Open Forum

How do you handle the issues of understudies..or not having understudies? This past spring, I had understudies for all of the lead roles in my musical. It seemed necessary after the fall play, as I had a few leads who had other activities that would make them an hour late to rehearsals each day, some who were just flaky and a ton of talented ensemble members. At the spring musical auditions, we had about 20 kids audition that we didn’t know previously, and often had to toss our pens down because we were so inundated with new talent that we had no idea where to place people. Too many amazing kids, too few lead roles. So we made the 11 lead roles have understudies who were also ensemble members.

What ended up happening was that the “primary” leads a) took this as a chance to screw around more b) whined about having to fill the ensemble track when their understudy (who was in the ensemble in THEIR show) was on c) got jealous and passive aggressively rude because, frankly, most of the understudy leads ended up working twice as hard and being better than them.

In the end, by showtime, it paid off in spades. Due to the above rudeness, I did not allow two primary leads (who were on ensemble track at the time) for our school preview, I had a male lead out on opening night due to illness, and I had a female lead test my “if you are not there by call time, you will not go on” rule (which I completely predicted). Another primary cast member missed two shows due to a last minute trip out of the country (?). And then the rest of the other understudies only got one of the 6 shows to perform.

Needless to say, the “You are always on an audition” rule will apply for those whose work ethic was less than lovely, but my question is this:

Having to rehearse the understudies separately, especially once we had the band for our sitzprobe, was just a nightmare. It made things go on way too long and doubled the time required by the kids who were just honest-to-God ensemble and nothing else.

My idea for my shows next year was to have my student directors act as “swings,” and be ready to go on for everybody. The only issue is that i *know* my female student director will want to at least be on stage in an ensemble role when she’s not covering. And the whole “swing” idea for shows like “Rent” and “Into the Woods” strikes me as somewhat nightmarish and schizophrenic and breakdown-inducing.

Anyone have experience with this or any thoughts?



So let the sun come streaming in,
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again-
If you only look around,
You will be found.
-Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Dear Evan Hansen"

Disario, Jodi
Drama Teacher and Director
Willow Glen High School
jdisario@sjusd.org
www.msd.school

I think that having your students swing is a great idea. If you take that into account when staging or choreographing group numbers it should not be a problem. Place them either at an end (if you have even numbers) or in the center of large formation where the hole won't be noticed from the audience. I'd also recommend tightening up the consequences for being tardy or having something come up for a show. I had to do that this year. We did Peter Pan and the kid playing the crocodile hadn't showed up for his standardized testing and, of course, the test occurred during our matinee preview. Admis came and pulled him out of makeup (and he was about 30% green already) and into the test. I pulled one of the swings and said "you're playing the Croc in this show" and got her right into hair and make-up. The original kid races through his test and came back, but I wouldn't let him perform in that show. He wasn't present (regardless of the reason) for pre-show prep so he didn't perform. 

An easy way to handle the issue that can come up is, once your staging is complete, to have the swing shadow the part. Don't let them switch parts in one rehearsal. Have them focus on a single characters. They also highlight their lines in different colors to help keep the characters distinct as they are learning lines. I also require extremely different character choices (especially vocally and physically) to help differentiate the characters in the swings' heads. 

I also tell of the kids, from auditions forward, that the swing is the hardest part in the show. These kids tend to grow the most artistically because of this, but it is a very difficult thing to do... and they always seem to end up as a featured or lead role in their future shows;  probably because they have to work so much harder. I also guarantee a performance and they are allowed to pick the character they want to play. It helps keep them motivated and lets the "regular actors" know that they may lose their part if they don't do their work. I've had kids lose their roles to their swings because they don't get off-book or learn their staging in a timely manner. It's not fair to the rest of the cast so, after 3 warnings, if they are not off-book they are replaced. I don't have to do it very often (maybe once every 3-4 years) but it really helps control diva attitudes that can develop. 

