11:46pm

EllieRose2 said: "I get it "that's how it is", but it's incredibly dumb. They should change the rules so they are prepared so people aren't disappointed or pissed off or waste their money traveling. It doesn't seem like a huge deal and canceling the performance cost them more than rehearsing ONE actor."

The world does not revolve around you!  You are an audience member who has no idea what happens behind the scenes.  People who do have taken time to explain the rules about understudies, but all you do is stamp you feet and demand things change.

The Boys in the Band is an Equity production.  As such, there are rule about how many hours the actors are allowed to rehearse a day.  In the early 20th century, there were no such rules and it not uncommon for rehearsals to run long into the evening.  Until the early 1930s, actors were NOT PAID during the rehearsal period.

With some shows, an actor might understudy more than one role.  Which role would you like the actor to rehearse?

Miss EllieRose - You stamp your feet and whine,"It doesn't seem like a huge deal and canceling the performance cost them more than rehearsing ONE actor."  IT. IS. A. HUGE. DEAL.

 

[Nycat63]

Posted: 5/13/18 at 11:52pm

I think part of the problem is that expectations aren’t being set appropriately when a show is in previews. I would bet that most theater goers don’t know the difference - at least not the subtler distinctions - between previews and shows once they’ve opened. For instance, I know that shows aren’t “frozen” until they’ve opened, but I am not completely aware of rehearsal protocol for understudies, etc. - in fact I’ve learned a lot from this thread. And prices are the same for shows in previews. So a large portion of the audience may be buying tickets for previews - and even paying to travel to NY - completely unaware that a show they may have only one chance to see could be completely cancelled. There is no public “disclaimer” about previews, nor is there a discount for the (albeit small) risk of cancellation or some other issue occurring, and I’m sure that contributed to the frustration and disappointment people felt when the “show did not go on” with someone in JP’s place.

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 1:45am

It's worth noting that it's also a tricky set for the actors to navigate, especially Parsons, who probably would add a couple miles to his Fitbit  if Fitbits were period-appropriate. He quickly goes up and down both a two-tier staircase and a shorter set of steps, which end up littered with wrapping paper and Mylar confetti (which, by the way, is that period-appropriate?). There's also a long phone cord that gets passed all over the place. And I wondered if some parts of the stage might get wet, given the Matt Bomer shower scene. Off-topic but a word to the wise during the shower scene: Look to the mirrored ceiling.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 1:48am

Well, not to be snarky you or anything but changes made during the preview period don’t happen out of thin air. Actors and the logistics team need time to be familiar with the newly made changes and only the mornings and some afternoons are available for rehearsals. It only makes sense that rehearsing the understudies is not made the priority during previews.

Updated On: 5/14/18 at 01:48 AM

[SweetLips]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 2:05am

My 2 bits worth. This is a play with 8 actors[don't know,guessing] and the understudies are not part of the onstage cast.

When either reading around a table, rehearsing in a room or finally in the theatre, why aren't the understudies not always included?

Surely as they are professionals[there's that dreaded word again] they should be able, having learnt the script, be able to watch and learn the blocking from a distance.

I would think it be essential to be part of the ensemble or apart from, all the time.

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 2:23am

PatrickDC said: "Why couldn’t the understudy be on book? Or with an earpiece?I’m not familiar with the show, only the film, but it’s not a musical with extensive blocking, choreography, and notes to hit..."

I don't know this production, but blocking for this play is usually extensive. People are coming and going in different configurations, there are rarely less than six people on stage and often all nine moving around the set. Then the props - food, drinks, gifts being shuffled around. Its easy to misplace something and throw off business. It can get very "I take the newspaper and leave the sardines?". 

Of course in a long run you would have experienced cast members that can do this in their sleep and think five steps ahead, so they are ready to compensate for the new person. But in the second week of previews, I would guess that most of them are just trying to hold on to executing the mechanics and praying nothing goes wrong.

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 2:45am

This situation shows how badly decentralized the Broadway experience is. Customers expect to be made a priority when things go wrong. And I am sure if it was up to the producers, they would be. But while the producer makes the decision to cancel, she has no control over the theater & box office, nor telecharge. These are independent entities with their own practices, priorities and requirements. Your inconvience is mostly thought of as someone else's problem.

I wonder if the experience would be different if it had been Aladdin at the New Amsterdam - since Disney is both the show producer and runs the theater. 

