I'm happy to see this idea of a star "letting" an understudy go on be put to rest. This is a serious business, not a question of generosity of heart or B'way noblesse oblige. Menzel knows well her obligation as star over the title, and she even said, famously, "we don't want Jackie to go on." Not bitchy, not mean, not narcissistic; a star owning her contractual (and moral) responsibility to an expensive production that exists because of her participation. Whenever fans blather about someone sitting out to "give an understudy a chance" I'm startled at the ... we'll just say ... naivete.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 8/30/14 at 11:45 AM