Does the box office know about understudy appearances — Page 2

Absolutely! Have you seen the ticket prices for Moulin Rouge? I am paying to see Karen, Aaron, and Danny. No understudies! That is my choice as a ticket buyer, however unpopular that choice may be.

Pose2 said: "Absolutely! Have you seen the ticket prices for Moulin Rouge? I am paying to see Karen, Aaron, and Danny. No understudies! That is my choice as a ticket buyer, however unpopular that choice may be."

I’m sorry but holy smokes are the ticket prices INSANE for Moulin Rouge! . Im never seeing that show-but would anyone recommend the movie?

Updated On: 6/24/19 at 06:33 PM

Unless it is an above-the-title star with a scheduled absence, the box office is not informed of cast absences. However, it's possible that a box office attendant may know, simply as a result of working at the theater and receiving that information informally through conversation with production staff or the actors themselves.

I mean...a lot of the time, ticket prices will be inflated considerably whenever there’s a big name attached to the show. In these cases, many (if not most) audience members are shelling out boatloads of cash to see that big name, and it would be understandable for them to be disappointed and seek a refund/exchange if the lead actor had to call out that day. I respect understudies and am always interested in seeing their takes on their roles whenever I’m seeing something like, say, Phantom or Les Mis, but if I were to fork over a lot of my savings to see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man, then I would probably be inclined to want to know if he’d be out the day I’m trying to see the show. I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule for what audience members’ reactions to actors being out “should” be, because it really varies from show to show.

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Elfuhbuh said: "I mean...a lot of the time, ticket prices will be inflated considerably whenever there’s a big name attached to the show. In these cases, many (if not most) audience members are shelling out boatloads of cash to see that big name, and it would be understandable for them to be disappointed and seek a refund/exchange if the lead actor had to call out that day. I respect understudies and am always interested in seeing their takes on their roles whenever I’m seeing something like, say, Phantom or Les Mis, but if I were to fork over a lot of my savings to see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man, then I would probably be inclined to want to know if he’d be out the day I’m trying to see the show. I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule for what audience members’ reactions to actors being out “should” be, because it really varies from show to show."

You're completely right. It's like when Bette was in Hello Dolly! and people in front of me didn't realize they were there on a day when Donna Murphy was playing Dolly. One of them was extremely upset (which is completely understandable) I'm guessing because of how much they paid for their tickets. Again, understandable.

The ONLY thing I'd say about if you're planning on calling in the box office to ask about certain performers is that things happen. An emergency could come up and someone who was in during a matinee on a two show day could be out the evening show. I'd say don't rely on them to know who's in and who's out.

alex814 said: "OP: Many years ago I called the box office and they were able to tell me that the full cast of Wicked had performed for the matinee so that the likelihood of everyone being on the evening show was good."

This story is not easy to replicate, since it is not very easy to find the number that even gets you through to the box office. And, assuming you found that, you'd have to reach someone there who actually knew that no one called out of the matinee.

CT2NYC said: "magictodo123 said: "Elfuhbuh said: "I mean...a lot of the time, ticket prices will be inflated considerably whenever there’s a big name attached to the show. In these cases, many (if not most) audience members are shelling out boatloads of cash to see that big name, and it would be understandable for them to be disappointed and seek a refund/exchange if the lead actor had to call out that day. I respect understudies and am always interested in seeing their takes on their roles whenever I’m seeing something like, say, Phantom or Les Mis, but if I were to fork over a lot of my savings to see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man, then I would probably be inclined to want to know if he’d be out the day I’m trying to see the show. I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule for what audience members’ reactions to actors being out “should” be, because it really varies from show to show."

You're completely right. It's like when Bette was in Hello Dolly! and people in front of me didn't realize they were there on a day when Donna Murphy was playing Dolly. One of them was extremely upset (which is completely understandable) I'm guessing because of how much they paid for their tickets. Again, understandable."

This is not a good comparison. Donna was Bette's alternate, not an understudy, and her schedule was clearly posted from the day tickets went on sale. Anyone who bought expecting to see Bette only had themselves to blame."

Yeah see that's what I don't understand. The thing is, whenever there's a situation like that, it clearly says on ticket websites the days that alternates will be performing. I know for My Fair Lady, it clearly says the days where Kerstin Anderson will be in and not Laura Benanti. I THINK for Shuffle Along it also stated clearly when Audra would be out. I'm fairly certain that on Telecharge it clearly says on the ticket site when actors will be out if there's some sort of alternate schedule arranged when tickets go on sale. Unless you don't read anything on the site and ignore articles about the show that announce any type of cast schedule changes, how would you not be aware? Are people just looking for things to be mad about? **Sorry, I should have been clear that it was on a day that was clearly a Donna Murphy performance day.

magictodo123 said: "I'm fairly certain that on Telecharge it clearly says on the ticket site when actors will be out if there's some sort of alternate schedule arranged when tickets go on sale."

While this may be true for some shows, it's not always the case. For example, the Phantom page on Telecharge simply states, "Eryn LeCroy appears for Ms. Vorhees at certain performances." The role of Christine is cast with a primary (currently Ms. Vorhees) and an alternate (currently Ms. LeCroy), and the alternate appears in two shows per week, but Telecharge does not specify which actress appears in which shows.

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Lot666 said: "magictodo123 said: "I'm fairly certain that on Telecharge it clearly says on the ticket site when actors will be out if there's some sort of alternate schedule arranged when tickets go on sale."

While this may be true for some shows, it's not always the case. For example, the Phantom page on Telecharge simply states, "Eryn LeCroy appearsfor Ms. Vorhees at certain performances."The role of Christine is cast with a primary (currently Ms. Vorhees) and analternate(currently Ms. LeCroy), and the alternate appears in two shows per week, but Telecharge does not specify which actress appears in which shows."

Very good point. I forgot about that. Isn't the only distinction like that in the Playbill?

Phantom can be VERY specific when it comes to weekly changes. Some shows just hope you notice the slips that probably fell out.

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Wow.

NOT rereading this entire thing, but I certainly read enough.

Yes, feel free to experience a little disappointment when you were hoping to see someone, but let's go through this.

Theatre is a LIVE art form. It falls prey to the human body and the world. Things will always happen. The disclaimer that a listed performer may not appears is listed in MANY places throughout the process, even if it is not held within one's common sense. The program also specifies that no understudy will substitute for a listed actor unless an announcement is made at the time of the performance.

When star names are involved, especially, information is made available to the box office and outlets for SCHEDULED absences, but again, things happen and it is not possible to anticipate every time an actor will be out.

Additionally, the box office staff and ticket outlets are not a part of the PRODUCTION. They come with the venue or outside contracts, so no, they will never have the *full* information privy to a producer, company manager, or stage manager, and there are many reasons for that. I am sure people answer honestly with known information, and some of that may be noted with a glance to the callboard when they enter the building, but there are things that are bound by confidentiality for a variety of reasons.

That said, perhaps you should also take a moment to temper yourself and remember the situation. No matter how YOU feel, there is a nervous understudy standing on the other side of that curtain ready to give a performance equal to the missing actor when they have been given FAR less preparation and they can hear the grumbling in the audience, the snarky comments and sometimes condescending remarks of a disappointed audience.. and magnify that TENFOLD when it is a last minute switch and that actor has five minutes to prepare and there are no understudy slips so that Stage Management has to make that dreaded understudy announcement and the groans happen all at once.

.. and keep in mind the people who were disappointed when Linda Eder could not sing in Jekyll and Hyde and found themselves in the hands of this fresh understudy named Emily Skinner. Disappointing at the time. The stuff of legend now.