[Mark69]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 6:11am

When either reading around a table, rehearsing in a room or finally in the theatre, why aren't the understudies not always included?

It could be done I guess but as they would be paying for several weeks more salaries for more actors (in an Equity theater) the slim possibility of the producers not losing all their money would be even slimmer.

I think we get a bit blasé about previews. Personally I went all the way to the US and all the shows I saw were in previews, and I didn't really adjust my expectations in any way. We just take it for granted that previews will work out the same as any other performance.

Updated On: 5/14/18 at 06:11 AM

[StephieElise]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 8:17am

It is one thing for an actor to be off book, it’s another thing to have had complete tech rehearsals with full costume changes, etc. A performer flubbing their lines can be covered up but a performer not knowing exactly where to walk to avoid a moving set piece, etc. could be downright dangerous.

A few years ago when Doctor Zhivago was first opening in Sydney, Anthony Warlow injured himself a few hours before the first preview. While his understudy Anton Berezin (who is a fantastic performer in his own right!) knew all his lines, songs, etc. he hadn’t had full tech rehearsals in the role so wasn’t ready to go on yet. That one was handled pretty badly too - while audience members got a short preview performance and a full refund, they weren’t notified in advance and still paid for parking.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/anthony-warlow-injured-preview-show-of-doctor-zhivago-leaves-fans-upset/news-story/f17d44be501703cf6a2276595df8861d?sv=e8bd53cde4a9e0e0070aaaa87da325e2

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 8:42am

I had friends in from Boston to see the show Sat night and they were very disappointed that it was cancel and unfortunately for them, cannot make it back to see another performance.  I had warned them when they bought the tickets that it was a preview but they didn't seem to care.

Interested to hear if Parsons does t he show tonight.

[Danielle49]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 8:53am

I just realized that it was a preview performance when both Stephanie J. Block and her understudy were sick during Falsettos. Stephanie Umoh went on with pages in her hand and limited rehearsal.

I wonder what and who determines whether a performance is flat-out cancelled, and how it differs between plays and musicals.

Updated On: 5/14/18 at 08:53 AM

[yesraccoons]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 9:03am

Danielle49 said: "I just realized that it was a preview performance when both Stephanie J. Block and her understudy were sick during Falsettos. Stephanie Umoh went on with pages in her hand and limited rehearsal.

I wonder what and who determines whether a performance is flat-out canceled, and how it differs betweenplays and musicals."

To be fair the Falsettos set was less dangerous. Boys in the Band has confetti, wires, stairs, etc. Falsettos was a lot of block moving which could be done by anyone really if needed. 

Updated On: 5/14/18 at 09:03 AM

[ArtMan]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 9:21am

Where does the confetti take place?  I don't remember the movie or a local production having it.  While they can't really do anything about the stairs and wires, if the confetti is indeed a slip and fall hazard, simply get rid of it. 

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 12:08pm

ArtMan said: "Where does the confetti take place? I don't remember the movie or a local production having it. While they can't really do anything about the stairs and wires, if the confetti is indeed a slip and fall hazard, simply get rid of it."

The confetti is for the birthday celebration part of the play. it does look pretty raining down (it's an explosion of multi-colored shiny confetti) but it could easily be dispensed with.

[mbisping]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 12:23pm

Updated On: 5/14/18 at 12:23 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 1:06pm

mbisping said: "I was upset about the lack of notice and the travel money and time that I lost, but I can't stop thinking about a man weeping in the rain outside the Booth Theater Saturday night. He was one of about 20 random mourners who remained standing in the rain devastated. He had seen the original 50 years ago, and he knew he couldn't afford to fly back. To him, it wasn't just a play he missed.

So I'm mad that I didn't get enough notice so I could salvaged my weekend by getting tickets to another show, but that man's weeping is what I remember. The space was chaotic, lots of people were upset, the staff wasn't very accommodating, the barricades in front of the theater reminded me of another show's set.... but there were ticket holders there who seemed to lose more than a weekend. My heart ached for them."

Perhaps they should have hired a team of on-site grief counselors and psychiatrists to be available!  Seriously, these reactions are a bit much --- it's only a play for crying out loud.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 1:16pm

To you, it's only a play.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/14/18 at 1:18pm

JSquared2 said: "Seriously, these reactions are a bit much --- it's only a play for crying out loud."

 

If art didn't have the power to be deeply meaningful to people, what would be the point?