Posted: 8/29/15 at 10:47am
Hey Everyone! I thought this would be a good idea for the board and I haven't seen one like it on here. So, if you see an understudy in a show, you could post your review here so we could read what you thought of the performance. That would be wonderful. To start off, did anyone see Jim Stanek in Fun Home last night?
Posted: 8/29/15 at 11:46am
Also, Brian d'Arcy James has been out of Something Rotten all week (on vacation). Has anyone seen his understudy?
Posted: 8/29/15 at 11:52am
I saw Jenny Hill on for Hedi Blickenstaff a few weeks ago in Something Rotten! She was great and I actually preferred her over Heidi (who I still loved in the role but Jenny just brought such a new energy to the role that I couldn't get enough of!)
Posted: 8/29/15 at 12:15pm
I have a friend on Facebook who saw Jim in Fun Home and said he was fantastic.
Posted: 8/29/15 at 12:22pm
Hello! I've seen Brian's Understudy Matt Wall when I saw the show this past Wednesday. He was great!!! He didn't have Brian's comedic timing but he killed it in the role :) Another fantastic understudy in my opinion is Gabriella Pizzolo for Sidney Lucas as Small Alison
Posted: 8/29/15 at 3:01pm
Jenn Colella as Elizabeth in If/Then. Wow. Jackie Burns as Elizabeth too. Both were amazing in the role.
Posted: 8/29/15 at 7:03pm
It's a supporting role so I don't know if it can on this thread, but I saw Brian Rivera go on as the Kralahome last night and he was spectacular. Really made a huge impression among an already stellar cast.
Updated On: 8/29/15 at 07:03 PM
Posted: 8/29/15 at 8:51pm
everythingtaboo, that's awesome! The Kralahome is a role that could easily be a bland background character. So it's awesome that he made such a good impression.
Posted: 8/29/15 at 11:13pm
I saw Matt Wall go on for Brian this past Tuesday for (what I was told) his first performance. He was excellent and led the show beautifully. It was fun to see how the cast was super excited for him at the curtain call. I wish only the best for Mr. Wall.
Also saw Fun Home last week with an understudy for Judy Kuhn. Her name escapes me, but she was also excellent. While she seemed a bit young at times (it felt more like a babysitter than a mom), she gave a heartbreaking performance and her Days and Days was devastatingly beautiful.
While I admit to always being slightly disappointed when seeing the slip in the playbill, it's always fun to see how well the understudies rise to the occasion.
Posted: 8/29/15 at 11:15pm
Jackie Burns as Idina' standby in If/Then was perfect casting
Posted: 8/31/15 at 10:49am
Henry, you saw Nicole Van Geisen as Helen. Here is a picture of her as Helen. Sorry I couldn't post it on the same post. I also heard she was very good. I'm glad you enjoyed her.
Posted: 8/31/15 at 12:18pm
I highly recommend anyone go see Kyle Selig when he's on as Elder Price. He's hilarious, agile, has amazing vocal chops and (even out of context) looks like a real 19-year-old missionary. I could easily see him taking on the role full-time.
Posted: 9/1/15 at 2:03am
Was dying to see Brian D'Arcy James in Something Rotten! but ended up seeing his understudy Matt Wall. While he was okay, the comedic timing was almost non-existent when I went which was a bit of a bummer.
I saw Timothy Ware go on for Billy Porter in Kinky Boots (who I also had been dying to see), but Timothy Ware was absolutely fantastic (although some of the high notes seem to be a bit hard for him to reach at times).
Posted: 9/3/15 at 11:29pm
Did anyone see Stacey Todd Holt go on for Brian D'Arcy James in Something Rotten? Would love to know how he did. Oh or Jenny Hill as Bea also in Something Rotten?
Posted: 9/3/15 at 11:41pm
A1st said: "Did anyone see Stacey Todd Holt go on for Brian D'Arcy James in Something Rotten? Would love to know how he did. Oh or Jenny Hill as Bea also in Something Rotten?
I saw him last Saturday night. He was ok. I didn't really like the show overall but he had energy. He seemed more touring company than Bway, but that's just my opinion.
Posted: 9/4/15 at 4:37pm
A1st said: "Did anyone see Stacey Todd Holt go on for Brian D'Arcy James in Something Rotten? Would love to know how he did. Oh or Jenny Hill as Bea also in Something Rotten?
"
Jenny Hill was an absolute delight in the role! I really really enjoyed her.
Posted: 9/5/15 at 2:17pm
I mentioned her in the Les Mis Replacements thread, but I wanted to make a post about the understudy I saw as Eponine last night. Her name was Cathryn Basile, and she was probably the best Eponine I've ever seen or heard. I've never seen an Eponine that was so convincing as a tough, child of the streets. Her portrayal of Eponine kind of reminded me of the character of Anybodys from West Side Story. She was a little bit Tom-boyish and scrappy, which worked really well for the character. Her singing was also excellent, though she seemed like she was struggling just a little bit to hit the top notes in On My Own. Still, she was great and I'm very glad I got to catch her.
Posted: 9/6/15 at 7:55am
Eric Sciotto will be on as Shakespeare in Something Rotten on 10/6, 7th and 10th.
Posted: 9/6/15 at 8:11am
Good thread!
I saw "The King and I" a couple of weeks ago and saw understudies for Lun Tha (Kelvin Moon Loh) and Prince Chulalongkorn (Sam Poon). I thought both were good but would probably benefit from more performances. The Prince was stronger in the reprise of "A Puzzlement" than he was in his book scenes, and Lun Tha grew stronger the more he was on stage.
Now this goes back four years (already! How time flies!), but I saw Adam Driver's understudy go on as Louis in the "Perestroika" half of Signature's revival of "Angels In America." I believe his name was Eric Bryant. He was the best Louis I have seen. Driver (who I saw in "Millennium Approaches"
would have been the best Louis otherwise, but his understudy was even better than him.
And way, way further back than that, I saw Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Rashad) go on for Sheryl Lee Ralph a few months after "Dreamgirls" opened. No comparison at all. Sheryl was fine, Phylicia was magnificent.
Updated On: 9/6/15 at 08:11 AM
Posted: 9/6/15 at 4:16pm
Blockhead24 said: "Eric Sciotto will be on as Shakespeare in Something Rotten on 10/6, 7th and 10th.
So happy for him! Can't wait to hear how he does! Does anyone know if Christian Borle has missed a show yet?
Updated On: 9/6/15 at 04:16 PM
Posted: 9/22/15 at 4:11pm
Kyle Selig is on as Elder Price tonight! https://twitter.com/kyleaselig/status/646416063090049024
Posted: 10/6/15 at 6:12pm
Christian Borle is on vacation all of this week. If anyone is going to see something rotten, I would love to hear how Eric Sciotto and Ryan Vandenboom do as Shakespere!
Posted: 10/6/15 at 6:16pm
Saw Kevin Kern on for Matthew Morrison in Finding Neverland a couple days ago. Didn't enjoy the show, but Kern was just fantastic. Warm, charismatic, and in great voice. I was really wowed by him.
Posted: 10/6/15 at 10:02pm
Blown away by Eric tonight!! He was amazing as Shakespeare.
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