understudies
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Directing
Forum Discription: For questions about handling shows, actors, crew, board members, children ...or do we repeat ourselves?
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2783
Printed Date: 6/26/24 at 12:59am
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Topic: understudies
Posted By: Nanette
Subject: understudies
Date Posted: 10/31/07 at 6:42am
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How many of you out there have understudies for your productions?
Personally, I never name understudies, but I always have someone in mind ... just in case. I simply don't want to deal with the people who tell me, "My kid has worked hard to memorize all the lines and the blocking and should have time in the limelight, too!" I only do two performances; I don't want to deal with two casts! ------------- In a world of margarine, be butter! |
Replies:
Posted By: biggertigger
Date Posted: 10/31/07 at 11:07am
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This is one of those tough calls, you know the "d... if you do and d... if you don't."
I have used understudies if the actor comes to me with concerns or problems. In my area we have a military base and many of our actors are associated with the military. I have gotten calls weeks before a performance to say that they are being depolyed, etc. Though I try not to single them out, I try to keep that in the back of my mind to keep the production moving forward.
That being said, I don't run separate rehearsals, that is what the stage manager is for. Usually my understudy will work out time with the stage manager to get the notes and basic blocking. Because the understudy is usually a minor member of the cast they are already familiar with most of it anyways.
------------- The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes. |
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 11/01/07 at 3:37am
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I have never used understudies as yet? alyjough I had a close call when I did Man of La Mancha. The female lead pulled the pin, less than a month before the show opened. she had been offered the lead in tamming of the Shew at another theatre. So unpreturbed, at lest I hope it didn't show? I asked a young lass, who was was one of the other prisoners to read in. she didn't need to read from the script, as she had been secretly learning the part of Aldonza at home & driving her husband round the twist with it. So she was a gawd send & a proved to be a great chioce. There were a couple of hiccups though, she found out she a short while latter she was pregnant. I was assured it was not caused by the 'Rape' dance scene in the show? So I had to modify the scene & make allowances for any agressive movements in the dance, because of her condittion. Anyway on the day of the final dress she she turned & could hardly speak. so I hired in a radio mic set up & another female in the cast sang the songs for her in the show. As she wore the lapel mike for doing the dialogue the punters could not pick up that it was a vioce over to the music. Although we anounced the fact it was being done. Her throat was much better after a week & when she was cleared by the Quack. She did it without audio reinforcement. Funnily enough when she had her baby boy was born a while later. In fact he was born on my birthday [24th January]  I had to assure me wife 'n even Quixote - It was just a fantastic coincidence  ------------- [western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!} |
Posted By: whitebat
Date Posted: 11/26/07 at 12:32am
| I know a lot of our HS shows that are double cast, the major roles are double cast, but the actor has a minor role in the "other" cast. Sometimes the director may end up switching which actors are in the "same" cast. My thought is that for our next CT show, I would like to have tech crew take turns prompting, and be ready to understudy if need be. I know my brother will hate acting for life because of the traumatic experience he had being shoved into a role for which their was no understudy. So it might be worth some trouble to save someone the pain of having to do that. |
Posted By: SherrieAnne
Date Posted: 11/26/07 at 5:49pm
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I've worked both ways, with different companies over the (mumblemumble) years I've been in CT. One company I used to work with insisted on understudies for the leads - though I can never remember one ever having to go on! The understudies either had smaller roles (I was Sr. Berthe when I understudied the Mother Abbess in SOUND OF MUSIC) or were in the chorus (my understudy - who was the Mother Abbess! - as the Duchess in ME & MY GIRL was in the chorus). Other companies haven't used them - it's a toss-up. I once did three performances in one day as the Blue Fairy in PINOCCHIO with a 102-degree fever (bronchitis), because I had no understudy. A lot of times it depends on the director.
I'm getting ready to direct next year - a show that has no chorus into which I can place understudies. I may use the prompter idea, actually - and I may be VERY careful in my choice of Assistant Stage Manager...just in case, you know! ------------- There's a little bit of diva in all of us. Some just have a larger helping than others. |
Posted By: whitebat
Date Posted: 11/26/07 at 9:28pm
| Oh, I just thought of something! Some book, I think "The Stage Manager's Handbook"(?) explains how to set up understudies so if you lose one actor it doesn't start a chain reaction of understudies for understudies. Just thought that would be a good idea if you were to use understudies. |
Posted By: magicguy
Date Posted: 12/25/07 at 9:24pm
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There is a difference in double casting and understudies. With double casting, each actor that has the part will be in a show. However, an understudy is only in the show if the original actor can not be in the show. You do not need to give the understudy equal time in rehearsal. You can also have an actor be an understudy for more that one part. Make sure it is clear to the understudy that they will play that character only if the original actor can not be in the performance. If the actor (or parents) do not like this, then find another understudy.
