Why Should We Be Okay With an UNDERSTUDY?

Shouldn't you be informed upon buying a ticket to a Broadway show that the lead of the show will be "on vacation" at the performance you're buying tickets to?
Recently,friends of mine saw MARY POPPINS with a substitute in the lead. That's quite a bitter pill to swallow, in my opinion. My initial interest in TARZAN was to see Josh Strickland in the lead. I would have been stunned to find out that he was replaced that evening. I understand that Broadway shows are "about the show", not the cast - but within reason, I think. What if it's a STAR in the lead role? If Patti LuPone had been ill during one of her Gypsy performances recently,and a substitute went on, would any of you have just thought "oh, well... bless her heart... hope she feels better tomorrow".
You know what? It'd really piss me off! Shouldn't some kind of compensation be made? It's not like the audience gets some kind of discount for seeing the show on the night that the understudy got her big chance! And before you say that this is just the consequences in which you take in seeing a live show, I will say that the lead performers need to make their vacation WELL in advance... and then you should be informed (somehow) at the time you're buying tickets. If I go to see a Madonna concert, I don't want a half-drunk Cindi Lauper to show up instead!

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Updated On: 8/20/07 at 10:15 PM

Substitute? Like a substitute teacher?

Really, unless the show is a star vehicle, you should probably expect not to be informed about vacations/personal days. [ETA] In these cases, it's about the show, not the star.

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Updated On: 8/18/07 at 10:20 PM

Maybe it's a SUBSTITUTE Sleeth.

I want my money back.

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But it's better than getting lead poisioning...

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In the theater world, it's called an understudy.

You do realize that many tourists could care less if John Groff, Julia Murney, or lead X in a certain show were out, don't you? It's not their responsibility to make sure everyone knows about it, because most don't care. A vacation is a vacation.

Really, unless the show is a star vehicle, you should probably expect not to be informed about vacations/personal days. [ETA] In these cases, it's about the show, not the star.

Lock.

MOST people don't know the difference between the understudy and the lead except in shows with major stars. If you don't know who you are going to see, it won't really make a difference. For example, I was pretty ticked when I went to Wicked and Eden Espinosa was out, but the majority of the audience probably didn't care a bit.

Stock.


You do realize that many tourists could care less if John Groff, Julia Murney, or lead X in a certain show were out, don't you? It's not their responsibility to make sure everyone knows about it, because most don't care. A vacation is a vacation.

Barrel!

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Actually, a lot of my non-theatre friends really do care about having an understudy. They don't care who is playing the role, however. The fact that an understudy is going on for the role somehow bugs them...

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Because it is LIVE theatre.







(I saw a Mary Poppins understudy and a little let down but far from upset.)

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"Maybe it's a SUBSTITUTE Sleeth.

I want my money back".

Lizzy - you're so f***ing cute! LOL Don't ever change!

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"If I go to see a Madonna concert, I don't want a half-drunk Cindi Lauper to show up instead!"

You have obviously never met half-drunk Cyndi Lauper, then. She's AWESOME.

And Franz, I thought that Alison Fraser was the Rose u/s? I thought I remembered reading that in another Gypsy thread.

WINSTON89 HAD AN AWESOME REPLY AND IT WAS DELETED. RARRRRR.

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I agree with Chason 100%.

Carry on.

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Updated On: 8/19/07 at 01:06 AM