“In This Evening’s Performance, LEAD ROLE will be played by…”

I was recently put in the unexpected situation of rehearsing an understudy in less than a week for a lead in a full-length musical.  The contract I was working under didn’t have understudies as part of the original team and when the situation was presented, the understudy chosen had exactly 6 days from reading the play for the first time to performing as the female lead before a sold-out audience.   And guess what?  There was only 2 hours a director was available to observe rehearsal and I only had 3 hours per AEA guidelines to rehearse the understudy with the rest of the cast (and this brush up rehearsal didn’t even have the entire cast present). From learning music, choreography, lines, character work, and blocking to figuring out costumes and working with props and a set she wouldn’t be able to see until 1 hour before curtain of her first performance it was a unique and complex situation that required careful time management, accurate information, and personality management so that actors never became self-conscious of the upcoming performance.

How this was accomplished:

Day 1: Story. The actress was hired as the Understudy in the morning, read the script in the afternoon, and attended a performance of the play with the original lead in the evening, thus hearing the music for the first time.

Day 2: Music. 1 Composer/Producer with the Understudy. The morning was spent at the piano learning lyrics, phrasing, melody, harmonies, and finding emotions to add to the musical numbers.  The actress spent the rest of the day on her own rehearsing and reiterating the large amount of new information and committing it to memory.

Day 3: Blocking.  2 Stage Managers, 1 Composer/Producer, 1 musical director to represent a cast of 13 with the Understudy.

Day 4: Choreography. 2 Stage Managers, 1 Musical Director, 1 Asst. Choreographer, 1 Dance Captain, 2 Lead Actors, 2 Writer/Producers in a room 12’x15′ with some chairs and music stands to represent  a 30’x22′ stage, countless props, and actor-motivated moving scenery.

Day 5: the Put-In Rehearsal. 2 Directors,  3 Stage Managers, 7 Cast Members,  2 Writer/Producers, 1 Musical Director, 1 Bassist, 2 Wardrobe, chairs, and music stands in a rehearsal room to represent the entire production.

Day 6: Re-Opening Night. One hour before the performance as the crew sets up the Understudy sees the props, hears a keyboard instead of a piano, gets mic checked, tours backstage, sees her spikemarks, stagelight, and moves the scenery before house opens a half-hour later.  The near-flawless performance receives a standing ovation and the cast independently highlights the understudy for a second round of applause.

It takes a large team and careful planning to pull off rehearsing an unexpected Understudy in a such a situation.  I’m proud of the teamwork and that my first Understudy process was such a success!  A professional actor should be able to handle this type of schedule & situation with grace, confidence, and commitment.  What do you think would be the hardest part of accepting a role as a Last-Minute Understudy, and would you be up for the challenge?