A Note of Praise to Swings
A Note of Praise to Swings
#1A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:23pm
I was perusing my SPIDER-MAN - TURN OFF THE DARK Playbill I acquired from attending the show last week. I read that Kyle Post, who is a Swing, understudies eleven (11!!!) roles in the show. Small roles, but even so, that's a LOT of work.
We all know the history of SPIDER-MAN and are aware of the frustration that everyone went through. After the cast got settled into their tracks for some months of performances, the show gets severely re-written and thus changing every one of the tracks. All of those six Swings must of had one helluva nightmare.
We ever so often give praise and acclaim to the leading, featured, and chorus performers in shows and more often than not ignore the Swings. I just wanted to put this out there: next time you go and see a big musical on Broadway or on Tour, read the Playbill and check out the names of the Swings. I dare say they put MORE work into the show than the leading players. For every single ensemble member, they have to memorize that specific track. (Those who do not know what a track is: it is the term used to identify an ensemble member's blocking, costume changes, and vocal arrangement.) Because of this, it's common for a Swing to ALSO be the Dance Captain.
It's an art all on its own, and takes a different type of talent. I am in awe of it.
Here's to the Swings!
--Aristotle
#2A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:26pmSwings are amazing. I don't know how they do it.
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#2A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:28pmAbsolutely agreed. When I see a show with a swing on, I try to notice which one of the ensemble they are, and have never to this day been able to do so. So impressive.
#3A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:29pmHonest to god, the swings are some of the highest paid folks in the show, and rightfully so. I had a friend who was a swing in the Les Mis revival and there were nights with all the swings on trying to cover multiple tracks at once.
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#4A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:35pmI could never be a swing. It's amazing what they have to do. What I don't get, though, is how they learn all of the vocal parts in the tracks. They must have super-ranges to be able to sing every single part, and to keep them all straight in their mind is an extra challenge! Swings are definitely the most under-appreciated actors out there.
threetwoone
Featured Actor Joined: 7/30/09
#5A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:42pmDon't forget about Universal Swings in shows like Wicked. Not only do they learn all of the different tracks, but they must know them in each company when they move around from one to another!
#6A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:53pmBrian Crum (the recent Gabe/Henry cover in NEXT TO NORMAL was a universal swing in WICKED.
ahhrealmonsters
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/10
#7A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 12:06amI hate when people complain that swings get paid to sit in the green room. Dude. They spend days in rehearsal and learn a bijillion parts, and generally one of the swings is dance captain.
#8A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 12:11amNot to mention Swings go on a LOT.
--Aristotle
#9A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 9:33amRegarding vocal tracks: In my experience and depending on the show, they learn a vocal track that suits their voice and sing that in the group numbers regardless of what part they are going on for. If the vocal part of the covered ensemble member is an essential element (like, say, a trio singing in harmony) then they would of course need to learn that specific part.
evic
Broadway Star Joined: 3/5/04
#10A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 10:01amIt can be a frustrating but rewarding job.....you don't get to go on every night, but that can be a good thing if you are not feeling well and it breaks the boredom of doing the same show over and over.....the fact that you can step in for numerous parts is a tribute to one's talent- that you are versitile to do that. You need to have a calm personna and have to know the show well if you are needed to step in mid show. Years ago, I did a show where 3 girls were out with one swing girl in the company. The dance captain made a list of the bits he needed me for to fill in and to fill the stage....(roles were not gender specified and were interchangable). I watched the show so many times that I knew everyone's track and said- just let me do the whole show- I was nervous as hell but did it for 3 performances. Got some pats on the back from some cast members- others didn't "get" what I had just done. You get paid extra for covering bits. It was a great learning experience and after swinging- everything else is a piece of cake. I had a gf who said that one night she was in the wrong spot as a swing and a guy in the cast literally lifted her up and placed her in the right place-lol
#11A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 10:07am
An example of the opposite of the vocal part thing would be the swings in American Idiot, speaking of Aspen Vincent specifically. When she would go on for Libby Winter's ensemble track, it was a soprano part. For Leslie McDonel, alto part. And Alysha, (fierce) high belting part. Aspen is amazing though, so she could handle it.
