Bcakstage Passes — Page 3

I was under the impression that you only "got a dresser" if you had costume changes during the show's run. that if it were pre show or during intermission (where you have plenty of time) that you were on your own.

I cannot imagine they can afford a dresser for every actor in a production.

(Note: I willingly admit that my thoughts above might have no relationship to reality whatsoever.)

---

Some dressers cover more than one cast member. I know a dresser for Billy Elliot and he said he covers four ensemble characters. You can see the names of all the dressers for a show in the part of the playbill where they have to list all the unknown people who work for the show. My N2N playbill says they only have about three dressers. Oh, and when I went backstage at Billy Elliot, I didn't try on costumes. Although, they would probably be too big on me.

Yup. A dresser is usually assigned to several actors -- they're not exclusive to just one actor.

Also, I remember visiting one particular actress in her dressing room and her paging for her dresser once she was ready to be dressed. Her dresser was waiting/sitting outside the dressing room waiting. Even though the actress could have easily put on her own costume without any problem (it wasn't anything complicated), she said she was forbidden to do so. Her dresser puts it on her and takes it off her. Period.

Link and Velma mimed playing.

Not true. At least for Link. I can't vouch for Velma. But as they were both credited as "Onstage Orchestra," I'd imagine she was really playing, too.

---

I was the star dresser on the first national tour.

Link and Velma mimed it.

I don't know about NY, but none of the pictures I see have the electric guitar connected to anything. The link to the video shows that the cord coming out the bottome of the guitar is just a short piece, that was attached to the back of the prop.

They may have been listed, but they were not playing.

Video of Link miming...

---

Updated On: 10/5/09 at 12:53 AM

The Musician's Union requirements for the Broadway production of Hairspray and the 1st National Tour were most likely different.

In any dispute, I will defer to Mr. marc Shaiman, but having seen both the 1st National Tour and Broadway productions of Hairspray more times than I should admit to, I figured that I would chime in here.

As far as actual pit musicians go, Hairspray on Broadway had 15 musicans and the 1st National Tour had 12 - 5 who toured and 7 pulled in locally.

1. Keyboard 1 (en tour)
2. Keyboard 2 (en tour)
3. Keyboard 3 (local)
4. Guitar 1 (en tour)
5. Guitar 2 (local)
6. Bass (en tour)
7. Woodwind 1 (local)
8. Woodwind 2 (local)
9. Trumpet (local)
10. Trombone (local)
11. Percussion (local)
12. Drums (en tour)

On Broadway, but not in the revised (and now lisenced) orchestration used on the 1st National Tour::
13. Violin 1
14. Violin 2
15. Viola

Penny and always the Male Authority Figure always played the Glock and harmonica live, but I can NEVER recall Velma's Keyboard or Link's Guitar being hot/live on stage... they were always mimed. You could actually press the keys on the keyboard, but it wasn't a powerd instrument. Link's guitar actually did have the cord that would be used to attahc to a mic pack/amp, but was never on to the best of my memory. In fact, in front row lottery seats, you could actually hear the faint powerless strum of the strings from lottery seats. Some had guitar playing history and mimed better than others, but it wasn't live. Several times I remember seeing the guitar with a broken or missing string...


As far as the tour Playbills go, I still have numerous programs from the 1st National Tour that didn't even list the local musicians in the pit - just the tour musicians.

On a similair note - any actors that have to move set pieces (like the Corny Collins Show podium in Hairspray) during the show recieve additional comepensation because Local 1 views it as taking a position away from their crew.. you couldn't very well work a bearish Local 1 member in jeans into some show moments and it IS on stage, but hey...

Fun tidbit - you can currently catch Alan Childs, the fantastic drummer from the 1st National Tour of Hairspray playing in the band at Toxic Avenger.

Diva was, indeed, the original star dresser for Edna. . and quite a fabulous dresser at that!

Steve? A Link understudy on the tour who took over? Ummm... On the 1st National, Link was played by Austin Miller, Serge Kushnier and Aaron Tviet. Understudies were Michael Cunio, Bryan West, Jeremy Woodard, James Royce Edwards and Darren Voros.. I don't recall ANY OTHERS and none of them used a stage name such as that..

And you only speak the truth...

---

legally,
The minimum would not be affected because the cast plays them. Either way, if the number of musicians that they want to use is less than the agreed house minimum, they'd have to seek approval for that. In the case of an already existing production being re-staged, I would say that it is easier to assume approval will come. For example, Mamma Mia's 9 member band is WELL below the Winter Garden house minimum, but the show was pre-existing, well established, and using the original instrumentations for those songs..
However, because the actors are playing their instruments, they would be required to join Local 802, the musicians unions, and would have to be compensated to match that union's requirements if (and they are) they are higher than the Actor's Equity agreements.

Updated On: 10/6/09 at 02:07 AM

I could be wrong - but it could be that if you are holding a "live" instrument on stage, you have to be a member of the union/get paid appropriately regardless of whether you're actually playing it.

Which is why Velma and Link might have had additional contracts. Also - I could be wrong, but Link might have played the first chord "live"...

---