Tony Awards & Broadway’s Swings and Understudies

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 6/4/22 at 10:15pm

https://twitter.com/jen__cody/status/1533112071851843585

Ran into a director for @TheTonyAwards last night. There is no plan to honor or lift up our swings and understudies as of yet. Maybe we retweet the heck out of this- that can change in the next week! @ActorsEquity @BroadwayCurtain @BroadwayWorld @playbill  @TheWing @broadwaynews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/4/22 at 10:21pm

Ugh, here we go again.

GIVE UNDERSTUDIES, STANDBYS, AND SWINGS THEIR RESPECT!!!

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 6/5/22 at 3:25am

EDSOSLO858 said: "Ugh, here we go again.

GIVE UNDERSTUDIES, STANDBYS, AND SWINGS THEIR RESPECT!!!"

Exactly. God forbid we show and/or acknowledge the people that have been jumping thru hoops and playing umpteen parts in order to keep the curtain up. 

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 6/6/22 at 12:21pm

While I completely agree. If there was a time to celebrate them, now is the time. Although, why did it have to come from Jenn Cody? I'm still sour from that whole thing a few years ago about the "star/stunt casting".

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/6/22 at 12:26pm

This has all been blown so wildly out of proportion based on heresay. Equity's president has already disputed it.

"Okay y’all. I know Twitter is built for outrage based on scant facts, but the rumors that @TheTonyAwards will ignore swings and understudies are just wrong. And have been wrong since before this rumor started yesterday. Even if @TheWing and @BroadwayLeague were completely, utterly tone deaf and just forgot how this season went down, I can say with certainty that @ArianaDeBose - who started in the chorus, who has understudied in multiple Bway shows - would NEVER let that happen.  Why don’t we let her do her job, take a collective cleansing breath, and look forward to seeing Broadway swings and understudies celebrated this Sunday, while remembering that there are also folks doing the same across the country, in theaters large and small. Rumors start all the time, for all kinds of reasons; it can be hard to know what to believe. Believe this: neither @TheTonyAwards nor @ArianaDeBose needed a twitter storm to remind them that swings and understudies saved Broadway this season. Stay safe."

People seem especially quick to manufacture faults with the Tonys this week, between this and the student ticket price ($250 being a bargain for anyone not nominated or not involved to attend the Tonys).

[OhHiii]

Posted: 6/6/22 at 1:37pm

Literally anyone on Twitter can say whatever they want to be inflammatory, regardless of if it's based in fact, and the Twitter mob will pounce and make anyone involved into a pariah. Nuance, context clues all out the window. 

Absolute madness. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/7/22 at 9:48am

I am curious to see what the extent of this recognition will be. Will it just be a mention during the monologue? Any produced pieces? 

(I'm most worried it'll be every presenter who was an understudy doing a, "I was an understudy once and look at me now!" kinda thing.)

[uncamark]

Posted: 6/7/22 at 11:29am

OhHiii said: "Literally anyone on Twitter can say whatever they want to be inflammatory, regardless of if it's based in fact, and the Twitter mob will pounce and make anyone involved into a pariah. Nuance, context clues all out the window.

Absolute madness."

What else do you expect from idiot millennials?

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 6/7/22 at 11:32am

uncamark said: "What else do you expect from idiot millennials?"

Not sure it does much to bolster your argument by disparaging an entire generation of people who are now full-blown adults in their 30s. 

[joshdog2014]

Posted: 6/8/22 at 9:34am

In 2018 they had ensemble members back up Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles for the opening number, and at a pause Josh Groban said “Ladies and gentlemen, represented the hardest working men and women on broadway, ensemble members from every nominated musical tonight.” I’ve been imagining something like that this whole time. I can’t imagine it’d be any less right? If it’s just a throwaway mention that’d still be incredibly disappointing.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 6/8/22 at 11:06am

If I was going to bet my life savings on anything, it would be that it will not be a throwaway mention.

EDIT after broadcast:

Guess I am now poor and destitute because a few shout outs it was. I would have much preferred an opening number featuring them as performers than what we had to endure at the start of the show.

Updated On: 6/13/22 at 11:06 AM

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 6/8/22 at 12:52pm

I would love (personally) to see a number that features a number of understudies and swings, in the principle costumes, singing a medley of songs from their respective shows. I doubt it will happen but how amazing would that be to see promoted on national TV. Sort of a way to prove that just because there is a little paper inside your playbill doesn't mean you are gonna get any less of a performance. In fact, you might even get a better one.

[joshdog2014]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 12:05am

well…

[Kad]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 10:33am

JasonC3 said: "If I was going to bet my life savings on anything, it would be that it will not be a throwaway mention."

Well, it ended up being several throwaway mentions. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 3:27pm

Missed opportunity. Big miss.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 3:42pm

I mean, what was everyone expecting?  An hour-long tribute to them during the ceremony?  I don't say this at all to take away from what they've done all year, but it's only a four-hour broadcast and there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who in some way work on Broadway shows every year.  Unfortunately, there can't be huge segments devoted to every single person.

From my recollection, there was practically zero mention of ushers, concessions staff, box office staff, marketing associates, scene shop workers, website developers, board operators, security staff, cleaning staff, sales reps, press agents and so many other people who were also vital to keeping Broadway alive this year.  There just isn't time for it.  So the fact that Ariana took several moments to mention swings and understudies (plus point out one performing in Six) and I'd say at least a third of the speeches mentioned their swings or understudies in some way is far more recognition than a lot of people who worked on Broadway this year got.

Again, I'm not at all undermining how vital swings and understudies are.  Just there's only so much you can do in a four-hour ceremony and it was great to see them at least get as much attention as they did.

[uncamark]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 4:23pm

Overreaction has become the mode of the day on social media, as Kate pointed out.

I don't know what it was like on this board, but on Twitter last night there were people saying that if "Strange Loop" didn't start winning, there would be a riot.  Folks (and note the spelling), this is not George Floyd being murdered by a cop, it's the frickin' Tony Awards.  In the grand scheme of things, BIPOCs and trans people winning an award for a comparatively small if lucrative portion of American theater is not that big a deal.  Priorities, folks, priorities.   

[Kad]

Posted: 6/13/22 at 4:30pm

uncamark said: "Overreaction has become the mode of the day on social media, as Kate pointed out.

I don't know what it was like on this board, but on Twitter last night there were people saying that if "Strange Loop" didn't start winning, there would be a riot. Folks (and note the spelling), this is not George Floyd being murdered by a cop, it's the frickin' Tony Awards. In the grand scheme of things, BIPOCs and trans people winning an award for a comparatively small if lucrative portion of American theater is not that big a deal. Priorities, folks, priorities. "

And a handful of theater teenagers being hyperbolic on Twitter isn’t worth you climbing on a soapbox. Do you think people were genuinely calling for riots? Lord.