Idina Menzel and "Eden"- Page 2

[J.]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 1:47am

So do standbys have to come to every show and just sit around backstage? Nice job.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 1:52am

They used to but in this day and age they just have to be in the area of the theatre and if they are needed they will be paged or called.

One time Karen Mason (who was Glenn Close's standby for 'Sunset Boulevard') was getting her hair done when she got paged saying that Glenn was not going to be able to go on in the second act, so she had to rush to the theatre to fill in. It's a stressful job, and you have to be ready to go in and give a stunning performance at a moment's notice.

ADDED NOTE: In some ways being a standby is harder than being the star, because the audience usually is down about not being able to see the 'star' and will harshly judge your perfomance. ie. "I'm sure Kristen would have been better at this had she stayed" or "She can't be THAT good if shes just a standby"

Updated On: 7/5/04 at 01:52 AM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 1:56am

Yeah...that performance in June when Kristin left during intermission...Laura bell Bundy came running down the street and dashed into the theatre.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:00am

yep

[J.]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:07am

ok Do they have a designated radius they have to stay within and will get an electrical shock if they pass it? lol

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:23am

Yes, the boundary ends right before the nearest Starbucks...so they can't get any quality coffee. How cruel.

[KatePrinceton]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:29am

"Neil Patrick Harris was at the performance I saw a few months back. He came out the stage door and I think he was pissed because no one wanted his autograph."

"Pissed because no one wanted his autograph?" I seriously doubt that.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:41am

I now have a fun image of Laura Bell Bundy in a shock collar.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:42am

"No, no bad Bell Bundy! sit... Stay! good Bell Bundy....'

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 2:48am

Now THAT makes me laugh!

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 7:44am

That's hilarious. Great mental image you got going for me.

Stand-Bys CAN leave the shows early if nothing is going wrong with the people they fill-in for. Like at the end, Glinda's up in the bubble and Elphaba is...somewhere I won't spoil for people who haven't seen the show. Neither of them can really get out and miss the last minute of the show, or 5 minutes. It's pretty much leave at intermission or nothing at all. But I've met Eden coming out of the theater 5 or 10 minutes before the show ended.

[ps27b]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:38am

Thanks for the explanations re: stand-by and understudy. Does one have more status? Which is most likely to be called in? Why and how is the decison made? If a stand-by is always used first, and since they are already being paid, isn't it unlikely that an understudy would ever get called? Thanks all. P

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 11:22am

I suppose if the stand-by is sick or out of town then the understudy is the next person up if the star can't go on. Then a swing would have to take over the understudy's part(s) in the show. There is a usually a certain point in each show when the swings are allowed to go home, but it varies for every one. I know that for Millie the swings could leave after "Forget About the Boy".

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 11:32am

A few weeks back, Melissa Bell Chait had to go on as Glinda (when she hadn't played that part in months). I believe she is Kristin's understudy. Laura Bell Bundy was unable to be reached, and so that is a situation where an understudy has to play the part instead of a stand-by.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 11:32am

A few weeks back, Melissa Bell Chait had to go on as Glinda (when she hadn't played that part in months). I believe she is Kristin's understudy. Laura Bell Bundy was unable to be reached, and so that is a situation where an understudy has to play the part instead of a stand-by.

[magruder]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 11:44am

I was at a performance of Chicago with Ute Lemper as Velma...in the midst of Act One, they brought down the curtain before "I Can't Do It Alone" and announced that Nancy Hess would be taking over for Lemper, who was "ill" or "indisposed". (Can't remember what the stage announcement was). So, it can happen in the midst of Act One, too.

[junglered]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 12:16pm

I was at the added June 13th evening performance of Wicked where Idina was in Act 1 and Eden took over in Act 2. That night, Laura Bell Bundy was in for an ailing Kristin, Kris Cusick was in for Norbert Leo Butz, and Sean McCourt was in for the vacationing Joel Grey. At first I was disappointed, but realized that I had seen all the principals once before last November and would give Understudy/Standby night a fair shake.

Laura Bell was quite good. She is not as incredible as Kristin and can't quite hit the notes of Popular as well as her, but she did a very nice job. Kris was every bit as good as Norbert in my opinion. -And Sean has a better voice than Joel Grey...but of course, Joel is well...a theatre legend.

Idina turned in a good performance, but then struggled on her high notes during "Defying Gravity". Sure enough, an announcement was made during intermission that she would not continue in the second act due to illness. The audience seemed noticeably disappointed. Eden Espinosa stepped into the role of Elphaba for Act 2 ....and BLEW the audience away. She was awesome! I could tell that the audience seemed to start rooting for her and gave her a huge ovation after "No Good Deed".

Laura and Eden came out to take their bows together and Laura graciously stepped back to let Eden take the the final bow. The audience gave her a huge round of applause. In retrospect, I actually consider myself fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to see so many understudies/standbys get the chance to perform at their very best...and for getting to see both Idina AND Eden perform as Elphaba at the same show.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 12:42pm

yay! it seems that once eden starts to sing the audience falls in love with her. when i saw eden for the first time, as soon as she ran on stage with her suitcase i fell in love with her. she is just AMAZING!

[J.]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 3:40pm

Wow. There was actually a performance where EVERY lead was missing? Whoah!!

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 3:44pm

I thought Eden's No Good Deed was absolutely incredible. I just don't understand how it's possible to sing that role 8 times a week, let alone in one performance.

[WiCkEd4LyFfE]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 5:15pm

I saw Eden as well. I thought she was excellent! She sounded like Idina which was good at times, but made some notes her own. I got her autograph by the stage door and she even looked like Idina! I don't think she looked like her picture in the Playbill. By the way, how old is she? She looks about early 20's.

[th]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 8:50pm

I actually would have loved to have seen this. When I went to see it, I really did not care which Elphie was there(which by the way was Eden who was excellent, I can't imagine it being sung any better), as long as Kristin was there(who was perfect and stole the show that night). I also thought it was sweet that Kristin stepped back during the curtain call and gave Eden a special bow, when clearly the audience was in love with Kristin. The people next to me said Eden was the better singer, and Idina was the better actress so it would have been nice to have seen both of them to compare the two styles. I will tell you that Eden went higher on Defying Gravity than Idina. And another thing, at the end of the opening number, does Kristin hit that incredible note(not on the cd) at the end every night?

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 8:55pm

yes she does. she does the higher note, a high F i believe, at the end of 'thank goodness/ i couldn't be happier' every night as well.

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:11pm

sorry to break topic, but wow, I made that icon. So cool to see someone actually using it. :)

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:20pm

i know, i LOVE LOVE LOVE your site. i kind of took it without asking. i'm sorry. i should have asked. do you mind?