Appreciation for Understudies Thread

[Nycat63]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:20am

There has been so much vitriol for understudies in certain shows on this board recently that I thought I'd start a thread to praise some of the understudies I've seen recently.  I am not a local, so when I come to NY I try to see as many shows as possible and certainly understand the feeling of wanting to see the principal in every role, particularly because I only have the opportunity to see most shows once; however, that can't always happen.  So let me give a shout out to some of the particularly excellent understudies I've seen in larger roles over the last year.

Josh Breckenridge (for Rodney Hicks) as Bob, etc. in Come From Away

Kathryn Boswell (for Christy Altomare) as Anastasia - I think for her first time!

Sean Montgomery (for John Sanders) as Ned in Groundhog Day

Monet Sabel as Beggar Woman/Pirelli in Sweeney off-Broadway - her first time!

Carla Stewart (for Danielle Brooks) as Sofia in the Color Purple

Benjamin Wheelwright (alternate Christopher) in Curious Incident

Andrew Chappelle (for Daveed Diggs just days after he left) as Jefferson/Lafayette in Hamilton

No, I'm not including understudies I wasn't crazy about - there are some, but that's life and I'd rather keep this positive.

 

 

 

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:31am

Jevon McFerrin was incredible as Hamilton.  I preferred his performance to that of Javier or Donald.  (Never saw Lin.)

 

Nycat63 said: Sean Montgomery (for John Sanders) as Ned in Groundhog Day

Jealous you got to see that.  I'd also like to see Sean as Phil Connors.

[Nycat63]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:42am

10086Sundays said: "Jevon McFerrin was incredible as Hamilton.  I preferred his performance to that of Javier or Donald.  (Never saw Lin.)

 

Nycat63 said: Sean Montgomery (for John Sanders) as Ned in Groundhog Day

Jealous you got to see that.  I'd also like to see Sean as Phil Connors.

 

He made a great Ned. It may have been his first time on as Ned, because his mother was in the bathroom at intermission telling people that was her son and that she came to watch him in a different part  I was fortunate enough to catch Andy Karl as Phil since I was only getting one crack at this, but I've heard Andrew Call is excellent, and I could see Sean doing the role as well.

 

 

 

 

"

 

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:13am

I saw Jim Stanek as Bruce in Fun Home shortly before it closed, and it was probably one of the best performances I've ever seen, understudy or not. And I'm a huge Michael Cerveris fan, so Jim actually managed to win me over in spite of how disappointed I was that it wasn't Michael. 

[MizMamie]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:21am

Two understudy performances that I really liked were:

1. Christian Dante White (for Gavin Creel) in Hello Dolly. 

2. Stephanie Martignetti (for Siobhan Dillon) in Sunset Boulevard.

To be honest, I enjoyed White's performance more than Creel's. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:26am

Jeremy Stolle is brilliant in the title role of Phantom of the Opera.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:27am

Erika Hunter is a great Gigi. I saw Rachelle Ann Go about a month later and I'm honestly not sure if one was better than the other. 

[bwayandstuff]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:31am

I've had the pleasure of seeing 3 of the understudies in CFA (Josh Breckenridge, Tamika Lawrence, and Tony LePage) and I thought they all did an excellent job!

I thought Laura Shoop did a great job as Amalia in She Love Me, very different than Benanti but I really enjoyed her performance.

Ali Ewoldt and Kelvin Moon Loh were great as Tuptim and Lun Tha in King and I. Their chemistry was so great and Ali's voice is amazing!

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 11:31 AM

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:33am

Stephanie Torns in Waitress. The perfect Jenna, in my opinion. 

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:25pm

I preferred Olivia Puckett as Zoe in DEH. 

 

[reginula]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:42pm

I got Lauren Zakrin as Natasha in Great Comet and I LOVED HER. I was happy to find a video of her singing No One Else at a gala in YouTube later. 

I also saw Josh Breckenridge at CFA! Thumbs up. 

[hl29]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:47pm

Lauren Patten as Medium Alison in Fun Home!!!

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:48pm

Forgot to say:

Andy Karl as Emmett in Legally Blonde.

[reginula]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:54pm

Oh! And I also saw Azudi Onyejekwe‏ as Dolokhov in Comet and Dom Simpson as Elder Price in Book of Mormon.

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 05:54 PM

[Nycat63]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 5:55pm

10086Sundays said: "Forgot to say:

Andy Karl as Emmett in Legally Blonde.

 

"I would have LOVED to see that.  I'm a massive Christian Borle fan, but I'll bet Andy brought a whole different vibe to that role.

 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 8:52pm

I saw Colton Ryan as Evan at the DEH Sunday matinee and thought he was excellent. He killed it on Waving Through a Window, and got even better as the show went on. I love Ben Platt on the cast recording, but Colton seemed more like a real teenager in a way. I hope he takes over once Ben leaves the show. 

[The Josh]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:51pm

My second time at Great Comet I was lucky enough to see Lauren Zakrin as Natasha opposite Dave Malloy!!!  She was wonderful.

[The Josh]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:51pm

Double post! :)

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 10:51 PM

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 11:00pm

Deirdre Madigan was an exceptional Jessie in Sweat when I saw the play on Broadway.

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 11:00 PM

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 2:20am

Forgot to mention that I saw Kennedy Caughell as Marya D. in Comet this last weekend. My friend and I have been following her career for a while (me since I saw her in the American Idiot tour in 2012), so it was a pleasant surprise when we got to the theatre, She was great!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 5:52am

Where is this vitriol the OP speaks of? This board has always been incredibly supportive of the understudy. 

[Nycat63]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 8:58am

dramamama611 said: "Where is this vitriol the OP speaks of? This board has always been incredibly supportive of the understudy. 

 

I may have overreacted, but I started my thread primarily after reading a DEH-related thread in which a couple of people were a bit melodramatic in their displeasure about Ben Platt and other principals being out, and then the board jumped on those people and so on and so forth - it got quite over the top.  The people "complaining" were, like me, people who live out of town and come to NY hoping to catch certain people in certain roles (though I understand life doesn't work that way). At first I wanted to come to their defense because i do understand that feeling of coming all the way to NY and seeing that little white slip in the Playbill, but I didn't want to get mixed up in it (plus they were just awful about how they articulated their displeasure so I couldn't defend that).  

I agree that this Board is typically supportive of understudies generally, but in the threads I've read recently, they are being less supportive of the understudy and more intent on bashing the posters who voice displeasure about leads being out. Yes, we should all recognize that actors are human, they get sick, they are entitled to vacation, etc., but it just gets a bit ugly on here sometimes.

So maybe a lot of this was aimed toward the DEH drama, but I thought it was time to praise some understudies in a separate thread and do something positive!

Hope that answers your question, but no offense was intended toward the Board re understudies - your point is well taken.

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 9:54am

Well, thanks for the thorough explanation!  (Really.) 

 

DEH does certainly create a massive amount of loyal (and immature) fans.   Which happens with most youth oriented stories.   (And before anyone wants to claim I'M a hater....I'm not.  Love the show, seen in several times.)

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 4:00pm

Jonathan Shew replaced Corey in Bandstand on Sunday. I won't say that he was the equal of Corey, but this was a tough role in which to make your Broadway debut. Acting, song, dance and on a moment's notice he had to sit down at the piano to play live (not recorded) and to play well. He was fine.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 4:01pm

Jonathan Wagner as Dewey was the best understudy I've ever seen.

Also, he wasn't an "understudy" (an alternate, rather), but Michael Luwoye remains the greatest Alexander Hamilton I've seen (and I've seen four of them).