Understudies:biggest disappointments/best surprises

After reading the thread on Stockard Channing's absences so early in the run of IT'S ONLY A PLAY, I was wondering what are people on here's biggest let downs when they've got to a theater and discovered that a beloved and/or expected star turn was out?

For me, it was getting to the Simon for BIG FISH literally two days after Press Night and discovering that Norbert Leo Butz was absent. It was especially galling as nearly all the reviews I'd read said he was the main thing the show had going for it. Ben Crawford did a thoroughly respectable job and is clearly a talent in his own right (being extremely handsome doesn't hurt either) but there was a spark missing, although whether that was because of the missing leading man I'm still not sure.

Similarly I saw KINKY BOOTS not long after Billy Porter won the Tony but I guess he was home polishing it that night as he wasn't on stage at the Hirschfield. That actually didn't impact on my overall enjoyment of the show....which was considerable although I was astonished by the variety of accents up on that stage.

On the other side of the coin, I saw the original London PHANTOM the second Saturday evening after Press Night and got to the theatre to hear many people grumbling that Sarah Brightman wasn't appearing. Claire Moore, the alternate rather than the understudy, did the most astonishing job of turning audience expectations around. Not only was she a lovely, natural actress, her soaring soprano wiped the floor with La Brightman's shriller, more brittle instrument. When the OLCR came out I was constantly disappointed playing it and hearing Brightman's vocals rather than Moore's.

Updated On: 9/17/14 at 11:54 PM

*rolls eyes*

What an awfully negative thing to say about Sarah Brightman. You can state your opinion without being rude.
For example: "I prefer Claire Moore's vocals to Sarah Brightman's vocals."

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For me, the most disappointing was my understudy for the King in the Melbourne production of The King and I. While I didn't NEED a star name like Jason Scott Lee (who had injured himself) or Lou Diamond Phillips (who took over a week later), it would have been nice to have had a King who wasn't 20 years younger than Anna. There was just no chemistry at all between them and he just wasn't strong enough to carry this (admittedly quite flawed) show.

The best surprises for me were Erin Hasan and later Suzie Mathers as Glinda in Wicked (although, she was technically more of a guest performer as she had just finished the Asia/New Zealand tour and wasn't in the company anymore). Both of them have gorgeous operatic voices and hit the optional high E, which I love.

I also loved Tod Strike as the Phantom in Love Never Dies - the theatre gods got a bit confused by my prayers to see the second Christine understudy (the aforementioned Erin) and instead gave me the second Phantom understudy. While I was a bit concerned when he had to lift Christine (as he is fairly short) he was just magnificent.

Sarah Schenkkan as Glinda in the first national tour of Wicked. That girl can sing, act, and dance and make you cry about it. She's an amazing talent.

Taylor Richardson was on as Annie in the last Broadway production and I was relieved because
Lilla Crawford seemed too old to me to be playing the part. I thought Taylor was great.

Disappointments: Marin out at Bullets and Sutton was out at Little Women. Neither show I cared for much so it wasn't a big deal.

Speaking of Stockard, I had the opportunity to watch Lauren Klein go on for her many times during OTHER DESERT CITIES. Not to take anything away from Stockard, who was phenomenal in the part, but Lauren was every bit her equal. And since there seems to be some recent debate here about the expectations of an understudy vis-à-vis the performer they're spelling, I'll mention that Lauren's performance was not a carbon copy of Stockard's, nor would I have wanted it to be.

This past Saturday I was really excited to see Jenn Colella in If/Then only to find out she was out. Her understudy, Stephanie Klemons was fantastic, though I still really wanted to see Jenn.

I saw Beautiful in July and when I looked at the cast list for that nights performance I was disappointed to see the Anika Larsen was out for Cynthia Weil. Thankfully Jessie was there that night but Sara King did an amazing job and after about 10 minutes, I forgot that she was the understudy because she did an amazing job. Thankfully, every time I have seen an understudy, I was not disappointed because each one was super talented and didn't take away from the show itself, but added another layer to the show.

Sarah Brightman didn't sound her best during Phantom, but if you listen to some of her solo work, her voice is worlds better. Her strongest suit has always been as a professional singer, not a musical actress.

In regards to your understudy question, funnily enough my biggest surprise was a couple months ago when I went to see Phantom. Sierra Boggess was out, and I was shocked to see that Mary Michael Patterson wasn't performing, given that she was the alternate, and that we would be watching Elizabeth Welch as Christine. (I was confused, since she's not listed as a Christine understudy in the Playbil.) Anyway, she was spectacular in the role, and by the end of the night I didn't really care if I had missed Sierra Boggess or not.

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Jared Gertner as Elder Cunningham in "The Book of Mormon" for sure. I also saw Josh Gad (and have seen every Cunningham on Broadway since), who I loved, but Jared Gertner was equally brilliant – makes sense that the producers would let him open both the national tour and London companies.

The only time I've been disappointed by an understudy was when I saw Chris Holland as Jean Valjean in London. I honestly can't fathom how there's people out there who have him as their favourite. The man couldn't hit half the notes and stumbled around the stage. I can't even chalk it down to him having a bad show as my friends who have caught him at Les Mis have said the same thing.

I'm not really sure who I'd say would be my best understudy surprise is as I've seen so many understudies that I have ended up preferring over the principal; Mark Isherwood as Nick Massi in Jersey Boys, AJ Callaghan as Fantine in Les Mis, Lauren Varnham as Babe in The Pajama Game, and Ashley Day in Mormon to name a few.

(Sorry these are all West End, the only time I've seen any understudies on Broadway was the first time I saw Phantom and I didn't really have anything to compare Jeremy Stolle and Paul Schaefer too at that time.)

My biggest disappointment was missing Audra AND Norm in Porgy and Bess. I was really looking forward to seeing them, but they were both out the night I saw it.