this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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Musical Theatre

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Sickness on Broadway led to a mid-show shuffling of swings and understudies.

Usually, a principal is out and they're replaced with an understudy from the ensemble, who's themselves replaced with a swing. And sometimes, there's the December 19 performance of Hamilton on Broadway.

According to a TikTok post from ensemble member Jennifer Geller, a unique set of circumstances that evening led to a highly unusual intermission role swap. The performance started with Alexander Hamilton standby Marc delaCruz on in the Tony-winning musical's title role. Kyle Scatliffe was in his regular role as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. By intermission, Scatliffe was forced to go home due to sickness. And who happened to be the only person in the building left who's rehearsed to cover Lafayette and Jefferson? Marc delaCruz.

Luckily, there was one other person at the Richard Rodgers who was rehearsed to play Alexander Hamilton: ensemble member Alexander Ferguson. And that meant for Act Two, delaCruz became Jefferson and Ferguson became Hamilton, with swing Adam Ali-Perez taking over in Ferguson's ensemble track. Live theatre!

According to this Redditor who was in the audience, there were no complaints with performers at this caliber handling things. "I thought they both did a great job!," the audience member writes.

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[โ€“] videogamesandbeer 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, isn't it? I love stories like this.