So, Broadway is such huge Big Business, ( though even the greatest “hit” will never see the profits of even the smallest international corporation), that regular performances, steady, up to standard and guaranteed, must have some mechanism for assuring that the show will go on, no matter weather, illness or the occasional sniper at the top of a tall building….And that mechanism , in our unionized, corporate manufacturing scheme of the Great White Way is: the Swing!!
Yes, of course, the Understudy is the classic safeguard, and many a star has been born when the Understudy was forced to go on (forced? just try and stop them!) and some random agent or film director or other just happened to be in the audience for that performance….yes, The Understudy is legend. Lady Luck favors the unionized….or does she? well….sometimes yes, sometimes no. That’s why she’s called Luck…..duh!
But the real Broadway workhorse? The all-too-often unsung hero/oine , and many times the very most wondrous talent of them all? The Broadway Swing!
For you see, whereas The Understudy is contracted and well-paid to “cover” one role, usually a leading one, The Swing ‘s contract ties that performer to the task of learning, rehearsing, memorizing, inhabiting physically and emotionally , more than one role in the show, in the off chance that the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Understudy are all stricken with the same virus on the same night. AND, The Swing often covers a multitude of chorus parts as well.
All for a meager hike in pay and an enormous toll on the sanity of even the sturdiest talent….i’ve never been a Swing…i honestly don’t think i’m talented enough to be one.
I was never much good in a chorus line either. Too tall.
In any event, a talented, durable, dependable Swing is the Broadway unsung hero of many a long-running hit, and wig departments and costume staff hustle furiously to make sure all manner of tall, short, fat, slender, multi-colored performers are ready to go on at the drop of a hat, whatever Period that hat needs to be designed in.
The practice at Broadway’s Les Misérable was to have those of us in Principal roles sit out in the audience every so often so the Understudies would have a chance to go on in the role, and as they must often be pulled from the Chorus to do so, then the Swings have the chance to take THEIR places in the crowd scenes. It’s a system that works most of the time, though an audience member is often treated to an entire cast of Understudies and Swings during a rough flu season. It’s also why major stars will have “a performance-a week-off” written into their contracts, so their Understudies can plan and invite important people to see them when their turn comes. Also, 8 shows a week is hard on even a shining star. Sure, the show must go on, but one over-worked actor/singer/dancer? Not so much.
I learned that lesson the hard way, and it took me years to relax into the simple truth that it was okay to take a performance off, every so often, for mental health alone…also to spare the human vocal cords too much pain and fatigue.
When I sat out to watch my Madame Thénardier understudies go on ( I had three), it amazed me how much like me they all looked, since they were wigged and costumed identically , from the top of their red heads to the bottom of their yellow silk shoes in the Ballroom Scene….an audience was never the worse for not knowing they were not seeing me….and why should they be? The powerful Les Mis story was all that genuinely mattered, and the tight script, staging and orchestral magnificence took the heavy load off a lot of our shoulders. And, of course, the red wigs and large gowns….cookie cutter villainesses…..only facial make-ups varied, although we all managed to have one large disgusting mole somewhere on our faces.
Yes, we are all replaceable.
Mole or no mole.
Or is that only on Broadway?
Hmmmmmm…….