Standby

I got the rare opportunity this week to see Hamilton, the musical, not once but twice in Des Moines. The first viewing was on Thursday–The Bearded One had gotten us tickets for my birthday (he obviously knows how much I love the theatre). And he got us really good seats, too–we were in about the fourth row from the stage, just off center. We were close enough that I made eye contact with several of the performers, and when King George pointed into the audience I swear he was pointing right at me. It was my first time getting to see the show live, and it was a GREAT birthday present!

Then I found out that a family member had an extra ticket for this afternoon’s performance. They asked if we knew anyone who might want to go. It didn’t even occur to me to go until The Bearded One suggested it, but I’m glad I did! This time our seats were a little farther from the stage and a little off to the side, but watching it from a different place in the venue was a very different experience. From our seats today, I didn’t feel as connected to the actors, but I noticed things like the lighting making shapes on the stage that I just couldn’t see from the fourth row. And I could see the whole stage at once, and could get the full effect of things like blocking and choreography. Another great experience!

For the most part, both performances were well done and didn’t have any major issues. I think I noticed a little feedback on Thursday night the first time the Schuyler Sisters sang, and today the poor actor who played Charles Lee didn’t have a working microphone for almost all of the one part he’s featured in, so nobody could really hear him. But otherwise most of the main characters gave solid performances. One thing that was interesting to me, though, was that a few of the main characters were played by understudies/swing/standby actors on Thursday–I learned this after reading the playbill after we got home, but it was after The Bearded One and I had discussed which actors we liked the best. Interestingly, two that I picked as some of my favorites were standby/swing actors.

Today, the actors originally cast in those roles were back onstage so I got to see the show twice with different actors in the Aaron Burr, John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, and Lafayette/Jefferson roles. They were all very good–the actors who played those roles on Thursday AND today, but I did prefer the performance of the Aaron Burr we had on Thursday to the one I saw today. That’s not to say that there was anything wrong with the one we had today–he was pretty great! But the one we had on Thursday was so passionate, and just seemed to really give it his all.

That just led to me thinking about getting a standby/understudy role and how hard that must be. One of them (the one who played John Laurens/Philip Hamilton) was in a different role today (Philip Schuyler/John Reynolds), which would certainly be tricky–to remember all of the choreography, lines, vocal parts for one part is hard enough, but knowing it for multiple parts would definitely be a challenge! But the ones who played Aaron Burr and Lafayette/Jefferson on Thursday weren’t onstage at all today, which would be even harder, I think. But I also think that might be part of why Thursday’s Burr stood out to me–he probably doesn’t get to play the part (or maybe any part) very often, so when he does get the chance to be on stage, he’s really able to give 100% to it.

Either way, both performances were incredible and I’d love to give a shout out to the other actors, including the ensemble who do SO much to keep a show going–especially one with so many (literally) moving parts. And a huge burst of gratitude to the people in my life who gave me the opportunity to see this show! I can’t think of another time that I got to see more than one performance of the same show by the same company/in the same week except for shows I was involved in. It really was a wonderful experience, and I can’t begin to properly show my thanks. If you get a chance to see this show, I highly recommend it! I think their run in Des Moines is over now, but I’m sure there will be a traveling company doing this show for a while. As for me, I’m going to try to live like I’m the standby to the character of me–I’m going to give life my all because you never know when life might have different plans.