Sybil (Chaon Cross) and Elyot Chase (Robert Sella) Photo: Liz Lauren

The process of understudying a role can be a little daunting. Once the show opens the understudies meet once a week with our stage manager, Deb Acker, and me to run the show with each other. They work to find a place between being able to slip into the other actor's performance and owning the role themselves as actors. It's a delicate balancing act.

So far in this run we have had a few performances where understudies have had to go on. As soon as we find out, we schedule a put-in rehearsal. This is the first time an understudy gets to work on the show with the rest of the regular cast. It is always really impressive to me to watch how supportive and welcoming the rest of the cast is of a new person jumping into their world with them. Both the understudy who goes on and the rest of the cast require an extra level of attention to be sure the performance is still at its best with the new cast member.

I find it really exciting to watch understudies go on. It is fun to watch a role I've seen so many times now played by a different person. To see the way the production changes subtly as a result makes me more aware of how much a particular actor brings to the role that is unique to them. It's very unusual to have an opportunity to separate the elements of a production; watching an understudy is one of the few chances to do that. For an audience member who sees the show once, that may be completely unnoticeable, but after seeing Private Lives more than a dozen times, I can see differences in rhythm, emotional choices, and tactics. It's a fun change!

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