www.broadwayworld.com: Upon Broadway's return perhaps no member of the company has been more indispensable or rightfully lauded than our incredible covers. And of all the good folks working behind the scenes ready to keep the show going on day after day, perhaps no one works harder than the swing.
4 comments:
I think that it is alwasy interesting to read and learn about the different, lesser known jobs in the theater industry. I have heard about swings from watching videos about them from the past, and I really admire the way they are dedicated to their craft. They are not in the center of attention all the time, deal with job insecurity, and have to know all their lines, cues, and movements at a moments notice without having any practice or rehearsals at all. I feel like being a swing is true dedication on part of the actor in terms of their craft. I could not imagine being called last minute to swing in for a role, and make up all the show’s worth of information and changes in one night. Being the lead one day and not the next has to be so interesting, additionally, it must be so stressful in terms of earning money. You are payed way less and probably have to have different kinds of jobs in addition ot being a swing.
This article was really informative on the difference in non lead or ensemble roles on Broadway. I was always vaguely aware of swings and understudies and such but never exactly sure what each genuinely did. Before reading this article I honestly thought that standbys, alternates and understudies were all basically the same job, but now I’m more aware of the difference. So this article was very informative in that aspect. Also the role of a swing seems so challenging with so little recognition. To be able to cover so many different roles at such short notice is both physically and artistically challenging. Especially in such uncertain times as people call out sick because of the pandemic, swings have never been more essential than right now. Another thing that I found interesting was all of the famous Broadway actors that they mentioned started out as swings. It seems like people just have some sort of “big break” but really the work starts at such an intense role as a swing.
I know how unbelievably vital swings are to all theater but especially large scale commercial theater like Broadway or the West End. My artistic director from my old community theater that I grew up in was a swing for a touring production of Fiddler on the Roof for several years and would tell us stories from his time being a swing there. He told us how he would have to go on one night for an ensemble member and then go on the next night for a member who had a completely different track. He had to have over ten tracks completely memorized at all times and be completely ready to go on at a moment’s notice. They are unbelievably essential in the theater ecosystem. Although she was an understudy instead of a swing, Sutton Foster became a sensation because she had to go on for a part and became one of the biggest stars on Broadway.
Honestly, I think that my biggest takeaway from this article is one of the first things I read “swings are the Swiss army knife of actors.” I think that perfectly describes what a swing’s purpose in a production is. I haven’t worked much with swings even understudies were rare for my high school. But wow they are talented. I appreciated that this article was basically just a love letter to how incredible swings are. Because no one outside of the industry really knows what a swing is, regular audience members (and even some people who should know better) don’t appreciate swings as much as they should. I couldn’t even imagine having to memorize multiple parts in a show. How they keep it all straight without it getting jumbled up, I will never know. I also didn’t know that Jeremy Jordan started as a swing so that's pretty cool. Shows that everyone is integral to a production no matter the roll and even swings can make it big.
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