You'll have some growing pains as you establish your expectations for the swings and the rest of the cast working together but, once they end, you'll find it's a really useful thing to have. When we did Pride and Prejudice the male swing, do to a variety of reasons, ended up playing not only Mr. Darcy, but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Collins, for 3 out of the 5 shows (1 show each). I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I didn't have him. It's worth the work in the end. :^)

------------------------------
Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-24-2017 08:39
From: Jodi Disario
Subject: Understudies or not

How do you handle the issues of understudies..or not having understudies? This past spring, I had understudies for all of the lead roles in my musical. It seemed necessary after the fall play, as I had a few leads who had other activities that would make them an hour late to rehearsals each day, some who were just flaky and a ton of talented ensemble members. At the spring musical auditions, we had about 20 kids audition that we didn't know previously, and often had to toss our pens down because we were so inundated with new talent that we had no idea where to place people. Too many amazing kids, too few lead roles. So we made the 11 lead roles have understudies who were also ensemble members.

What ended up happening was that the "primary" leads a) took this as a chance to screw around more b) whined about having to fill the ensemble track when their understudy (who was in the ensemble in THEIR show) was on c) got jealous and passive aggressively rude because, frankly, most of the understudy leads ended up working twice as hard and being better than them.

In the end, by showtime, it paid off in spades. Due to the above rudeness, I did not allow two primary leads (who were on ensemble track at the time) for our school preview, I had a male lead out on opening night due to illness, and I had a female lead test my "if you are not there by call time, you will not go on" rule (which I completely predicted). Another primary cast member missed two shows due to a last minute trip out of the country (?). And then the rest of the other understudies only got one of the 6 shows to perform.

Needless to say, the "You are always on an audition" rule will apply for those whose work ethic was less than lovely, but my question is this:

Having to rehearse the understudies separately, especially once we had the band for our sitzprobe, was just a nightmare. It made things go on way too long and doubled the time required by the kids who were just honest-to-God ensemble and nothing else.

My idea for my shows next year was to have my student directors act as "swings," and be ready to go on for everybody. The only issue is that i *know* my female student director will want to at least be on stage in an ensemble role when she's not covering. And the whole "swing" idea for shows like "Rent" and "Into the Woods" strikes me as somewhat nightmarish and schizophrenic and breakdown-inducing.

Anyone have experience with this or any thoughts?



So let the sun come streaming in,
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again-
If you only look around,
You will be found.
-Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Dear Evan Hansen"

Disario, Jodi
Drama Teacher and Director
Willow Glen High School
jdisario@sjusd.org
www.msd.school

I usually do not do understudies, except for the musicals, which we only do every other year. For a non-musical play, I feel like an understudy is mostly unnecessary. In the case of an emergency, I feel like I can have an ensemble member go on with a script, and it would be acceptable. Of course, depending on the show, this could change. When it comes to the musicals, I have understudies because in the case of an emergency, whoever goes on needs to at least know the music. Even in theses cases, the understudies get zero rehearsal time unless the actor in the role they are understudying is absent from rehearsal. They are expected to know their lines, music, and any blocking or choreography, while still knowing that they are not expected to be needed unless it is an emergency. It's a lot of faith, so I only cast students I can trust and rely on as understudies. It's a thankless job, I tell them, but a necessary one. I'm only finished now with my 4th year as a high school Drama teacher, but *knock on wood* I have yet to have a single student miss a performance.

Now, if I go through auditions and have an overabundance of talent (what a great problem to have) then sometimes I double-cast lead roles. I have only done this twice. In these cases, the actors get equal stage time during rehearsals, and split the performances. There are positives and negatives with this approach. On the negative, sometimes one or both actors feel a bit "cheated" by this. They also get half the rehearsal time, which does have an effect, especially during tech week. On the positive side, the two actors learn from each other, and will bring something different to the role. Also, sometimes this will bring the actors closer together, which is nice for group harmony.

------------------------------
Christopher Hamilton
Drama Teacher
Kennewick WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-24-2017 08:39
From: Jodi Disario
Subject: Understudies or not

How do you handle the issues of understudies..or not having understudies? This past spring, I had understudies for all of the lead roles in my musical. It seemed necessary after the fall play, as I had a few leads who had other activities that would make them an hour late to rehearsals each day, some who were just flaky and a ton of talented ensemble members. At the spring musical auditions, we had about 20 kids audition that we didn't know previously, and often had to toss our pens down because we were so inundated with new talent that we had no idea where to place people. Too many amazing kids, too few lead roles. So we made the 11 lead roles have understudies who were also ensemble members.

What ended up happening was that the "primary" leads a) took this as a chance to screw around more b) whined about having to fill the ensemble track when their understudy (who was in the ensemble in THEIR show) was on c) got jealous and passive aggressively rude because, frankly, most of the understudy leads ended up working twice as hard and being better than them.

