actors missing performances- Page 5

[TheatreDiva612]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:07pm

Andrew/Andrea (lol) I sent you a PM, by the way. : )

[cmleidi]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:26pm

No one wants to see a performer get sick. As I come from Ohio, I'm particularly annoyed when performers don't appear. In every case I've experienced, illness was not the reason for the absence. If it had been, I would have been disappointed, but I would not have been angry. On one occasion, I ran into an absent star at a restaurant. She was there with her boyfriend whose new musical had just opened. She had missed her own show to be at her boyfriend's show. Considering how poorly her show was received, you'd think she'd have done her best not to annoy ticket buyers. One actor told me he didn't show up because "he had shopping to do." When I saw Wicked in Dec. 2003, I sat next to an actor who was starring in a production a few blocks down. He missed his performance so he could see Wicked. I have several experiences like those. Yes, performers have lives, but they also made a commitment to the show, and there are certain performers who don't take it seriously, and I see no reason to excuse their behavior. Missing because you're ill is one thing. Missing performances because you can is another.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:52pm

Not a lot of actors get to see other shows because they're all dark the same day. Cut 'em a little slack. Haven't you ever taken (or wanted to take) a Mental Health Day?

[etoile]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:28am

That's why there are Actors' Fund performances.

Updated On: 11/27/05 at 12:28 AM

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:53am

i'm pretty sure i know who this andrew is

[trpguyy]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:55am

I know who "andrew" is now, but I didn't figure it out by myself. :)

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:07am

Please PM me then. I am dying to know hehe
Updated On: 11/27/05 at 01:07 AM

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:44am

okey dokey..new issue here. i'll fill you in on the in's and out's of this issue too...
actors are allotted "personal days" by the producers and/or stage managers and MANY, MANY times an agent will negotiate days off for an actor...for whatever reasons....
you may be on the road performing and a loved one comes to town..someone you haven't seen in MONTHS...and you might be GRANTED time off to be with that person...you can even take your vacation in the city where your show is playing and stay there while your understudy goes on. your understudy may be a local to a city and you GRANT them the priviledge of performing the leading role in their home town...agreed to and allowed by the producers and director. there are MANY reasons an actor may miss a show besides illness but it is all legal and actors are allowed personal days. i was able to go and see my old touring company perform in a city close by ..it was a personal day and the company i was with at the time, KNEW where i was going and it was ok..you actually have to fill out a form and say what you want to do and the producers and stage managers have to OK it...rarely do they say no...but sometimes they have to..and then the actor can't go to a family wedding or an important event in their lives...SUCH as your HUSBAND'S opening night on Broadway...i would NEVER miss that and i didn't..my company was generous enough to allow me to attend and i was there for his just as he was there for my opening night...
i think i might be a little tired of defending...
just try and use a little common sense and sensitivity when you;re about to type something nasty about a performer missing a show...in any case..personal day, illness ..whatever..its hard to miss..but sometimes, ONCE in a while..you need to take an extra day off..remember actors only get ONE day off...and on tour..you really get NO days off...your day off consists of travelling all day..lugging your luggage to the airport...flying for hours..landing..lugging luggage to a hotel...and trying to get some rest before you have to be at the theater EARLY the next day for sound check and orientation of the theater and meeting with another BRAND new dresser to go over all of the changes and everything..and then don't forget ..its an opening night in every new city..so you have to be FABULOUS and pray for a good review..cause the critics are THERE! PHEW! of course i am basing this on a tour that moves every week...but even tours that sit..MOST actors are bound to promotional duties on their days off..or PERHAPS they actually get to rest!
i am exhausted just thinking about it..i think i might call out sick at work tomorrow..i am just exhausted! hahahahahahah!!!
PS..i don't how to see or get a private message..you'll have to fill me in...

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:49am

where it says in the top right hand corner "1 new message" or whatever, you click on that and you'll see your list of messagess, then you proceed to click on the title :)

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:57am

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.....i got the PM's....SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet..
all i will say is SOMEONE guessed....but i won't say who....
maybe someday i will "reveal"...but i was warned not to...
i will share that i am so excited to get back into the biz..i miss it more than you can imagine. even if its just auditions for now..i have only been on a couple so far...
my intention is to audition for SMALL theaters for now and shows with a short run....much to my new agents' chagrin. i want to build my stamina back up and be sure i can fulfill my responsibility on a larger scale and for a longer period of time.
so if you hear that i am performing in a very small theater don't think i can't hack it in the big league..i have been in the big league already...and part of the reason i am TERRIFIED to go back is because i am concerned i can't do the job properly according to the fans and the producers/directors standards, ya know? 8 shows a week IS expected..no matter what..and its a big responsibility..one my body was not willing to handle at the time. no matter how hard i fought i just couldn't get well and no one knew what was wrong with me...
but now i am fine and i am really looking forward to my first opening night back in ANYTHING!! =)

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:59am

Keep defending, Andrew, though I know it's tiring. Thank you for everything you just said.

(Usually at this point, I say mean things about capitalization, but I won't. )

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:59am

That was what I always thought, Andrew. I know Joanne Gleason recently went to see her husband Chris Saradon when he started his role in Light in the Piazza. Sometimes they may be on vocal rest as well. There are just so many factors that come up. I see that people tend to focus more on negative ones though as a means to find justification for their annoyance at missing their favorite performer. If they are stars and top billed, you can get your tickets exchanged for another show, you know.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:01am

andrew - your attitude is very mature and professional. Any agent worth their salt would back you 100%. Good for you, and best of luck.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:03am

Good luck, andrew.

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:21am

oh gosh..i am terrible about using caps when communicating on the computer..sorry!!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:02pm

I personally don't think it's an issue of a actor missing a performance, but more of that an actor missing performances constantly. It becomes a problem particularly when one is being billed as part of the show, but a performer needs to really take note and decide that perhaps it is time to leave. Sara Ramirez (for example), has obviously been sick. So much so that she missed many performances. There should have been a time where she said to herself that the schedule is too much for her and she should have left the show. Clearly her health was in jeopardy and this is an industry where you need to be in top form (unlike an office job, where people often work while fighting an illness). I imagine performers aren't supposed to go over their allotted time off. Even people with office jobs caqn take extended leaves of absence if they are really sick. And for the record, I'm only using Sara Ramirez as an example because she has been the only recent performer to miss an excessive amount of performances.

As for the randomly missed performances, I used to tell people (when I was an usher in Chicago, the city not the show) who complained about replacements that there are no "stars" in the show and you are still seeing the show, and if there hadn't been a replacement slip in the program you wouldn't even know anything was different. While it is disappointing to not see a favorite performer (Jesse Tyler Ferguson was out of Spelling Bee Friday, and while I missed him, Todd was more than capable), it surely doesn't reflect badly on the performer and the performance was still excellent. That evening I was disappointed to not see Tracy Miller in Hairspray, but I was over it the second I finished reading the replacement insert. Things happen, and taken into perspective it isn't an earth-shattering problem.

[Doogie]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 1:39am

I have to get this out: It is very easy to figure out who Andrew is if you think about it and can remember some things dating back past the era of WICKED.

Regarding Julie Andrews, I think what a lot of people are not looking at is that her voice was not in the best of shape in the years prior to surgery anyway, and I wonder that, at 70 now, how much or well she'd be singing, surgery or not.

Doug

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 9:50pm

Good points by all. I guess I never thought of it in the way that it was put by Andrew. It is better to see a healthy singing understudy performing his heart out, than the regular who is not performing his usual best. I have tremendous amounts of respect for any stage performer, and I wonder if understudies feel alot of pressure because they feel the audience isn't technically there to see them. But still...
I know that I still get pretty disappointed when I hear it is an understudy in a lead role. Luckily, this hasn't really happened too much. As someone pointed out, money is a factor. You pay alot to see a show. But also another factor is the hype that gets built around the show's casts. I had heard alot about the cast of Jersey Boys (the four main guys) and I know I would have been very disappointed if, when I saw it, one of them was out. Everyone always raves about the principal regulars, and very rarely do you hear in the press (or whatever) how great the understudy is. As has been said, deep down we may think they understudy is not as talented as the lead (which isn't true) because if he was, well, shouldn't he have gotten the role as the regular in the first place?

Whoa, sorry guys, onto the question...

I really want to go back to see Jersey Boys again, and I will admit, I really want it to be the regulars (mainly because I want to, this time stick around for autographs). Does anyone know if, and I know I am sounding selfish, you can call beforehand, to check about any cancellations within the cast, prior to the show?