Show Business: No More Waiting in the Wings

For one night, understudies step into the spotlight

Usually they have to wait for someone to break an ankle or catch the flu before they are allowed to sing those songs in public. But for one night last week at Manhattan's Town Hall, they held center stage, belting out lyrics for which they are not at all famous. A wistful young woman named Tracy Shayne gave her plaintive interpretation of What I Did for Love from A Chorus Line; Rhonda Coullet, helped by a regular cast member, Cass Morgan, did a comic number from Pump Boys and Dinettes; and Ruth Brisbane brought down the house with the sexy The Right Key but the Wrong Keyhole from One Mo' Time.

Waitin' in the Wings, sponsored by Manhattan Community College, was a tribute to the theater's least seen and, by definition, most obscure performers, the understudies. "They are always ready, rarely called upon and least appreciated," said Vincent Sardi, owner of Sardi's and the show's host. They have one of the most frustrating occupations in the country: being prepared to go on if something befalls someone else.

In some productions that happens frequently. Rock Star Andy Gibb, for instance, was eventually fired from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat after missing twelve performances in little more than a month; George C. Scott failed to appear twelve times last year during the six-month run of Noel Coward's Present Laughter; and Frank Langella missed 28 performances during his half year in Amadeus. On any given night, several of the felines in Cats may be substitutes. By contrast, the indestructible Marian Seldes was never out once during 1,793 performances of Deathtrap, and except for vacations, those three iron ladies, Lauren Bacall, Raquel Welch and Debbie Reynolds, have danced their way through every matinee and evening of Woman of the Year.

Broadway lore has numerous burbly stories of brave understudies suddenly being called in to take over, at which point a famous agent or director notices them and sends them on to stardom. This inspiring scenario put the first spotlight on Shirley MacLaine, who won a Hollywood contract after subbing for Carol Haney in Pajama Game. But even the understudies find it difficult to believe that such things actually happen. "Those who think that being an understudy will lead to opportunities are wrong," says British Actor Daniel Gerroll, who covers for Edward Herrmann in Plenty. When a star leaves a play, understudies rarely become replacements. Doug Voet, who covers the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, has been passed over three times. Says he: "It was devastating, but I can't let it get to me—at least not in public. Being an understudy is like being a guest in your own home."