In the end, by showtime, it paid off in spades. Due to the above rudeness, I did not allow two primary leads (who were on ensemble track at the time) for our school preview, I had a male lead out on opening night due to illness, and I had a female lead test my "if you are not there by call time, you will not go on" rule (which I completely predicted). Another primary cast member missed two shows due to a last minute trip out of the country (?). And then the rest of the other understudies only got one of the 6 shows to perform.

Needless to say, the "You are always on an audition" rule will apply for those whose work ethic was less than lovely, but my question is this:

Having to rehearse the understudies separately, especially once we had the band for our sitzprobe, was just a nightmare. It made things go on way too long and doubled the time required by the kids who were just honest-to-God ensemble and nothing else.

My idea for my shows next year was to have my student directors act as "swings," and be ready to go on for everybody. The only issue is that i *know* my female student director will want to at least be on stage in an ensemble role when she's not covering. And the whole "swing" idea for shows like "Rent" and "Into the Woods" strikes me as somewhat nightmarish and schizophrenic and breakdown-inducing.

Anyone have experience with this or any thoughts?



So let the sun come streaming in,
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again-
If you only look around,
You will be found.
-Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Dear Evan Hansen"

Disario, Jodi
Drama Teacher and Director
Willow Glen High School
jdisario@sjusd.org
www.msd.school

In our program we do not publicize understudies. Instead we do two things.

One we tell all ensemble members or those with bit parts to be ready to jump in for any other roles as needed. If someone misses or is late to a rehearsal or not meeting expectations in another way, we tell another student to grab a script and get up there. This gives us a chance to try different people if someone is out several times and a pattern is emerging, and sometimes we end up finding someone awesome who just wasn't on game for auditions. What we end up with is several students who know the role at least a little bit and more time for us to asses who should be where if changes are made. This also causes the ensemble to be constantly paying attention because at any rehearsal they could be thrown in to any role. 

Second, when we see a pattern of absences (or bad attitude, or poor grades or school attendance, which we also require be high in our contract) we pull aside the offender and let them know that they are on the verge of being dropped from the show. We also privately pull aside whomever, from among the people who have been filling in for that person off and on, we think should be that person's replacement and we tell them to start studying the role more intensely. This gives them an acknowledgement that they are doing great work, and is a way for us to let them know one on one that we see great potential in them and are looking forward to working with them moving forward, even if they aren't moved into the role for this show. We let both parties know that should we need to, the now understudy will be called in. It is made clear that this is not happening yet, but could be if things continue in the same direction. We have had to do this for several shows, and when it happens either the student who isn't meeting expectations drops the show on their own, or shapes up. It's rare we have to actually have to tell a student they are cut, they usually come to the conclusion on their own or make a choice to reset their priorities. This is all done privately because then it's easy for either student to back down and say they can't or don't want to do the work. 

When we have tried using understudies straight from auditions, there is usually bitterness and upset feelings somewhere in there and that becomes unnecessary to the process. Our understudies never perform unless someone is sick or cut/drops from the show. Once at the last minute I had a sick student who couldn't go on for Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and we pulled together the female fairies and said "who knows the role best?" They all pointed to the same person among them and so we put her in the costume and said "grab your script and cram backstage before each scene." She was wonderful in the role and it worked out just fine, because all of them had been studying the part and so where needed they all helped her and covered for her. In their minds they were each her understudy in some way, as they knew as ensemble members they should be memorizing everyone's lines and blocking and be ready. It really does get everyone studying the whole script a little more.

------------------------------
Kathleen McNulty Mann
mcnulkl@bay.k12.fl.us

Arnold High School Theatre
Panama City Beach, FL
Program Director and Thespian Sponsor

Florida Association for Theatre Education
Board Member
Membership Committee Chair
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-24-2017 08:39
From: Jodi Disario
Subject: Understudies or not

How do you handle the issues of understudies..or not having understudies? This past spring, I had understudies for all of the lead roles in my musical. It seemed necessary after the fall play, as I had a few leads who had other activities that would make them an hour late to rehearsals each day, some who were just flaky and a ton of talented ensemble members. At the spring musical auditions, we had about 20 kids audition that we didn't know previously, and often had to toss our pens down because we were so inundated with new talent that we had no idea where to place people. Too many amazing kids, too few lead roles. So we made the 11 lead roles have understudies who were also ensemble members.

