Ever went to a show to see a specific actor... — Page 2

I had done lottery for Spelling Bee with a group of friends hoping to see Foa....we saw him before the show running through the lobby...but then when the show began his understudy was on.

We also purchased tickets to see Tartaglia in B&TB but of course the day we went he was out filming for his show. Thankfully he was there last night but I wasn't too impressed. He was funny but his accent was horrible.

Ouch Caroline, that sucks! Jamie is my favorite!!! I love him. Anyway, I went to see Spamalot for the second time earlier this week (I hate the show, but I went to see Marin and Chris Seiber who recently returned). Naturally, Seiber was out, so I stayed just for Marin, who was ok at best.

THE COLOR PURPLE to see LaChanze and Elisabeth...both out

THE WEDDING SINGER to see Amy Spanger...out

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE to see Sutton Foster...out

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Bought tickets to "Grey Gardens" then it was announced that Christine would be on vacation that week. I saw Maureen Moore in the role and thought she was wonderful, though I would still like to to see Christine at some point.

Bought tickets for the first week of Julia Murney's stint on the "Wicked" tour and got the understudy (who I had already see play the role in Chicago for Stephanie Block) at the Sunday mat.

It's happened to me on several occasions.

First, back in January of 1999 I went to see the Cabaret revival and couldn't wait to see Alan Cumming. It turned out to be a very odd experience. It was the Sunday matinee, and although it was only 10 minutes before curtain they weren't letting anyone in. It had been raining pretty hard that day, and there was water leaking into Studio 54. The opening was originally delayed due to clean up. Then about 15 minutes after the show was supposed to start, an usher came into the lobby an announced that Alan Cumming had left the theatre sick. Since it happened so sudden, no one was ready to go on, so the show would be delayed an additional 30 minutes so Vance Avery could get into costume and make-up. The show ended up being great and Vance did a wonderful job on such short notice.

A few others: I missed Raul Esparza in Tick Tick Boom the first time I saw the show; I missed Stokes AND Marin Mazzie in Man of LaMancha; and I missed Norbert in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Although I only make one trip to the city a year (so I only get one chance to see each show), I still had a great time seeing each of these shows with their understudies.

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I flew in last Saturday from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to see the evening performance of "LoveMusik", first row center! I was able to to chat and shake hands with Donna Murphy that afternoon prior to the matinee only to have had the show canceled that evening...not even able to see her understudy because her understudy was covering for another actress.

Updated On: 5/18/07 at 09:06 PM

i REALLY wanted to see Davis Gaines as the Phantom because i hear all these amazing things about him... so i travelled from san diego to los angeles just to se Davis Gaines... got into a MAJOR car accident on the way up... and then every possible understudy went on that day... i was so mad.. the phantom u/s sucked!

Went to see Jersey Boys. Most of the cast was in, but JLY was out. Understudy was average.

On the other hand, I went to see Wicked praying for an understudy for Derrick Williams (I've heard he buthcers Dancing Through Life). Got one. Very Pleased.

I also did that when I went to see Grey Gardens.

Yes, twice when I saw Wicked.

February 18, 2004- Laura Bell Bundy instead of Kristin Chenoweth
May 31, 2005- Maria Eberline instead of Stephanie J. Block

Back in 2005, planning my first US trip, I decided on a whim to take a few days in San Fran and catch the Wicked tour and my beloved Stephanie J. Block as Elphaba.

A few weeks after I bought the ticket it was announced that Eden Espinosa would be doing the entire SF leg! So at least I had warning

Also, I ended up loving Eden and she's still, seven other actresses later, my favourite (or 2nd favourite, depending on the day) Elphaba. I'm glad things worked out the way they did - but for a few days there I wanted to cry a little!

Another with less warning: got tickets for Chicago with Bebe and Huey Lewis. Spent the months leading up to that praying that Bebe be on that day. She was, but Huey wasn't. I've loved him since I was 7 (Oliver and Company soundtrack!) so I was gutted - but pleased that it wasn't Bebe who was out!

Three friends and I flew to London to see Michael Crawford in The Woman in White (---well, we did do a lot of touristy things too), and for the first performance we saw, MC was out sick, and the understudy was on.

This was the time in late December/early January when Crawford was out and then came back for a few shows before he was out permanently. We got lucky and caught him during one of the few performances he managed at that time.

As it happened, I liked the show even with the understudy (I'm one of the few, I know).