Michael Riedel and West Side Story Turmoil — Page 6

oo, thanks! this'll be good reading, I'm sure.

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Depending on the size of the paper, 12 understudy sheets could be made out of 1 complete understudy list. So the only problem is more human labor by cutting up 12.

Anbodys is the only semi- supporting role and the rest are just ensemble pretty much.

So, much improvement.

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 07:30 PM

quasi on-topic:
Was I the only one who thought the fan who e-mailed Riedel about being pissed Karen was out, might be Without a Trace?

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"The rest are just ensemble"???
Bite your tongue.

I hate when Zaza is out!

"Bite your tongue.

I hate when Zaza is out!"

I love my share of ensemble people, in every show I see. (Mostly because I am always in the ensemble) but I really don't see the point of giving character's names when they are never addressed directly and jsut confuse people with random names in the Playbills. Cats if I remember right, names the majority of their characters but only a handful are mentioned. So unless you were a super fan you have no idea who half of them are. (BTW- I only saw Cats because I was given the tickets)

If that was sarcastic then I apoligize, I am an idiot.

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 09:13 PM

Cson, with all due respect. But I thought you used to love this production? Did the negative word of mouth on here alter your opinion?

"Whether you think it's stupid or not, it's been my experience that people are disappointed when lots of understudies are in, even if they didn't know who they were in for."

Again, West Side Story doesn't need certain names to sell the show. Yes, it sucks if the three leads are out. Despite the tourist's initial disappointment, they'll most likely forget about it by the end of the show. This is just based on my own experiences with people who are not theater enthusiasts, but go into the city occasionally to catch a show.

I went with people to see Wedding Singer a few years back, and despite the people I was with being initially disappointed at many understudies, no one cared by the end of the show.

ETA: However, I do not condone the cast randomly skipping performances because of late-night partying or simply because they "don't feel like it." There needs to be a certain level of professionalism among the cast members. Hopefully there is a legit reason for an actor's excessive absenteeism.

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Updated On: 8/20/09 at 01:52 AM

Yes...But N2N isn't as physically demanding as WSS. You can't really compare the two.

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I just want to chime in and add my thoughts to this topic.

The vast majority of people who go to see something like West Side Story at this point, I would even guess to say somewhere around 98% don't care who's in the show. They don't. They don't care of Karen is out or if their playbill rains paper down on them when it opens. If anything it's more souvenirs to take back to Kansas. They don't care of Matt or Josefina are out, or even if Alice Ripley is out. They are on vacation and there to see the show, not the cast and the only reason anyone would "yell" is if Hugh Jackman was out.

It's appalling to see the amount of people who call in for this show but to say that the audience cares who's in really isn't true. Here on this board, we care. Outside of this board, not so much.

Adamgreer- I meant physically demanding, not emotionally.

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I'm amazed this non-story is getting so much attention on BWW. Didn't Mike Nichols give the cast of SPAMALOT the same speech when they started missing performances?

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I'd argue the exact opposite. Those of us on this board know who the players are and know that sometimes an understudy is a stronger performer than the lead (especially with the case of stunt or "star" casting) have less of an issue with this. It's the tourists who don't know actor A from B who feel like they're getting cheated when they see that a lead actor isn't on. All they know is that they paid full price and in their mind, aren't getting an A-level show.

I think that's true to a certain extent. The last time I saw WSS, as we were walking in, past the understudy board, the woman in front of me, who did not seem like a regular theatre-goer, looked at it and remarked to her friend there were lots of understudies on (the largest role that had an u/s was Anybodys, mind you). Her friend looked and said, "As long as the Tony, Maria, and Anita are there, it doesn't matter." The woman had never seen the production before, and probably didn't know who Matt, Josefina, or Karen were, but felt she would have been cheated seeing anyone but them.