Earlier this year, Actors’ Equity Association, the stage union representing actors, dancers, and stage managers, made a big showing of celebrating swings and understudies for the annual Swing Day that happens each January. They even brought together a roundtable of four performers to talk about their experiences.

>>> LaQuet (8:20)

“Cause I think the hurdle there is when you are trying to mimic what the person who does that role nightly is, is that the bit doesn’t land. You'll notice, like, oh, there's not a laugh tonight. Why isn't there a laugh? And it's because you're trying to do somebody else's joke, and it doesn't quite resonate with you.

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This is LaQuet Sharnell Pringle, who was most recently a swing in the national tour of Beautiful, the Carole King Musical.

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“I think that for me, as I have swung over the years, like, that's something that's really gotta stick. Like, if that's supposed to be a joke, I gotta find that. I gotta find that joke. Because if I don’t find that joke, then it's not there anymore. And now the show looks different. Feels different.”

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Swings and understudies often have multiple roles to keep straight, each with their own nuance and character arc. And it’s important to recognize the hard work that swings, understudies, and standbys do to keep shows running, and even keep them open on Broadway and on the road, like the Beetlejuice tour I’m currently on, where I play Otho but also understudy two other roles.

You’ll be hearing snippets from others in that roundtable as well as my own thoughts and experiences, and how Actors Equity says one thing but does another when it comes to honoring and crediting swings and understudies. All that and more in this special episode of Why I’ll Never Make It.

In theater, especially on Broadway and in national tours, the system of standbys, understudies, and swings ensures that the show goes on, no matter the circumstances. While their roles may seem similar, each has a distinct function to keep shows running smoothly.

Let’s start with standbys and alternates. These performers serve as offstage covers for lead roles, ready to step in when needed but not performing every night. Standbys are always on call, waiting in the wings in case a lead actor cannot go on. A great example is the long-running Wicked, where some of Broadway’s most famous witches, like Eden Espinosa, Shoshana Bean, Megan Hilty, and Brittney Johnson, all began as standbys for Elphaba or Glinda before taking on the roles full-time. Sometimes, producers even bring in a big name as a standby. For example, in the 2015 production of The Visit, starring Chita Rivera, her standby was none other than Tony winner Donna McKechnie. However, since the show closed after just two months, McKechnie never had the chance to go on.

Alternates work a little differently. They are scheduled to take on a leading role for a set number of performances each week. This is common in vocally demanding roles like Christine in Phantom of the Opera or the title roles in Evita and Dear Evan Hansen, where alternates perform two shows a week to give the main actor some rest.

Then there are the understudies, probably the most familiar term when it comes to theater covers. Understudies are part of the regular cast, usually performing an ensemble role, but they are also ready to step into a lead role when needed. Sometimes, an understudy is already a principal actor covering another lead role. A great example of this was in the 2021 revival of Company, where Nikki Renée Daniels played the part Jenny, and Jennifer Simard played the role of Sarah, but they understudied the leading roles of Bobbie and Joanne, respectively. Understudies even have the potential to break out into stardom, and the best example of this is Sutton Foster, who was the understudy for Thoroughly Modern Millie before stepping into the title role and ultimately winning a Tony Award for her performance.

Finally, we have the swings, who are some of the hardest-working performers in the cast. Here is Aaron Albano from that Equity roundtable discussion. He was a swing and understudy in the Broadway production of Here Lies Love, and he gives a precise definition of what a swing does and how important they are to any production.

>>> Aaron Albano (0:53)

“Swings are Broadway's insurance where … we are the people behind the people on stage to make sure that the show goes well and on. Because they … know the show better than anybody else in the building. They often can go on for the majority of people in the building, and they have what it takes to help the show stay afloat when it would otherwise sink.”

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His point about “knowing the show better than anyone” is so true—it is their job to memorize multiple roles and be ready at a moment’s notice to jump into any of them. Former guest and friend of the pod, Heather Botts, talked about how she covered 13 different ensemble and lead roles in the most recent revival of My Fair Lady. And during her time in the production, she went on for each and every one of them at least once. In our Beetlejuice tour, our dance captain knows every ensemble track, male and female, as well as a few of the supporting and lead roles. At times he’s even had to do what’s called a split track, where in one scene he’s covering one ensemble track, and then in the next scene he’s covering another. Or sometimes two ensemble tracks are combined into one in the same number, because there isn’t enough coverage. So dance numbers have to be respaced or reblocked to accommodate for the missing track. And the ability of a performer to do this is simply amazing to me. And being able to handle all these different tracks in your head is having what’s called “swing brain” and it is a skill set I do not have. So massive props and respect go out to the swings and all the work they do.

Now, all of these various designations often work together to cover various absences in a show. I experienced this firsthand during The Addams Family national tour. The actor playing Mal Beineke was also the understudy for Gomez Addams, and I was the understudy for Mal. Well, one night, when our Gomez was out, a domino effect occurred. The actor who normally played Mal went on for Gomez, I went on for Mal, and one of our swings went into my ensemble track. This type of chain reaction has happened on my current tour of Beetlejuice as well, and really it’s fairly common in all Broadway and touring productions. Of course during the pandemic, with everyone getting sick, swings played an even more crucial role in keeping shows open. And it was in that atmosphere that Actors Equity became so vocal about how important understudies and swings were to the sustainability of any production.

Here now is Elizabeth Earley, who was most recently a swing in Some Like It Hot, and in that roundtable discussion she shared what it’s like for a swing to join a cast onstage.

