Who was the best understudy you have ever seen!- Page 3

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 12:47pm

I didn't realize Cherry had missed a performance of Menagerie!

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 1:48pm

Dany'elle Williamson as Felicia in Memphis

Tari Kelly as Reno in Anything Goes

Meghann Fahy as Natalie in Next to Normal before she took over

Eric Sciotto as Shakespeare in Something Rotten

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 1:50pm

Ariana DeBose and Erik Altemus in Pippin.

Jennifer Smith in for Judy Kaye in Nice Work If You Can Get It.

[elephantseye]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 1:51pm

The evening I saw Falsettos, close to the end of its run, Anthony Rosenthal (who played Jason) got sick halfway through and his standby, Peyton Lusk, came on just for act ii. Incredible kid, told us at stage door he'd never gone on before!

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 2:13pm

I saw Barrett Doss go on as Alice in the recent You Can't Take It With You revival, and I thought she was absolutely wonderful! I was on cloud nine when I saw her get Groundhog Day!

[Ragged Tear]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 12:14am

Heather Headley as Sarah in RAGTIME's Toronto premiere back in 1996, without question the best understudy performance I ever saw. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 12:45am

Jin Ha for Burr was NOT bad. 

[bwaybri2]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 8:51am

Becky Gulsvig in Legally Blonde.   

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 9:07am

Nick Spangler in THE BOOK OF MORMON

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 9:10am

 

Another nod to Tari Kelly from me, so much so that if I could go back again and choose, I’d take Tari over Sutton. She was phenomenal, the ideal Reno Sweeney.

EDIT: And an honorable mention to Lauren Klein, who went on for Stockard Channing in OTHER DESERT CITIES. We were so disappointed to discover Ms. Channing was out since she was a big factor in our interest in the production, but Ms. Klein evaporated that disappointment within minutes of her entrance.

Updated On: 3/18/17 at 09:10 AM

[bluetuna]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 10:40am

Marianne2 said: "I didn't realize he was an alternate versus understudy when I saw West Side Story for the 2nd time, but Jeremy Jordan as Tony is my favorite.  

 

"

When I saw "West Side Story," Jeremy Jordan was on as the alternate Tony (well, understudy, in that he wasn't supposed to be performing that day).  He was phenomenal.  There were a ton of understudies that day, actually, resulting in understudies for the Jets playing members of the Sharks.  

[ajh]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 8:01pm

Another vote fo Laura Shoop as Amalia in Roundabouts' SHE LOVES ME. She was utterly glorious. I fell in love with her, and so did the rest of the audience. Her rapport with Zachary Levi was delightful, and I much prefer her singing of the score to Benanti.

[Scott Rosson]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 8:58pm

Gregory Treco as Burr. Loved his interpretation and his Wait For It was explosive.

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 10:12pm

Two of the best understudies I ever saw were both in Twyla Tharp productions. Makes sense.... understudies and swings in a Tharp show have to be ridiculous to handle multiple tracks. The first being John Selya's understudy in Movin' Out. I can't for the life of me remember his name, but he was a revelation. I don't think he was the alternate because I believe Rasta Thomas was at the time, but I could be wrong...  The other, was Keith Richardson's understudy in Come Fly Away.  I'm a huge fan of Keith's dancing and was extremely bummed he was out, but whoever his understudy was blew me away. 

 

Also, I absolutely loved Lauren Patten when I saw her go on for Medium Alison. I think I even preferred her take on the role over Emily's. Both were brilliant though. 

[steven22]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 4:24pm

Sara is out tonight and Stephanie is playing Jenna for anyone interested. I'm trying to get tickets! 

[SkylarElizabeth]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 7:08pm

I also saw Gregory Treco as Burr and the riffs at the end of Wait For It were incredible.  

Jevon Mcferrin as Hamilton was AMAZING 

Elizabeth Judd as Angelica was absolutely perfect

I also loved Lili Cooper as Elphaba!

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 7:12pm

Jim Stanek as Bruce in Fun Home. It was an absolutely amazing performance and I didn't even feel bad that we missed out on Michael Cerveris, who is one of my favorite actors of all time. Not to mention he's a great guy, too – he spoke to me for a solid fifteen minutes at the stagedoor after the show. 

[broadwaybuzz13]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 7:34pm

Anthony Sagaria as Fiyero on the Wicked Nat'l Tour! It was his debut, and he freaking amazing

[broadwaybuzz13]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 7:35pm

Aaaah yes! I saw him as TJeff and he was awesome!

[kellyhallo]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 11:37pm

Andrew Call in Groundhog Day

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 12:15am

thommg said: "This is going back many, many years. The night I was to see Judy Kaye in On The Twentieth Century, she was out. Her understudy was Christine Ebersole. I could not have imagined Judy Kaye being any better than Christine. After that, she did Geniuses Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, in which she gave another wonderful performance.

 

"

I'm not here to quarrel with you, because I didn't see Miss Ebersole in the role (and her performance in a Christopher Durang play a few years later remains one of the funniest hours I have ever spent).

I'm quoting your response because I noticed it as I was scrolling down to say Judy Kaye (in for Madeleine Kahn) was the best understudy I ever saw.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 12:34am

Matthew Dickens as Chris in Miss Saigon back in 1993. 

[tja928]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 1:05am

Emmy Raver-Lampman in Wicked

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 2:35am

OK, this is going way back, but it was an unforgettable night. The musical was Scarlett, the Harold Rome adaptation of Gone With the Wind starring Lesley Ann Warren. It was 1973, and I saw the show with Lesley first. The following week I was back at the Dorthy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, this time in the rehearsal rooms for an audition. A friend of mine was stage manager on Scarlett, saw me in the hall and pulled me aside and told me they were in chaos. Warren was sick (the pressure on her must have been tremendous: everything on her shoulders, bad reviews, constant fixes going in, and I think she was just separating from Jon Peters at that time).

Anyway, her understudy started rehearsal to go on for her, but she got sick as well and couldn't do it. So they were currently rehearsing  Udana Power, who played Melanie, as Scarlett, and putting Udana's understudy in as well. Needless to say, I wanted a ticket to see that.

I can definitely say that Ms. Power's performance was one of the most heroic I have ever seen. What had been dull a week before was now riveting just watching the cast and crew try not to kill each other with mansions and battlefields sailing across the stage. "As God is my witness" they all made it through and got what was maybe the only standing ovation of the LA run.

The show went to San Francisco after that, then Phoenix and I think some other cities, but they never brought it in to Broadway. (Good call, that.)

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 2:51am

Love understudy and standby performances!!!!

some standout performances include:

Vicki Noon as elphaba in wicked sf

Jackie Burns for idina in If/Then nyc

Maya Days in for heather headley in Aida nyc