Understudies for AEA theatres

[Maribeth]

Under many of the AEA contracts, theatres are "required" to hire understudies. For example:

LORT:
69. UNDERSTUDIES.
(A) In all "A" companies and "B+," "B," "C" and "D" Repertory companies, all parts except "bit parts" must be understudied.

SPT:
62. UNDERSTUDIES
(A) All roles except “bit parts” shall be covered by understudies.

TYA: (Resident productions)
76. UNDERSTUDIES.
All roles shall be understudied.

Just curious as to how many AEA companies operating under a contract that requires understudies actually uses them. For the purpose of this poll, I'm assuming no planned cast outages.

Recognizing that many of us are freelancers and work for more than one theatre, please choose the closest percentage. Thanks!

[loebtmc]

Well, the SPT houses I work have no understudies at all. Even tho I have had to put in replacements on at least 3 occasions. But all other theaters have u/s - some union, some not, but I have always rehearsed them as soon as possible, since I almost always have had to put them in.

[lsears]

The LORT house I work at most frequently stopped hiring understudies a few seasons ago unless they were doing a show with planned outs.  For years they had been hiring folks, frequently non-AEA, but if push came to shove they would almost never put them onstage.  You created an uproar if you tried to schedule a costume fitting for understudies.  They weighed the odds and decided they'd rather risk canceling a single show a season due to lacking a performer.

[RuthNY]

I work in a variety of LORT houses, and each of them handles the Understudy issue differently.

My most recent show had non-AEA/intern understudies, who also had smaller roles in the show. Only one of them ever had a costume fitting, and that was by my insistence. (I honestly don't believe we as SMs should have to rehearse Understudies if there is no plan to costume them, beyond "If one has to go on, we will work our magic..." After all, if you find out your Understudy is going on, where do you need them, in a fitting or in a rehearsal?) The trap of the above system, without Swings, is that if the Understudy goes on, there is a domino effect through the entire show structure, and although the Understudy is rehearsed, the rest of the the cast isn't practiced in how to do the show without that particular track. So...then you are in the position of rehearsing everything EXCEPT the Understudy, lol.  I was able to do three Understudy rehearsals in this particular situation, Act I, Act II, and a full Tech, run of the entire show, which was actually a lot of fun!

I've worked in LORT with no Understudies, where the Producer went on with book in an emergency, or where roles were combined and staging changed at the last moment to cover for the lack of a actor (injury during Act I to an actor with a big sword fight in Act II...)

In LORT, doing a show with no Understudies, I guess what we do is hope and pray that no one gets sick, injured, or has a family emergency, huh?  Look, the Producers say, at the Negotiating Table, that they will cancel if they are in a situation where they have an outage and no Understudy, but no Producer wants to cancel a show. They will go to any lengths to keep that from happening, including going on themselves, as above.

I am happy to rehearse and put on Understudies. But I believe the Artistic Staff of the show need to come up with the solutions for outages, that I am to rehearse. Although I'm great at these types of in/out puzzles, I've always felt the SMs job was to rehearse them, not create them. And yes, after a few weeks of the run, we do know the show better than anyone (except the cast, actually, they know it best.) But still, isn't the Understudy planning someone else's pay grade?

The LORT house I work at most frequently stopped hiring understudies a few seasons ago unless they were doing a show with planned outs.  For years they had been hiring folks, frequently non-AEA, but if push came to shove they would almost never put them onstage.  You created an uproar if you tried to schedule a costume fitting for understudies.  They weighed the odds and decided they'd rather risk canceling a single show a season due to lacking a performer.

[MatthewShiner]

I think that many, many, many LORT theaters have negotiated their away around this rule . . . you can get a concession from AEA to not have understudies, and then go back through the specific contract and find out who, where and when the actors need to be notified.  I love no understudies . . . until someone goes out ill . . .

[loebtmc]

I used to work at a LORT house that hired local nonAEA actors, paid them $100 a week to put their name on a piece of paper, and got mad if I wanted to meet, let alone rehearse them. Sadly, almost every show I did there, we needed those u/s. I remember taking a lead on a small show to the hospital with an emergency after the Sun matinee, cancelling the Sun nite show and dealing with management being angry when I explained they'd have to pay me for my all-day-Monday rehearsal with that u/s, and that we'd need a full put-in w full cast and full tech on Tues before the evening show to determine whether that show would go up or not. Thankfully, this was one u/s who actually had looked at the show once, even been to a rehearsal, a rarity at this venue.

[hbelden]

At OSF, the understudies go on.  It's a ten-month contract in some cases with over 100 performances.  During last season, every single one of my understudies went on except one who was also sick when needed. We did an internal cover for that night's performance.  Many of them went on for multiple performances.

We also get very little time to rehearse them, because of the rep schedule.  Roughly 5 hours once every 10 weeks.  They really just have to learn the show in their living rooms.

Just one of the things that makes this a challenging place to do the quality of work we expect.

[lsears]

Many years ago I was a summer intern at the Old Globe in San Diego which is affiliated with one of the local colleges.  The grad students were the understudies and they frequently went on.  There was a box of Lucky Charms cereal that rotated among them, signed by folks who had gone on unexpectedly.  I thought it was a charming tradition.

[Maribeth]

I think that many, many, many LORT theaters have negotiated their away around this rule . . . you can get a concession from AEA to not have understudies, and then go back through the specific contract and find out who, where and when the actors need to be notified.  I love no understudies . . . until someone goes out ill . . .

And, according to the LORT rulebook online, it only applies to A companies and B+, B, C, and D rep companies.

I do know of some companies who truly prefer to cancel a performance if someone is sick, rather than "compromise" the performance by putting someone else on. I rarely work at an SPT theatre that hires understudies unless there is a planned cast outage.

EDIT: "A" companies, not "A+".

[RuthNY]

(I love "no understudies" too, until someone goes out for whatever reason, and it suddenly becomes incumbent on the Stage Manager to figure out a way to keep the show going, when that should be up to Management, in my opinion.)

And Maribeth is correct about the Rep. stipulation.  Which means most LORT Theatres in this country are NOT required to have Understudies, and don't need a concession to not have them.

So, if YOU were negotiating the LORT rule book, what would rule would you ideally devise for a situation where management has decided not to hire coverage, but wants the show to go up, even when someone goes out?  What would you try and get management to agree to in your new rule? And what would you be willing to give up, in your negotiations, in trade for your new rule? Dream big. Be creative!

I think that many, many, many LORT theaters have negotiated their away around this rule . . . you can get a concession from AEA to not have understudies, and then go back through the specific contract and find out who, where and when the actors need to be notified.  I love no understudies . . . until someone goes out ill . . .

And, according to the LORT rulebook online, it only applies to A+ companies and B+, B, C, and D rep companies.

I do know of some companies who truly prefer to cancel a performance if someone is sick, rather than "compromise" the performance by putting someone else on. I rarely work at an SPT theatre that hires understudies unless there is a planned cast outage.