This past weekend of understudies

[justherehanging]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 9:29am

Maybe I just had bad timing because of the Tony’s
 

Great Gatsby Jeremy Jordan was out so I had his understudy

cabaret Gayle was out  it was not advertised until hours before, so we had her understudy

Outsiders,  Brody was also out  

 

 

 

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 11:32am

No surprise here but Lindsey Mendez was out when we watched Merrily this past weekend.

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 11:38am

justherehanging said: 

cabaret Gayle was out it was not advertised until hours before, so we had her understudy

"

I mean…yeah. 9 times out of 10, that’s kind of how understudy announcements work.

[stagepotato]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 11:40am

On Sunday, we had Lindsay Joan at The Heart of Rock and Roll for Cassandra. 

[yyys]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 11:49am

full cast for Hell's Kitchen saturday matinee.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:48pm

Gail is out tonight, too. 

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:51pm

I feel like this isn’t uncommon for Tony week, right? Off the top of my head I remember Ben Platt, Josh Groban (Great Comet), Sara Ramirez in Spamalot. I’m sure it’s a tough time on the body and voice. 

[willep]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 2:34pm

Apparently Little Shop has been having a lot of understudies, I know that’s not Broadway, but still.

[Shubert Alley Cat]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 8:11pm

Wick3 said: "No surprise here but Lindsey Mendez was out when we watched Merrily this past weekend."

Good grief I am so over her.

[justherehanging]

Posted: 6/17/24 at 8:26pm

I really think the show should be more proactive by letting audiences know it advance. I know last minute issues arise, but sometimes if you know they’re gonna be out, they should advertise it or put it on their social media page
 

it is frustrating when you go to a show and you have one expectation and it doesn’t occur and I know there’s no proper way to even address the situation but it is slightly disappointing if they’re going to be taking extra time off during Tony week to get ready for the Sunday performance, there’s no right way to say this 

[Strange Lupone]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 1:19am

Wick3 said: "No surprise here but Lindsey Mendez was out when we watched Merrily this past weekend."

 

Of course she was. Tony voting had ended. 
 

 

Updated On: 6/18/24 at 01:19 AM

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 3:14am

^The woman is 6 months pregnant, for god sake. Cut her a break. The amount of vitriol y’all have for this woman is just simply beyond. Find a hobby or something, sheesh. 

With how hectic the schedule is the week of the Tonys, it’s very common for a lot of people from the nominated shows to be out. A few years ago I went to see Ain’t Too Proud the day before the Tonys and all 3 nominated men were out. 

These people are human and can only do so much especially while doing the heavy lifting of the Tony week schedule on top of the usual 8 show week. I always think it’s nice when the producers of nominated shows opt out of a Sunday matinee the day of the Tonys to allow their cast and crew time before the ceremony. 

Updated On: 6/18/24 at 03:14 AM

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 4:19am

ClumsyDude15 said: "^The woman is 6 months pregnant, for god sake. Cut her a break. The amount of vitriol y’all have for this woman is just simply beyond. Find a hobby or something, sheesh.

With how hectic the schedule is the week of the Tonys, it’s very common for a lot of people from the nominated shows to be out. A few years ago I went to see Ain’t Too Proud the day before the Tonys and all 3 nominated men were out.

These people are human and can only do so much especially while doing the heavy lifting of the Tony week schedule on top of the usual 8 show week. I always think it’s nice when the producers of nominated shows opt out of a Sunday matinee the day of the Tonys to allow their cast and crew time before the ceremony."

But then again we got Audra tap dancing while being pregant ….and still not missing shows over and over

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 7:33am

The Tony voters got it right by not awarding Mss. Mendez with a Tony.  There needed to be consequences for her constantly missing performances in musicals she performs in.  

Updated On: 6/18/24 at 07:33 AM

[TheatreAddict]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 8:34am

At last Friday's performance of "The Wiz" five of the seven leads were out.

