Alternates and understudies who turn out to be great (Taylor Trensch)- Page 2

[Revoltingfansie]

Posted: 12/20/14 at 10:22am

Some of my favorites have to be:
John Arthur Greene as Mr. Wormwood in Matilda
AJ Holmes as Elder Cunningham in Book of Mormon
Aaron Albano as Aquino in Here Lies Love
Jake Odmark as Charlie in Kinky Boots
Adam Kaplan as Jack Kelly in Newsies
J. Michael Zygo as Guy in Once

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 12/20/14 at 1:25pm

I thought John Arthur Greene was great as Mr. Wormwood. I never got to see Ebert in the role, but it didn't lessen the experience at all.

The ones that stick out are the understudies and stand bys of BOM and Wicked, as I feel they're incredibly consistent with their talent. I've seen Wicked in 3 different tour cities and managed to only get stand by Elphabas. They were outstanding and I think most of them transitioned to full time in the role.

[wonkit]

Posted: 12/20/14 at 2:27pm

Maureen Moore as Ebersole's understudy in GREY GARDENS - when I saw the announcement, I was actually more excited as I had seen Moore in LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the New York City Opera! Wonderful actress with an amazing voice.

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 12/20/14 at 3:22pm

I actively preferred Jason Ralph in Peter and the Starcatcher to Adam Chanler-Berat.

[PanaroFan111]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 10:17am

Here are a few of my favorites
Aaron Walpole as Jean Valjean
Laird Macintosh as the Phantom
Joseph Mahowald as Jekyll/Hyde
Jim Weitzer as Andre (Phantom)
Dominic Scaglione J.R as Frankie Valli

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 10:38am

Last night I saw Jeff Kready go on for Monty in A Gentleman's Guide… he was fantastic!! I am so glad he gets to play the role full-time starting in January!

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 1:13pm

I'm a big fan of Maureen Moore, who always delivered great performance as regular standby for Broadway stars: she was amazing in Gray Gardens and simply phenomenal in Gypsy (she was Peters' standby in 2003) and a great Norma Desmond too!

Greg Jackson is brilliant in GGLAM, Matthew Barrow was a good u/s Charley in the last London production of Merrilly We Roll ALong, both Erik Altemus and Erik Altemus were fine in Pippin, Matt Doyle was a very good Melchior in Sping Awakening and Alexander Gemignani was quite good too as Sweeney Todd in the US Tour of Doyle's production, Jenn Colella in If/Then, James Gant as Javert and Jean Valjean in the London production of Les Misérables... these are the first ones I can thin about

Updated On: 12/23/14 at 01:13 PM

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 2:18pm

Before she was picked up for the Toronto production of Les Miz, Samantha Hill went on as the Christine alternate on Broadway in POTO. I saw her in, I think, her second performance. I realized immediately that she was going places. I also think Mary Michael Patterson, as Sierra Boggess's alternate, did a better job than Sierra. (I saw them both in one day, with Norm Lewis as the Phantom).

Before Norm Lewis became the Phantom, Hugh Panero seemed to have gotten tired of the role, and didn't have a lot of energy anymore (except for the 25th anniversary, which he nailed). I saw Greg Mills as his understudy, and was blown away. I also saw the new tour on a day when Cooper Grodin was out. I don't remember the cover's name, but he was fantastic also.

One minor problem that I've noticed with Phantom covers: They seem a bit tentative with their footing onstage, whether it's the Bway scenery or the tour. Greg Mills balanced himself on the gravestone and the tour sub walked very carefully down the twisting staircase. I couldn't blame either of them -- the sets in POTO are downright dangerous. I met one of the Phantoms at another show and he told me his mother almost had a heart attack when she saw him descend in the angel.

[Colle]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 3:03pm

Yeah, I know that if I was an actor on the U.S. tour of Phantom, I would hate those stairs. In the U.S. tour of phantom, I saw the Christine alternate(Grace Morgan) as well as the Phantom understudy(need to look up his name), both were good. I have seen pretty good understudies in shows, though I could not compare them with the regulars.

[acekatherineplumber2]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 2:14pm

I've seen a few excellent understudies. Curtis Holbrook was wonderful as Lucas in If/Then. Just as good as Anthony and not a carbon copy of him.
I was really excited to see Michelle Aravena as Adrian in Rocky because I saw her go on for Cassie, which she understudied in a local production of A Chorus Line.
I saw Joshua Dela Cruz in Aladdin as Aladdin and he was INCREDIBLE.
Then I saw Melissa Steadman Hart as Katherine (it was her first performance in the role) in the 1NT of Newsies. I was blown away by her and she's without a doubt the best Katherine I've ever seen/heard.

[SuperSecretBoyband]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 3:41pm

Broadway:

Molly Jobe as Katherine in Newsies
Melissa O'Neil as Fantine in Les Miserables
Joshua Dela Cruz as Aladdin

West End:

Tanya Manalang & Julia Abueva as Kim, Niall Sheehy as Chris, Carolyn Maitland as Ellen and Marsha Songcome as Gigi in Miss Saigon
Jade Davies as Cosette in Les Miserables
Jon Robyns as Huey in Memphis

[Speed]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 3:51pm

Megan McGinnis was great as Violet in SIDE SHOW. As was Jared Gertner in MORMON. Gertner went on to do the tour and London and was nominated for an Olivier!