Our theatre group is in a small town and we have no problem finding understudies. We alsways have understudies for all the main parts and can move around the cast if we have to replace any minor cast.
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Posted By: purplegirl
Date Posted: 1/02/08 at 1:46pm
Our team is not generally large enough to cast understudies, but we will usually have a couple of the junior members stand in as "readers" for cast members who can not be present for all rehearsals due to their real jobs. Those "readers" will occasionally need to step in for a cast member if there is an emergency, but there have been a couple of times where I, as Director, needed to step in and play a role. Once, a cast member fell and broke her ankle on opening night, and I was the only person who knew the role well enough to take it over. Fortunately, her costume fit me reasonably well.  That's not something I'd recommend doing, though.------------- It's not about you - it's about the story. |
Posted By: whitebat
Date Posted: 1/09/08 at 9:54pm
| Well, now that I think of it, "The Stage Manager's Handbook" has a lot of stuff on taking your company on tour, so it wouldn't necessarily apply. I think what they had in mind was a company where actors with smaller parts understudy lead roles. I guess some places do that with repertory theatre, where all the actors are in 2 or 3 shows. But that could place a large burden on one person, if they end up with a major role in more than one show. |
Posted By: MacThespian
Date Posted: 3/06/08 at 12:01am
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I'd love to have the luxury of having understudies, but in my area there are so many CTs that very few people are willing to do the work that being an understudy requires--unless I guarantee them a performance. Since most groups with whom I work only run 6 or 7 performances, this isn't really fair to the person I cast.
I'm currently directing a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and offered two auditionees the chance to understudy the Titania/Hippolyta and Oberon/Theseus roles (yes, I'm having one person do the paired roles). I was up front with each; I told them it's a lot of work with no guaranteed reward. I also offered a small spear carrier role in addition to the understudy position. One accepted, one turned me down. I think that the one who accepted has gotten better and better, just seeing what my primary choice for the role is doing. But I'm still hoping I don't have to use the understudy in a performance. |
Posted By: GoldCanyonLady
Date Posted: 3/06/08 at 6:45pm
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At 4 p.m. in the afternoon on opening night, I got a call from an actress with a medium sized role saying that she was very sick (this was not stage freight either as she was experienced); she was vomiting and couldn't stand up she was so dizzy. We had no understudy so who would know the blocking enough to go on? I did with a book and it was fine. People in the audience said that after a few seconds they forgot I had the book. Of course I kind of knew many of the lines but not in order. I was the witchey character in A Bad Year for Tomatoes and in one scene had to read the star's hand. It was awkward trying to hold the book and her hand so I just said (out loud) "It is really hard to read your palm with this darn book in my hand and it broke up the audience." Even though I felt bad for the sick actress it was kind of fun to be on stage again. She was back to the show and feeling fine the next night.
------------- Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona. |
Posted By: landon2006
Date Posted: 3/10/08 at 1:24pm
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Usually you can name an understudy from a smaller part. It's there job to learn both the small roles lines and blocking, and in case needed, they need to learn the main characters lines blocking as well. Understudies are the norm of productions which run for a long time (Broadway, Tours, etc) because most people will only want to play that role for a certain amount of time. ------------- |
Posted By: theatreforlife
Date Posted: 3/10/08 at 3:28pm
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I've done plays with understudies and without. We've never had to use an understudy, but I've been in two plays where we ended up needing one and didn't have one. The first - one of the leads family members had died, and the funeral was placed the only night we performed. We asked one of our extras to step up, and she learned the lines and blocking, character, etc. in one night. She did an amazing job, but it was rather scary as well, and we could've used an understudy. The second- one of our leads had run into a set piece during one of our matinees. His knee was twice it's size within a few minutes, and the night was very stressful, as we weren't sure he'd be able to go on. Fortunately he was, but having an understudy would've been very reassuring. But like I said, we've done shows with understudies, and never used them. So it's sort of a win/lose, good luck either way.  ------------- Being in theatre is very similar to be being unemployed. |