[Huss417]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 8:47am

TheatreAddict said: "At last Friday's performance of "The Wiz" five of the seven leads were out."

And we all know how many Tony Awards they were up for.

[TheatreAddict]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 9:07am

Huss417 said: "TheatreAddict said: "At last Friday's performance of "The Wiz" five of the seven leads were out."

And we all know how many Tony Awards they were up for."

The production is dreadful and deserved to be shut out in the Tonys. But still, that number of absences is unforgivable.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 9:17am

To my knowledge Lindsay has never had attendance issues before this show, and she’s friggin pregnant for God’s sake! None of us have ANY ground to walk on when it comes to this issue. For all we know she could have other health issues that we don’t know about or were exasperated by her pregnancy, there could be many factors at play that are NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. You are not OWED anything. If you don’t want to see the show without her, you can leave and get your money back! Otherwise shut up and leave the woman be! 

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 9:28am

Some sort of respiratory virus has been making the rounds at different shows recently, so that could be part of it. Before COVID, there was the whole “show must go on” mentality, and actors would just power through whatever sickness they had. We’ve heard stories about actors performing with the flu running offstage in between scenes to throw up in a bucket. After COVID, those stories stopped sounding “heroic” and just started sounding stupid. Why put your health and the health of your fellow company members at risk just so you don’t have to call out? As an actor, I can tell you that no one enjoys having to call out. They’re not sitting at home laughing thinking about all the people who’ll be upset that they’re not seeing them perform. Some actors can’t even stand the thought of their understudy going on and prefer not to hear reports of how things went when they return. But when you’ve gotta call out, you’ve gotta call out. I understand it’s frustrating not to see the performer(s) that you’d hoped to see, but that’s life. And who knows? That understudy you saw could be the next big thing in a few years, and you’ll have bragging rights!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 9:29am

A minority opinion: Mendez's was straddling two categories, leading and supporting, and it made her win in either a challenge this season. Arguably from a storytelling perspective, Mary is a leading player - it's always been a show about three people tethered to one another, as the last heartbreaker of a scene makes clear. Gussie and Beth are the supporting female characters in Merrily. But in relegating Mendez to supporting - one of the most competitive categories of the season - she was up against the strongest second tier actors. She would not have won as a leading lady, yet the show marketed her as one of tits three stars. Whether her absences played a role - Tony voters attending performances with her standby - we'll never know. But I believe Mary is as much a leading lady as, say, Cassie is in Chorus Line or Miss Hannigan is in Annie. Actors playing both won Best Performance by a Leading Actress. 

[yyys]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 9:50am

Yeah but Kecia Lewis deserved it better. They made the right decision.

tomwsjr said: "The Tony voters got it right by not awarding Mss. Mendez with a Tony. There needed to be consequences for her constantly missing performances in musicalsshe performs in."

 

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 10:00am

TheatreAddict said: "Huss417 said: "TheatreAddict said: "At last Friday's performance of "The Wiz" five of the seven leads were out."

And we all know how many Tony Awards they were up for."

The production is dreadful and deserved to be shut out in the Tonys. But still, that number of absences is unforgivable."

As I recall, because Wayne Brady hasn’t been removed from the Playbill yet (he left on 6/12), everyone gets a slip saying Alan Mingo Jr. is on as The Wiz by default until it changes.

As for the others, per Instagram, it looks like Avery, Kyle, and Nichelle all went down to Atlanta to see THE PREACHER’S WIFE (which, I can’t imagine that production wouldn’t have approved it in advance if they planned to be out). 

I’ve noticed Anthony Murphy and Kolby Kindle going on as Lion quite a bit recently, and Polanco Jones Jr. for Tin Man. Maybe the cast is starting to hit the wall as the run comes to a close. 

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 6/18/24 at 10:09am

WldKingdomHM said: "But then again we got Audra tap dancing while being pregant ….and still not missing shows over and over"

I’m not sure this is the standard to which we should be holding pregnant women.