Understudys

[jetts7]

Understudys#1

Posted: 4/8/12 at 1:27pm

Has an understudy ever gone on for opening night or closing night?

[dramamama611]

Understudys #2

Posted: 4/8/12 at 1:29pm

Yup.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

[dramamama611]

Understudys #2

Posted: 4/8/12 at 1:32pm

Godspell had an understudy in (for Turn Back).

And there was an understudy in for the closing of ragtime in the role of Mother. (I'm pretty sure that's how it happened -- but that may have changed since they delayed closing by a wweek or two after it was announced.)

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

[Emmaloucbway]

Understudys #3

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:31pm

I remember Wilson Jermaine Heredia missed the closing night of the recent revival of LA CAGE, so his understudy got to go on for the final performance.

[Visceral_Fella]

Understudys #4

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:36pm

Yes, as dramamama said Mamie Parris played the role of mother in the final performance of Ragtime.

[Hina2]

Understudys #5

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:42pm

didn't lachanze have an understudy for color

[HBP]

Understudys #6

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:46pm

ooh, how was mamie in ragtime? she sounds pretty great as elphaba in the 1NT. far better than the one gracing the gershwin, now.

[chewy5000]

Understudys #7

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:47pm

understudy's

[givesmevoice]

Understudys #8

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:49pm

Or, more correctly, understudies.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Understudys #9

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:49pm

I remember reading that Jessica Lee Goldyn went on for Charlotte D'Amboise as Cassie in the final week of the ACL revival. What was the reason for that? I don't recall. from Roman in Austin, Texas

"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)

[fingerlakessinger]

Understudys #10

Posted: 4/8/12 at 10:58pm

Didn't someone need their understudy to go on for the closing performance of "August: Osage County" also?

"Life in theater is give and take...but you need to be ready to give more then you take..."

[adamgreer]

Understudys #11

Posted: 4/8/12 at 11:14pm

I remember reading that Jessica Lee Goldyn went on for Charlotte D'Amboise as Cassie in the final week of the ACL revival. What was the reason for that? I don't recall. from Roman in Austin, Texas

Charlotte left a few weeks before the show closed, so the final weeks of the run were shared between Goldyn and Nadine Isenegger, I believe.

Didn't someone need their understudy to go on for the closing performance of "August: Osage County" also?

Elizabeth Ashley missed the final performance of the show and Rondi Reed (who won the Tony for the role) went on for her. She was in Wicked at the time, but had her understudy go on in that show so she could appear in August that afternoon.

[Visceral_Fella]

Understudys #12

Posted: 4/8/12 at 11:25pm

Not sure if you're counting tours, but Adrienne Warren left the Dreamgirls tour a month early to do Bring it On, so one of her understudies performed at the last show.

[LizzieCurry]

Understudies #13

Posted: 4/8/12 at 11:48pm

Kevin Curtin was the final John in the London production of Miss Saigon.

Didn't Elizabeth DeGrazia's understudy perform on opening night of Jane Eyre?

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt