why is michelle dowdy in hairspray listed as understudy and not standby.

[poppinslionking]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:09pm

I have been reviewing the definitions of standbys and understudies. Understudies also play roles in the ensemble. Standbys do not play in the ensemble.

With these definitions, why is Michelle Dowdy in Haispray listed as an understudy for Tracy Turnblad. She should be listed as an standby, right? She doesnt play in the ensemble. She only plays Tracy when Shannon Durig is out.

[misto625]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:20am

She probably only gets paid as much as an ensemble member, not enough to be considered stand-by

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:36am

But pay shouldn't matter if she's in a standby capacity and not an understudy -- it still means she's being listed incorrectly.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:39am

For some reason, the standby for Tracy has always been listed as an understudy. There must be some technicality; I doubt that it has been a mistake that has gone uncorrected for this many years.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:47am

Am I wrong, but doesn't a standby have to be at the show up until a certain point? And not an understudy? They are in the show usually, except in this case it seems. Perhaps she doesn't show up each performance?

[Tag]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:53am

A standby can sometimes just call in a certain time before showtime and sometimes has to be a certain distance from the theatre. Or other times has to be at the theatre at the same calltime as the rest of the company.
Typically understudies are always in the ensemble, standbys are not.

[Dover]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 9:40am

Some understudies are not normally onstage. The Fantasticks is the first example that pops into my head. There are three understudies. There's no ensemble tracks for them to cover, so they're not swings. But they all cover more than one role, so they're not standbys. Incidentally, they are called at half hour and stay at the theatre for most of the performance.

Does the Tracy u/s also cover other roles? That might be why she's not called a standby.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 9:49am

Standbys are specially hired to cover 1 actor, usually the lead. The standby is a "name actor" in the theatrical sense of the word - someone with a lot of credits who is usually not as recognized as the actor they're playing. They're not in the ensemble.

An understudy is generally in the ensemble of the show, in their own part.

A swing is a person in the ensemble who covers multiple tracks, and is able to fill in for anyone (ensemble or otherwise) if they cannot perform.

Standbys have a specific pay scale, larger than understudies, no?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 9:59am

I checked the Hairspray website, and Michelle Dowdy is only listed as the Tracy understudy and not any other parts. Also, each person has a specific name they play...the parts are not labeled as "ensemble."

Yankeefan said standbys usually have a lot of credits and have bigger pay...the website says this is Dowdy's debut. Maybe that's why she is an understudy...?

[wickedmenzel318]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 10:44am

That is not true. Megan Hilty made her broadwya debut as an Glinda stanby but she was still called the standby. Dowdy is from my area and I have performed with her. She is a standby not an understudy but that is how this company lists it. i think when i say the equity tour they listed the standbys as standbys but i have to check when i get home.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:51am

Technically, she is a standby, though she doesn't have to be listed as such unless the contract states so.

In Las vegas, Tara Seisner stood by for Tracy and also covered the authority figure

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:57am

These job descriptions can certainly be bent to fit what the producers or actors prefer. Jana Robbins was listed as the Mama Rose standby on the 1989 GYPSY revival while she was also playing Mazeppa. Technically, she was an understudy, but wanted the better-sounding title, and the producers allowed it.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:19pm

No, there is no rule about a standby being a "name". Theater name or otherwise.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:34pm

yes, a stand-by doesn't have to be a name, but the title 'stand-by' may prove to be more 'respectable' to a better known person who is covering a big star.

[Dover]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:36pm

I suppose it's possible that she covers other ensemble tracks (even if they have names, they're still ensemble, or "chorus" if they're not on principal contracts). Maybe she covers tracks for which they don't have to make an understudy announcement, so she wouldn't be listed as an understudy except for Tracy. I don't know anything about the way the roles work there, aside from having seen the show a couple times, so I'm just speculating in general.

I think standby is more of a courtesy term, usually for an actor of higher stature than would normally take an understudy job. One thing I will say is that the word "standby" does not appear anywhere in the Equity rulebook for the production contract, which is kind of telling.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:37pm

Michelle Dowdy is a 20 year old fat girl. there is NO other`role in Hairspray that she could possibly cover. She can't be a Nicest Kid. They have to be slim and cute in comparison.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 2:44pm

Stand-by has the connotation that the replacement is just as good as the principal performer. In Dowdy's case, Haylie Duff is the next Patti LuPone in comparison. As to why Hairspray doesn't call her a stand-by, who knows.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 3:33pm

A swing is a person in the ensemble who covers multiple tracks

A swing is NOT an ensemble member. They are not in the show unless covering someones track.

Maybe she covers tracks for which they don't have to make an understudy announcement

Equity rules! All subsituted performs must be announced. Depending on contracts, time before show, etc. it has to be noted in the lobby, program or announced.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 4:03pm

Tag, hun, I must correct you.

A swing, TECHNICALLY is an ensemble member. The contract is a Pink production Contract (ie, ensemble contract). So, by contract definatition, there are ensemble. They just do not perorm unless a member of the performing ensemble that they cover is out.

Not all 'tracks' require an annnouncemebt or any sort. Ensemble roles do not. Some shows, such as Mamma Mia, elect to list them on a board in the lobby with principal understudies, but they do not HAVE to. Only principals and 'specialities' such as the Dynamites in Hairspray or the Moth in Tarzan are required to have announcements made for replacements. Announcements do not have to be made for ensemble.

There must be two types of notification used, but which to is up to discretion of the production. Lobby board, Playbill insert, or PA announcement. PA announcement is least common because it is the most likely to result in audible groans... and also easiest for audiences to forget.

When Hairspray opened, the production had to dsicuss announcements with equity because all tracks in the show had character names, but equity ruled that they only have to annnounce principal understudies and Dyanmite understudies (though they never specify which one is one.. you have to figure that out on your own). The first National tour, however, chose to list all ensemble replacements on the lobby board alongside the principal understudies.

[jg4892]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 4:35pm

When I recently saw the non equity tour, they listed understudies for the nicest kids.

[Dover]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:09pm

broadwayguy2: "PA announcement is least common because it is the most likely to result in audible groans..."

A few weeks ago I had to do an intermission announcement. No big deal, just an ensemble track whose specialty wasn't until Act 2 anyway. It went like this:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. At this performance--" (groan from at least several hundred people).

Now I know what it's like to be an actor with a hostile audience. Jeez at least give me a chance to get it out before you assume it's the Phantom or something!

And thanks for typing out all the rules about understudies and notification so I didn't have to.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:13pm

Ok, CONTRACTUALLY they might be considered ensemble, but swings do not appear onstage unless they are covering someone. So TECHNICALLY they aren't in the ensemble.

And broadwayguy you are correct an audio announcement does not always need to be made in the theatre. I meant announcemnt in the form of a program insert, lobby sign, or audio announcement. I am quite familiar with Equity rules (albeit Canadian ones, but they are more or less similar to American).

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:32pm

She should be listed as a standby. She does not, and really cannot, play any other role in the show, as no other character except Edna is larger, therefore making her not part of the ensemble. She is not on stage at the Neil Simon unless she's playing the role of Tracy, the only role she covers.

[littlelotte64]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 10:50pm

"Michelle Dowdy is a 20 year old fat girl. there is NO other`role in Hairspray that she could possibly cover. She can't be a Nicest Kid. They have to be slim and cute in comparison. "

Not for nothing, but I find that to be mean. There are better ways to narrow down if she can play any other parts.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:09pm

"She does not, and really cannot, play any other role in the show"

Please...she can't even play the part she's understudying.