PERFORMANCE: "Dear Abby" - Shows without swings

[PSMKay]

The following question has been submitted to me by a member who wishes to remain anonymous. I am posting on her behalf.  Please respond as you would normally.  The original poster may reply by filtering the replies through me.

I am currently working on a musical with a cast of 21 at an Equity   theatre.  The run was scheduled for 4 weeks, plus a possible 2 weeks of   extension, which means we were under the number of weeks that AEA   requires the producer to hire understudies.  The producer made the   decision not to hire understudies or swings due to budget constraints.    During the rehearsal process, it became clear that the show would most   likely have to be cancelled should an actor have to call out.  The   producers chose to hire understudies for the 3 principal roles and   covers for the specialty bits using Non-AEA actors from within the   company (blessed by AEA), which means I would be down one performer   should someone call out.  The director and choreographer were aware of   this (though not necessarily happy with) this solution. 

Flash   forward to Thursday of this week.  We had a student matinee   performance.  I had an actor out, which was planned, and another actor   whose car broke down, which was, of course, unplanned.  With an   emergency cast meeting, we were able to work out covering both tracks   and started about 10 minutes late.  Then an actor was injured during the   show in an accident completely unrelated to the fact that we were   missing two people, so we had to stop the show.   I was already down two   actors and I convinced management that continuing the show would be   unsafe, so the show was cancelled.  Management offered the schools of   variety of options to compensate for the cancelled show, including the   possibility of adding a student matinee to next week’s schedule since it   was currently only being sold as a five show week and not an eight show   week. 

Sales was supposed to wait to add the performance until   after a poll was taken of the actors’ availability.  However, they added   it anyway.  The poll of the actors’ availability reflected that there   would be two actors unavailable.  One of the actors has a specialty   bit.  The other actor covers that specialty.  Management called to   consult me.  Their initial reaction was to hire an actor from outside of   the company for that one performance to cover both women.  Based on the   short time frame and the physicality of the show, I did not think that   this option would be something that we could accomplish or something   that would be safe for the actors.  It was then decided that another   actor from within the company would be chosen to perform the specialty,   my dance captain and I would create a track that covered both missing   women and we would hold a put-in rehearsal to implement these changes. 

My   dance captain and I spoke with the choreographer and director to ensure   that the choices we were making fit within the artistic framework that   they had created as much as we could when missing 2 of the 6 women in   the show.  They were livid.  They spoke with the producer and brought up   a number of valid points as to why this is a bad idea.  However, the   producer is moving forward with the student matinee.  The 19 actors who   are available for the performance have all signed riders agreeing to the   student matinee and we have scheduled the put-in.  With these   parameters, I can deliver a show that is as safe as possible, but it is   not the show that the artistic team created though I’m trying hard for   it to be close.

What would you have done differently in this   situation?  How do you make the choice between when your loyalties lie   with the producer, the director, or the cast? 

As a side-note, the producer has acknowledged that they should hire swings on future large-scale musicals.

[Balletdork]

It sounds like you've done everything you could!

I have FREQUENTLY been in this situation- in the current economic climate producers have a had JOB trying to get shows up-- AEA allows for us not to have understudies & swings-- and we have to punt!

I do think it's important that your producing staff acknowledge the challenges in this show and come up with solutions for the next time you do a show like this! Try to have a post-mortem with your producer and make sure you have a list of challenges the company has faced due to no swings, adding a performance without checking the availability of the cast etc....

Wishing you a smoother run!