In praise of understudies

The actor Ronald Fraser was famous for two things: his comic timing and his liking for a drink. On one occasion in the 1960s, he was happily sitting three sheets to the wind in a local hostelry, when he remembered that he was supposed to be on stage at a matinee. After walking unsteadily to the theatre, he stood in the wings and heard someone else in his role: the understudy, holding the audience in the palm of his hand. His name was Donald Sutherland, and he was revealing the quality that took him from bit parts on the London stage to worldwide stardom.

The importance of understudies and covers has been elevated to new heights by the Covid pandemic. Leading men and ladies are dropping out the world over. On 23 December last year, in The Music Man on Broadway, the X-Men star Hugh Jackman made an unscheduled curtain call speech when he thanked Kathy Voytko who had stepped in when the leading lady, Sutton Foster, fell ill. Voytko was a ‘swing’, which means she was contracted to cover many (eight) parts. At midday, she was told she’d be playing the leading lady that evening — she had her first-ever rehearsal at 1 p.m.

‘We’re in our fourth preview, we’re all just learning,’ Jackman told the audience. ‘So swings and understudies watch from a corner of a room while we rehearse, while we get to practise over and over again. They just get to watch and write notes. And then, five hours before a performance, they’re told: “You’re on…”’ Calling all the swings forward to take a special bow, Jackman said: ‘It humbles me: the courage, the brilliance, the dedication, the talent. The swings, the understudies, they are the bedrock of Broadway.’

There are two ironic footnotes to this uplifting moment.