Examples of Standbys / Understudies Filling In During A Show?

I heard about this from someone who was in the first SF production of Phantom for the entire run:

Apparently Lisa Vroman suffered some kind of sudden, severe cramp in her leg DURING "Think of Me," and had to be carried off stage. Cristen Mortenson, then Lisa's alternate, was paged, and she arrived to take over the role for the remainder of the show.

I've seen Gavroche and Piangi change between Acts 1 and 2, personally. Nothing dramatic, though.

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On January 7th, 2006, Shoshana Bean lost her voice and they had to page the S/B Saycon Sengbloh to come and replace her. They switched spots when Elphaba runs offstage right after Popular. Saycon finished the show and went on that night.

Idina's fall on January 8th, 2005 had Shoshana (the S/B at the time) getting green for the last 5 minutes of the show, and same as Saycon, Shoshana continued the show, and went on that night. . . and the next day.

Updated On: 3/27/06 at 06:15 PM

i didn't see it, but i know marissa jaret winoker hurt her calf in hairspray at some point and the show stopped for 15 minutes while the understudy got ready

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The second time I saw Avenue Q a while back, John Tartaglia did the first scene or two of Act I, but then by the third scene his understudy came out and did the rest of the show for him. While he seemed fine with his usual high energy, I later found out he was actually quite ill and simply couldn't continue with the show. The switch over was seemless -- Tartaglia exited one scene and his understudy came on for him at his next entrance less than 5 minutes later.

Over the years, I've seen Effies have to be replaced by their understudies at intermission in Dreamgirls, seen a dancer fall during the opening of A Chorus Line and being replaced by a swing for the rest of the show and I recall once at the Met seeing an Aida replaced by her standby after Act II. I'm sure there are other examples I'm forgetting.

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Updated On: 3/27/06 at 06:59 PM

What swing was it? Was it another Freddy understudy, or did they actually have to put a regular swing on in the role?

I went and saw Mamma Mia! in L.A. at the Pantages when it was out here on tour, and I remember halfway through the show, Sky was a different actor than I remembered him. At that point, I was just confused, as I'd never heard any announcement, and hadn't really looked at his face until then. I hate being confused.

first time i saw Les Miz was when the tour came here. the actor playing Javert (forgetting his name) was sick and replaced during intermission, in which they added 15 minutes. sitting front row, i could tell he was really trying during "stars." his understudy was able to slide right in and he was fantastic.

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Ok story time. Bought Wicked tickets for the day before my birthday for may 7th, 2004 a friday. Wickedgeek told me about Kristin's engagement in Candide so I quickly went in and swapped them for June 12th.
Act 1 on June 12th was amazing, Kristin being all bouncy and singing upside down on the bed during Popular, couldn't have been better. Intermission I was so excited cause I love Thank Goodness, I was dying to hear Kristin belting the final note.
Right before Act 2 opens an announcement was made that standby Laura Bell Bundy would be going on(before I knew she did Hairspray). I was near tears, I worked so hard to see that biotch and this unfortunate turn of luck occurs. Its ok I still love her and admire her amazing soprano-masteryness. LBB went on fine, near carbon copy of Cheno and hitting that note perfectly. Idina even made a funny comment about how she "grew" since she last saw her. It was funny, I wound up loving the show.
I think she was sick or something I later heard. Poor her and to do so well for half the show. She must have known though cause intermission wasn't unusually long though. After the show, she said they called her and she was getting all her makeup ready in her car even, so she must have been called earlier, Kristin must have known she wouldn't be able to go on much longer. Plus, she left the stage before even saying her final "I hope you're happy!" in DG. Grr

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Updated On: 3/27/06 at 08:35 PM

Wasn't there a big article by Liz Smith or one of the gossip mavens about how in AGYG, Bernadette Peters got ill midway through a song, ran off and threw up, finished the song, then her understudy finished the performance to raves.

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"Similarly, Ian McKellan once was very ill during a performance of Wild Honey. At one point he walked off the stage, vomited in the wings and then returned and finished the play."

Now that's dedication.

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when i was starting out with miss saigon..the girl i understudied NEVER got sick and hardly ever missed a show. she was amazing!
one night she could barely get through "i still believe". she kept coughing. i felt so bad for her! i was a peasant hiding behind the house during the Kim/Thuy see and there was the stage manager waving his arms frantically for me to come off stage to get me ready for act two! LOL..
it must have been SOO weird for the audience..she was blonde and i am brunette! they were probably like..chris got married again???!
then one time during JH...i had laryngitis but i was determined to get through the show! i could harly get Take Me as I Am out and i decided i better not continue..my WONDERFUL understudy Christy Tarr (J. Mark McVeys wife) was up and ready to go in minutes..the worst part was...SHE HAD planned a SURPISE wedding shower for me between shows that day!!! She had to tell me about it and i had to ask the stage manager permission to go because i was going to miss that night's performance too! they were kind enough to understand and say "YES! its your wedding shower..JUST DON"T TALK!!!" Christy threw me a beautiful dinner party and I felt so bad that i stressed her out that day when she was doing something soo nice for me.

About Bernadette Peters getting sick during a performance of "Annie Get Your Gun"--I was not there, but the story was in papers and magazines. Bernadette herself told the story on the old Marty Short talk show. Here is an excerpt from New York Metro Magazine, September 1999:

"THERE'S NO ILLNESS LIKE SHOW ILLNESS
Playing the lead in Annie Get Your Gun for six months has made Bernadette Peters a little queasy. During the first act of a recent performance, the czarina of the Broadway musical went silent, brought her hand to her mouth, and moved briskly offstage. One of her co-stars, left alone onstage, made do by spouting off a few limp jokes until an announcer explained that there would be a brief intermission. A few minutes later,
the stunned crowd was informed that Peters had taken ill but was feeling better and the show would go on. To uproarious applause, the Tony-award winner humorously ad-libbed her way back into the show; she then proceeded to belt out Irving Berlin's "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly." But Peters's rebound was short-lived: She barely stumbled through a nauseous rendition of "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" before racing off again. Peters was replaced by her understudy, Valerie Wright, who received a standing ovation. Says a spokeswoman for Peters, "Something was going around backstage. A lot of people were coming down." Thankfully for the resilient Peters, adds the flack, "it was just a little 24-hour stomach bug."

written by Beth Landman & Deborah Mitchell