The Ensemblist

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with John Tupy, who spoke to us from Palm Desert, CA where he was supposed to performing with the national tour of Chicago until performances were cancelled Thursday morning. Here's our conversation...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with Christopher Henry Young, who is currently in San Francisco performing in the "And Peggy" company of Hamilton, about how COVID-19 has affected the state of live performance in the Bay Area. Here's our conversation...

Yesterday afternoon, Broadway theatres will went dark by order of Governor Andrew Cuomo. Performances will resume the week of April 13. The announcement comes as venues and performing arts organizations around New York City and the country have announced closures of their own amid rising concerns about the global coronavirus pandemic...

Earlier this week, the Broadway League released a statement advising against stage door activities and increasing sanitation efforts in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But I’ve been wondering how COVID-19 has been affecting life backstage at Broadway theatres for folks like today’s guest: Adam Jepsen. Adam is currently one of two actors playing Sven the reindeer in Broadway’s Frozen...

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the country, it’s creating concern for many of us in the theatre industry. For those of us who make our living by occupying the same space as others to share stories in real time, the coronavirus is posing a real threat to our lives and work. Just yesterday, Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, officially banned gatherings of more than 250 people. Of course, that includes theatre performances...

Today’s guest knows a thing or three about covering roles of Broadway. Those three specific things are Otho, Adam and Beetlejuice - all roles he covers in his duties as a swing at the Winter Garden Theatre. Beetlejuice isn’t his first foray into covering leading roles either; He’s been a standby on The Book of Mormon, School of Rock, and understudied Michael Urie in last season’s Torch Song. I wanted to know how he manages to standby for such grueling characters, both living and undead...

“Understudy” premiered on April 9th, 2012. It was written by Jerome Hairston, and directed by Adam Dernstein. The viewership dipped yet again from the previous week, premiering to an audience of 5.99 million viewers...

Understudies are required to replicate another actors’ performance, knowing exactly where they move and how they move there. They must have the bravado to lead a show, but also the humbleness to know they are merely standing in for another artist. Understudies are asked to jump onto the moving train that is a Broadway musical and make sure it doesn’t come to a screeching halt...

If someone knows a thing or two about understudying, it’s Becca Petersen. Her national tour debut was as the female swing on the national tour of Newsies, followed by making her Broadway debut covering Laura Osnes in the new musical Bandstand. She’s spent the last two years as an original company member of Mean Girls, where she covers multiple roles including the leading role of Cady Heron...

Whenever New York-based actors leave the city to perform, there’s a certain amount of bravery that must take place when you walk outside the theatre’s doors. Although the production may stay the same from city to city, your life outside the theatre can change drastically depending on where you are. That challenge is magnified when the cities you’re touring to are halfway across the world in countries you’ve ever been to before...