www.broadwayworld.com: Actors' Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, celebrates its seventh annual Swing Day today, Wednesday, January 19, 2022, honoring the hard-working performers who go onstage, sometimes at a moment's notice, for multiple roles.
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Swings really are the cornerstone of a show. Not often are their vital roles talked about, so it is great to see National Swing Day being celebrated for the seventh year. People, particularly those who aren’t particularly educated on the inner workings of theatres love to focus on the “main” actors. But to be a swing must require an intense amount of flexibility and talent. To not only have the range to play multiple roles just within one show but also to be prepared both mentally and physically to perform that role within a moment's notice seems almost inhumane. I think along with many ensemble and understudy roles people don’t understand how important and worthy that swings are. Often the announcement of an understudy, especially on Broadway where stunt and star castings are a huge deal, is often met with disappointment. But the truth is a show couldn’t go on without the work of swings and understudies, and they are equally as talented as any “main” actor cast in a show.
I could not agree more. Swings, especially with the resurgence of COVID-19 (and omicron) across the world, have become vital in production. Their work, as Bunny points out, is often overlooked. In fact, it is heavily underpaid– but that’s, I guess, an issue for another day. I get it, audiences desire to witness the performance of Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster on Broadway’s revival of “The Music Man”– a show I’m dying to see. However, it is important to acknowledge the talent that comes with learning the track for up to six characters at a time. With leads testing positive, swings have repeatedly stepped in to save the show. So, next time you attend a performance in which an understudy will be interpreting a lead role, I invite you to consider two things: (1) it’s either that or the show being canceled for the night, and (2) it takes true talent to be understudy!
My Community Theater director in Texas would always tell us the most wild stories from when he was on tour with Fiddler on the Roof as a swing. This in itself was kind of funny to me as he remains the most gentile man I have ever met in my life. It really warms my heart that they are being generally more appreciated in theater spaces nowadays. Hopefully that appreciation will result in better pay as well. Just the fact that they have to memorize so many tracks and be ready to enact them at the drop of a hat is absolutely insane to me. I remember watching those American Theatre Wing videos that talk about all of the different career paths within theatre as a kid and being gobsmacked by the lives of swings and how short of a section they got especially with all of the work that they did.
Originally, I had seen about the annual swing recognition on someone’s Instagram story and it really warmed my heart. I feel as though swings are the backbone of any production. After reading a separate article, stating how swings saved shows these past few months, I couldn't agree more that this acknowledgement is deserved. When I saw Mean Girls a few years ago there were two swings on for ensemble members and the fact that they can integrate into the show so seamlessly never fails to impress me. The fact that they cover so many tracks too is insane. Many people often get disappointed in seeing they “won't have the original cast” but fail to recognize the pure talent in all stage performers. After reading this I feel as though I should go through the #EquityTeamSwing, #SwingsSaveTheDay, and #SwingDay2022 hashtags. They support the theater community so much and totally earned their day!
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