thefederalistfreestyle: sprinkles-on-frosting:thefederalistfreestyle:the world’s gonna know your
thefederalistfreestyle: sprinkles-on-frosting: thefederalistfreestyle: the world’s gonna know your name! [x x] Ssttooooppppp too many understudies. Lin come back Miguel Cervantes is not an understudy – he’s the Hamilton alternate, which is the same role that Javier Muñoz played before taking over from Lin. (he’ll also be originating the role in the Chicago production.) alternates & understudies are two different jobs, though they are both highly demanding in their own ways. standard understudies are regularly performing members of the cast who also cover other roles for when the regular actors are on vacation or unexpectedly unable to perform. alternates are scheduled to play a role for a set number of performances per week.to get even more technical: a stand-by (e.g., Alysha Deslorieux) is someone whose job is to understudy principal roles, whereas a swing (e.g., Andrew Chappelle) understudies ensemble tracks (& possibly principal roles). stand-bys & swings only go on when covering for someone. it’s not uncommon for highly demanding roles to have alternates. the two that immediately come to mind for me are Christine in The Phantom of the Opera & Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in Fela! (& in the case of Fela, that was almost more splitting the role than the one-show-per-week Hamilton situation.) Wicked has stand-bys for both Elphaba & Glinda. these are all roles where you need someone who is highly-prepared, performance-tested, & able to carry the show.I totally understand that it can be disappointing to not be able to see a favorite performer. but there are so many shows, including Hamilton, that are so well-crafted & bigger than any one performer, & I hope you’re able to have a great understudy experience at some point. as this wonderful article from The New Yorker pointed out, it can be a revelatory opportunity to see a character you love in a fresh way.(my own story: a couple years back, I was initially disappointed that an understudy was on for Valjean, whose regular actor had been my very first Marius. the understudy turned out to be my favorite Valjean that I’d ever seen. he had everything necessary for the role while not being the “type” that would usually be cast in it, so I feel so lucky to have been able to have had that experience. & if there’s anything I take more seriously than Hamilton, it’s Les Mis.) My first exposure to the Miranda-verse was a 2008 matinee of In The Heights with Javier as Usnavi. He was incredible, and I’m still here, 8 years later, fanboying like hell. -- source link