What ended up happening was that the "primary" leads a) took this as a chance to screw around more b) whined about having to fill the ensemble track when their understudy (who was in the ensemble in THEIR show) was on c) got jealous and passive aggressively rude because, frankly, most of the understudy leads ended up working twice as hard and being better than them.

In the end, by showtime, it paid off in spades. Due to the above rudeness, I did not allow two primary leads (who were on ensemble track at the time) for our school preview, I had a male lead out on opening night due to illness, and I had a female lead test my "if you are not there by call time, you will not go on" rule (which I completely predicted). Another primary cast member missed two shows due to a last minute trip out of the country (?). And then the rest of the other understudies only got one of the 6 shows to perform.

Needless to say, the "You are always on an audition" rule will apply for those whose work ethic was less than lovely, but my question is this:

Having to rehearse the understudies separately, especially once we had the band for our sitzprobe, was just a nightmare. It made things go on way too long and doubled the time required by the kids who were just honest-to-God ensemble and nothing else.

My idea for my shows next year was to have my student directors act as "swings," and be ready to go on for everybody. The only issue is that i *know* my female student director will want to at least be on stage in an ensemble role when she's not covering. And the whole "swing" idea for shows like "Rent" and "Into the Woods" strikes me as somewhat nightmarish and schizophrenic and breakdown-inducing.

Anyone have experience with this or any thoughts?



So let the sun come streaming in,
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again-
If you only look around,
You will be found.
-Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Dear Evan Hansen"

Disario, Jodi
Drama Teacher and Director
Willow Glen High School
jdisario@sjusd.org
www.msd.school

I always either cast understudies or double cast roles.  They rehearse with the actors they are covering.  For double cast shows (usually my straight show), I split the performances -- each cast does two nights of a four night run.  For shows not double cast usually my musicals), we use one of our final dress rehearsals as an understudy performance.  It works out incredibly well.  During our last production, one of our leads was sick and his understudy went on, with little concern on anyone's part.  He was ready, having already performed in front of an audience.

------------------------------
Kathy d'Alelio
Director of Theatre Arts
Paul VI Catholic High School
Fairfax, VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-24-2017 08:39
From: Jodi Disario
Subject: Understudies or not

How do you handle the issues of understudies..or not having understudies? This past spring, I had understudies for all of the lead roles in my musical. It seemed necessary after the fall play, as I had a few leads who had other activities that would make them an hour late to rehearsals each day, some who were just flaky and a ton of talented ensemble members. At the spring musical auditions, we had about 20 kids audition that we didn't know previously, and often had to toss our pens down because we were so inundated with new talent that we had no idea where to place people. Too many amazing kids, too few lead roles. So we made the 11 lead roles have understudies who were also ensemble members.

What ended up happening was that the "primary" leads a) took this as a chance to screw around more b) whined about having to fill the ensemble track when their understudy (who was in the ensemble in THEIR show) was on c) got jealous and passive aggressively rude because, frankly, most of the understudy leads ended up working twice as hard and being better than them.

In the end, by showtime, it paid off in spades. Due to the above rudeness, I did not allow two primary leads (who were on ensemble track at the time) for our school preview, I had a male lead out on opening night due to illness, and I had a female lead test my "if you are not there by call time, you will not go on" rule (which I completely predicted). Another primary cast member missed two shows due to a last minute trip out of the country (?). And then the rest of the other understudies only got one of the 6 shows to perform.

Needless to say, the "You are always on an audition" rule will apply for those whose work ethic was less than lovely, but my question is this:

Having to rehearse the understudies separately, especially once we had the band for our sitzprobe, was just a nightmare. It made things go on way too long and doubled the time required by the kids who were just honest-to-God ensemble and nothing else.

My idea for my shows next year was to have my student directors act as "swings," and be ready to go on for everybody. The only issue is that i *know* my female student director will want to at least be on stage in an ensemble role when she's not covering. And the whole "swing" idea for shows like "Rent" and "Into the Woods" strikes me as somewhat nightmarish and schizophrenic and breakdown-inducing.

Anyone have experience with this or any thoughts?



So let the sun come streaming in,
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again-
If you only look around,
You will be found.
-Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Dear Evan Hansen"

Disario, Jodi
Drama Teacher and Director
Willow Glen High School
jdisario@sjusd.org
www.msd.school