Swings are great! Some notably good one's I've recently are Aspen and Mikey Winslow in American Idiot, Daniel Watts and Candice in Memphis, Jonathan Warren and Anthony Galde in Wicked, and more that I can't think of right now. All very talented performers.
Updated On: 5/30/11 at 10:07 AM
#12A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 10:42am
Great Thread! GOOOOOO Swings! You make it possible for shows to continue!
#13A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 10:53am
I had no idea Swings got paid that well. On average, how does is compare to other roles in the show? More/less than standby, ensemble, etc.
PS That's the best news I've heard all day. TOTALLY well deserved, they pull of miracles.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
#14A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 12:08pmSwings get AEA/League Production Contract minimum and usually are negotiated higher. Why Swings get paid "more," typically, is because they get additional salary (per week) for every role (non-ensemble) they cover, and then ADDITIONAL salary every time they perform. When a Swing is a Dance Captain, they are paid additional salary for that, too.
--Aristotle
#15A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 12:58pmSwings and dance captains: the unsung heroes and heroines of the musical theater.
singalongsong2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/11/08
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#17A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 1:39pm
Agree, PalJoey. A great team of dance captains and swings can easily save a show, whereas if you are unlucky enough to have a bad combination of those you are pretty much screwed.
And it's really thanks to those dance captains that certain shows (especially the Stroman shows) are so well documented, so as to allow for recreations of that choreography around the country. So much work and detail in those bibles.
#18A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 1:42pm
Do ensemble members or swings typically have the ability to negotiate more than minimum? I've always thought they basically all get paid minimum because there is so much competition for their jobs, but I could be totally off base.
To clarify a previous post, the previous posting was talking about getting paid extra for performing in a non-ensemble role, not for the ensemble. I don't know if swings get paid extra to appear in a featured role (although I'm not sure how often most of them actually cover or go on for a featured role), but I'm pretty sure that swings do NOT get paid extra for going on as an ensemble member. I asked a swing once, and he said that unlike an understudy, whose main job is something else and who is going on as an "extra" part of the job, the swing's main job is to go on for ensemble members and they don't get paid extra to do so. (Similarly, I don't think standbys get paid extra when they actually go on.)
I believe the minimum for swings is $82 a week more than regular minimum. They are getting paid more than most people in the show, but they're not exactly raking it in. (The dance captain minimum is $330 more.)
#19A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/30/11 at 1:44pmSwings (at least under the production contract) get a pay bump of 1/8 of the weekly salary (I'm not sure if it's their salary or the salary of the person they cover) every time they go on, so if a swing goes on for all eight shows, they would double their salary for the week.
#20A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/31/11 at 12:01amI was a swing in a regional production of 42nd Street(also u/s Andy Lee). It was a 6 week run and for the first 2 1/2 weeks I did nothing but watch the show and follow a certain chorus members' track. I went on once during the show's third week and by the fifth week I performed in all 8 shows(three times as Andy and the other five times in three different tracks.) There were times just before a number I thought I had no clue where I was supposed to be, but it all works out.
#21A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:11am
I especially love when swings need to go on for roles that generally they would never have to perform -- the ones I can think of are in Rent, when a male swing on as Mimi's mom (changed to Mimi's dad), and a female swing on as Gordon (changed to Jordan). On the Jersey Boys 1NT, Erik Bates once had to go on for Melissa Strom in her scene-changing roles in Act 2 when she left the show sick.
YAY SWINGS!
rougeduck
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/07
#22A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:27amThey did male-female in the les miz revival too!
mattywhits
Understudy Joined: 5/30/10
#23A Note of Praise to Swings
Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:58am
Michael James Scott (now hilarious for the maggots in his scrotum) was fabulous as a male/female swing for HAIR...saw him go on once in Maya Sharpe's track (and he did her high part of the "What a Piece" duet GORGEOUSLY!). I love swings!! Kudos.
And kudos to CapnHook for starting this wonderful thread. It's nice to have us all coming together to support/congratulate people rather than bitch about them! :P
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