Best day/time to attend show

Sometimes, I really don't care if the lead actors are in or not. Other times, I am only seeing the show for a specific lead/star.

Are there really any days that leads/stars are likely to miss a show other than maybe Wednesday and Saturday with 2 shows? Of course, there is always a risk when attending a show that any actor maybe out. Certainly being sick can never be predicted, but just wondering if a star is going to take off a show, which day is more likely to be it

Updated On: 6/27/16 at 06:16 PM

semi-related question, I've heard both of these recently and I'm wondering if either is actually thought to be more true:

- you should try and see the first show of the week (ie: Tuesday, if Monday is dark) because that's when an actor's voice is best/rested/freshest/etc.

- you should try and see a show towards the end of the week, because the voice during the 6th/7th/8th show of the week will be better (more relaxed/not as 'tight', or something?) than it is at the start of the week

Curious if one of these is accepted truth.

yankeefan7 said: "Good question and who really knows. From my experience, Sunday performances have been the ones I have seen leads take off the most



"



I think Sundays are a good day to take off, since most will have Monday off as well.

Thursday nights are historically considered the best nights for a performance. Not from an absence point of view, but that the audience is often considered the most attentive and the casts are theoretically more rested in a single show day.

For shows in which some of the cast work fewer than eight shows, yes, Friday and Saturday evenings are most likely to have the star performers.

Updated On: 6/27/16 at 07:35 PM

PThespian said: "I have to tell you, having stuffed understudy inserts into programs for over twenty years now there are definitely some interesting things to note on this topic.

1.) Each individual show has a "trend" towards which days more understudies go on, but the trend differs from show to show.

2.) A lot depends on what the performance schedule is.

Shows that are dark on Mon usually (again this varies from show to show) have few people out on Sun and more people out on Tues in my experience.

I think they probably do Sun because it tends to be a matinee/they finish early, and they know they have the next day off.

A lot of people take Tues off because it gives them a 2 1/2 day break.

3.) It depends on whether the show is more physically demanding (ie Cats) or vocally demanding (ie Phantom).

4.) It depends on the size of the part.

5.) It depends on individual actors' preferences. Work a show for a few weeks, and you can practically put money on who is going to be out when.



"

Interesting. Not surprising. So stay away from Sunday and Tuesday shows. I am sure personal commitments play a role into days off as well.

On Tuesday night, we saw The Color Purple and Danielle Brooks was out.

if this was Tue the 21st that was a planned out. I was there that night, and my friend was told when she bought tix that Danielle wouldn't be in.

But so speaking of planned outs, though (sorry for jacking this thread), she's also not going to be in on July 9th, which I know because of this:

https://twitter.com/thedanieb/status/746909058687451136

and I'm giving a little bit of a side-eye to this "I'm going to be out that day. Exchange your ticket." tweet.

re: the post-Tony absences.

As far of time of year - by far, the best time to see shows is May. All the spring shows will have opened, and during Tony voting time, there should be no scheduled absences and all nominated actors will be performing unless at death's door.

Personally, for my trips, since I pack all possible slots with shows, I make it a point to schedule my least-preferred show for my arrival day, since flights from the west coast typically arrive around 4:00 or so, without delays. Also, I sometimes find "dark" plays disconcerting in the afternoon, so for 2 show days, I'll tend to schedule lighter musical fare for matinees.

So sorry to get your hopes up...I edited the post! I got my POPS mixed up.

This was our first trip in June. Our prior two trips took place during spring break (April), and we never had an issue. I'll stick to April and May for future trips. Thanks for the input!

Tkristop, no worries! I'm still glad to know because I'll look for Philly footage now. Maybe some will be online at some point.