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Monday, September 25, 2023
Broadway understudy shares incredible race to 'Aladdin' stage
nypost.com: She wasn’t expecting a magic carpet ride.
Mikayla Renfrow, who understudies Princess Jasmine in Broadway’s “Aladdin,” revealed she was helicoptered to the New Amsterdam Theater after being called in last minute while on a Delta Airlines flight from Europe.
4 comments:
Julia Adilman
said...
This is such a wild story. I can not imagine the stress that Renfrow was under when she found out that her flight was delayed. It is incredible that the airline was able to help her out. It was very kind of them to give Renfrow a first class seat to help her prepare for her show. They definitely did not have to do that. This really shows the kindness of people’s hearts and how much people are willing to help put a show on. On top of all this, it's incredible that the pilot changed the gate and got Renfrow a helicopter just so that she could get there on time. I also had no idea that there was such a thing as an Uber Blade. I think that is so dystopian and serial, but I guess super helpful for situations like this. In addition, I love the fact that a Delta flight supervisor was able to make it to the show to watch Renfrow perform. That must have been such an amazing experience for both Renfrow and the supervisor.
I have always found the life of Broadway swings and standby’s so interesting. If I was to pursue a career in performance swinging would definitely be on my bucket list. However, after reading this article, the craziness that ensued for a normal day's work might be a little too chaotic for me. This article felt like I was reading a story told at a dinner party. The sheer amount of mishaps and teeth-clenching moments had me glued to the page. Honestly, the thing I found so interesting was the fact that everyone the actor dealt with was so accommodating. I don't know much about the inner workings of airports, but I feel it is a somewhat inconvenient task to completely relocate a gate, as well as make room in first class for another client. The cherry on top for me was the fact that the flight supervisor made it to her show. The logistics of that happening also blew my mind, since I know actor calls are not much earlier than GO. But alas, this makes for a great story, and I'm glad everything worked out.
This headline seemed like something that you would hear a newsie calling out to get you to buy a paper from them. It was delightful to hear a good story about plane travel, after hearing so many bad ones for the past couple of years with COVID and Karens and everything in between. It was extremely thoughtful of them to move her up to first class so she could eat a good meal and get a better sleep than she would have gotten in economy class. It was nice to see that the pilots and every person that she interacted with pulled out all of the stops to help her: the Delta Agent helping to expedite her through customs, the Uber blade pilot waiting an extra couple of minutes for her, knowing that the helicopter was her only hope of making it on time to the show, and every other unnamed people who probably helped her.
I heard about this story on Instagram this week. Mikayla Renfrow posted a video on how insane her day was, and it was in fact wild. I can not imagine the stress she must have been under that day trying to make it to the theatre on time. She clearly works well under pressure and is quick on her feet. Honestly, I think these are important life skills that you really hone in on when doing theatre. One of my favorite parts of this story was how supportive everyone around her was. The staff on the airline really went above and beyond to make sure that she would make her performance as well as feel well rested despite all of the chaos. It is also completely wild to me that they got a helicopter for her so she cut down travel time. There must have been so much communication behind the scenes in order to make this story a success.
4 comments:
This is such a wild story. I can not imagine the stress that Renfrow was under when she found out that her flight was delayed. It is incredible that the airline was able to help her out. It was very kind of them to give Renfrow a first class seat to help her prepare for her show. They definitely did not have to do that. This really shows the kindness of people’s hearts and how much people are willing to help put a show on. On top of all this, it's incredible that the pilot changed the gate and got Renfrow a helicopter just so that she could get there on time. I also had no idea that there was such a thing as an Uber Blade. I think that is so dystopian and serial, but I guess super helpful for situations like this. In addition, I love the fact that a Delta flight supervisor was able to make it to the show to watch Renfrow perform. That must have been such an amazing experience for both Renfrow and the supervisor.
I have always found the life of Broadway swings and standby’s so interesting. If I was to pursue a career in performance swinging would definitely be on my bucket list. However, after reading this article, the craziness that ensued for a normal day's work might be a little too chaotic for me. This article felt like I was reading a story told at a dinner party. The sheer amount of mishaps and teeth-clenching moments had me glued to the page. Honestly, the thing I found so interesting was the fact that everyone the actor dealt with was so accommodating. I don't know much about the inner workings of airports, but I feel it is a somewhat inconvenient task to completely relocate a gate, as well as make room in first class for another client. The cherry on top for me was the fact that the flight supervisor made it to her show. The logistics of that happening also blew my mind, since I know actor calls are not much earlier than GO. But alas, this makes for a great story, and I'm glad everything worked out.
This headline seemed like something that you would hear a newsie calling out to get you to buy a paper from them. It was delightful to hear a good story about plane travel, after hearing so many bad ones for the past couple of years with COVID and Karens and everything in between. It was extremely thoughtful of them to move her up to first class so she could eat a good meal and get a better sleep than she would have gotten in economy class. It was nice to see that the pilots and every person that she interacted with pulled out all of the stops to help her: the Delta Agent helping to expedite her through customs, the Uber blade pilot waiting an extra couple of minutes for her, knowing that the helicopter was her only hope of making it on time to the show, and every other unnamed people who probably helped her.
I heard about this story on Instagram this week. Mikayla Renfrow posted a video on how insane her day was, and it was in fact wild. I can not imagine the stress she must have been under that day trying to make it to the theatre on time. She clearly works well under pressure and is quick on her feet. Honestly, I think these are important life skills that you really hone in on when doing theatre. One of my favorite parts of this story was how supportive everyone around her was. The staff on the airline really went above and beyond to make sure that she would make her performance as well as feel well rested despite all of the chaos. It is also completely wild to me that they got a helicopter for her so she cut down travel time. There must have been so much communication behind the scenes in order to make this story a success.
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