>>> Earley (9:26)

“One of the most refreshing things I've experienced as a swing is when you go on and the cast around you is thrilled that you're there because you're shaking it up that night. Yeah. They appreciate that your energy is there that day. And I do think, you know, it is important to, to find ways of of speaking these lines and performing these moves and singing these songs, in ways that feel, like they're authentic to you Yeah. Because only in that can you be really, authentic to telling the story.”

And back in January 2023, when we were all celebrating Swing Day, it was Equity's second vice president representing the chorus, Al Bundonis who said, “Swings exemplify the best of the chorus and have kept the curtain up time and time again. We are excited to spend the day celebrating and uplifting swings by acknowledging all the work you do.” And while it’s great that Actors Equity publicly celebrates swings and understudies, acknowledging their vital role in keeping shows running, the reality behind the scenes tells a different story. In recent years, Equity has made concessions to touring contracts that no longer value or in some cases even acknowledge the work we do as understudies and swings.

Case in point, back in 2011 I did my first touring contract for The Addams Family, and it was what used to be called a Production Contract, which is what Broadway still uses, but we were on a lower paying tier of that contract. However, while our pay may have been different, there were requirements when it came to swings and understudies that applied across-the-board. Namely, that tour producers and presenters were given two out of three options in order to credit a performer who replaced another in any given performance. Those three options were: indicating the names and roles of such performers on a board displayed in the lobby of the theater, putting a paper insert notating the replacement into the playbills or programs, or making an audio announcement to the audience about the changes before the show begins. Given these three choices, the board in the lobby and the paper inserts were the two most common once chosen.

My second national tour was Evita, just a couple years later in 2013. It was under a different contract called the short engagement touring agreement, or SETA for short. This was a fairly controversial agreement because it paid far less than Broadway contract and provided different structures for how housing, travel, and per diem were arranged. This was all in an effort by Equity to regain the touring contracts that it was losing to non-Equity productions, and it’s debatable whether it actually accomplished that goal. But despite its major differences with the production contract, SETA still required that two out of those three options be chosen when a swinging or understudy went on in a performance.

Fast-forward to 2022, and those production contracts and SETA were combined into a new National Touring Agreement, establishing different pay levels and working conditions for touring productions. At the higher-paying levels, understudies and swings are still acknowledged by at least two methods—either a board in the lobby, a playbill insert, an audio announcement, or a new option: a QR code linking to a website with cast changes. But for some reason lower-paying tours only require one of these options, significantly reducing the likelihood that audiences and critics will know who’s really performing. In my current tour of Beetlejuice, for instance, we fall under Level 5, and the only public acknowledgment we get is the board in the lobby. I will point out, though, that they do also have a small QR code in the Beetlejuice playbills. However, I have checked this website myself and it has not always notated when understudies are on and it often has misspelled actor names as well.

As an understudy, I can tell you there’s nothing more frustrating than stepping into a major role, giving my all, and no one knowing it’s me. You spend countless hours in rehearsal preparing for this moment, learning every nuance of a role you may or may not ever get to perform. And then, when you do go onstage, the recognition simply isn’t there. So whether it’s a whiteboard in the lobby or a QR code, these are not fulfilling their stated purpose of acknowledging cast changes and aren’t necessarily seen the audience, especially the reviewers.

For example, in Beetlejuice, I had the chance to go on for Charles Deetz on opening night in both Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. However, when the reviews came out, three out of the four in Milwaukee mentioned the primary actor instead of me. And since I was performing as Charles, then Ryan Breslin, one of the swings and our dance captain, went on in my usual role of Otho. Yet, when a reviewer praised Otho as a standout supporting character, they mentioned my name, not Ryan’s.

The same thing happened in Grand Rapids as well. I was on for Charles, and Marc Ginsberg was on for Adam Maitland, but once again, the reviews mentioned the primary actors, not us. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially when we’ve worked so hard, and the people who see our performance—critics included—don’t even know it’s us out there. To any reviewers listening, please double check who is on for the performance you’re seeing. Because as you can see the concession that Actors Equity made by reducing the ways in which swings and understudies are acknowledged, has also reduced the likelihood of us being mentioned in your reviews when we go on.

And please understand it’s not just about getting credit; it’s about our work being seen. We step into major roles, often with just hours' notice, and pour everything into it—and then to not even be acknowledged for that performance? It’s beyond frustrating—it’s disheartening. So much for Equity’s talk about “celebrating and uplifting swings by acknowledging all the work” they do. They publicly celebrate what we do, but just end up failing us behind the scenes. Why Equity reduced those notification requirements for the lesser paying tours, rather than keeping the two options as a universal requirement across all contracts? Well, that’s anyone guess. Did they get some other great provision from the producers in exchange for it? I don’t know.

But what I do know is that since the pandemic, Equity’s desire to acknowledge swings and understudies has merely been lip service—and producers and presenters who pushed for that concession aren’t blameless either. We as actors, especially swings and understudies, deserve better. Equity needs to do better by us. Producers and theaters need to do better. And audiences and reviewers need to know who is really stepping onto the stage. It’s time for us to demand not just recognition, but respect for the critical roles we play in keeping theater alive. Equity cannot continue to reduce these requirements for acknowledgment and expect us to continue performing anonymously. The value of our work on stage is essential. And something as simple as being recognized for the roles we play on stage shouldn’t be up for debate or contractual negotiation. It should be the standard across-the-board no matter the contract we sign or the venue we perform in.