Understudies nab starring role in keeping theatres open amid Omicron

Travis Seetoodidn't have his phone on him. He was out ona bike ride and happened to pullinto thegrounds of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., when he got grabbed by a stage manager.

"She's like, 'You're on!'"Seetoo recalls.

Just like that, Seetoowas ready to act called up as an understudy for a showlast yearafteranother actorstarted showingCOVID-19 symptoms. Seetoosaidit was the first instance of a Shawactor getting called up because of that.You aren't allowed to come to work at Shaw if youhave any symptoms.

As Ontario theatre companies starttheir seasons amid a sixth wave of COVID-19, the odds of thishappening have increased and so has the reliance on understudies. Shaw is havingmembers of its company understudy moreroles this year because of the Omicron variant.

"It could happen at any time now," saidSeetoo, acting in two shows at Shaw this seasonand understudying an additional five roles in those two plays. "You certainly run your lines a lot more.You try not to forget them."

Often times, understudies are in the show already, playing another character or part of the ensemble.

Stratford Festival has hired more actors this season and also hasmore understudies than usual. It was set to start previews of the musical Chicago last week,its first show of the season.

But three performanceswere cancelledafter eight cast memberstested positive for COVID-19.

Shows were able to resume Tuesday, with understudies replacing two roles.

'Heroes of live theatre'

Alex Mustakasis currentlyin the casting process,paying much more attention tohiring understudies, particularly for his musicals.

He's artistic director forDrayton Entertainment, which is putting on 15 different shows in six venues around southern Ontario this season, in places like DraytonandSt. Jacobs near Kitchener-Waterloo and Grand Bend on Lake Huron.

"Understudies are the heroes of live theatre," he said. "The alternative is no theatre and I don't think that's an option anymore."

Still, Mustakasworries.His son and wife contractedCOVID-19 recently and he had to isolate at home. He spent all that time thinking what would happen if he were putting on a show right then. Drayton's season doesn't start until lateMay.

Then there's the cost.Understudies are anadded expense, often out of reach for smaller theatre companies with tighter budgets,or shows have smaller casts. There areunderstudy rehearsals that need to be run,hard to do if the show is only on for a short stint or has a short rehearsal period.

But cancelling performancesmeans losing a lot of money. Mustakashas budgeted for it this season.Mirvish Productions in Toronto doesn't do shows without understudies.

"To lose a performance is a very, very, very bad thing," saidJohn Karastamatis, Mirvish's director of communications and programming."When you hire understudies and everything that goes with them, what you are buying is insurance."

Mirvish isin rehearsals for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the mega 3-hour and 30-minute, Tony Award-winning play, opening in Toronto at the end of May. It was initially supposed to premiere in fall 2020.

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To avoid any shutdown, Karastamatissaid,each part in the show has twounderstudies, morethan they've had before. Italso means additional costs, like more costumes to fit those understudies. In the regular cast alone, the show has more than500 costumes.

Learning from cancelling

Shaw Festivalhad to shutter its productionof A Christmas Carol in December during the first Omicron wave, after someone in the company tested positive. It'slearned from that experience, especially about the importance of masks.

Actors keep masks on in rehearsal and amask mandateis in place for the audience until at least May 23, even though the province doesn't require it. If an actor tests positive, the stage manager has to figure out if others in the show are at risk of exposure. That's a possibility, of course, as actors are maskless when they do shows.

Shaw's lone show that's on right now,Cyrano de Bergerac, has not had to cancel any performances yet.

Kimberley Rampersad, Shaw'sassociate artistic director, saidunderstudies arealready beingcalled upon for other shows in rehearsal right now. She calls them "immeasurable."

"Our understudies will go on because COVID is what it is," said Rampersad, who this season isalso acting in a show and directing/choreographing another. "They will and have already saved us from cancelling shows."

It's also meant a shift in mindset for actors, used to not missing a show regardless of ailments.Seetoo, now in his eighth season at Shaw,has heard his share of horror stories.

"There used to be a great amount of pride [that] more senior actors have, in like, 'Oh I went on and I was bleeding from my solar plexus the whole time, and I did the best Hamlet you've ever seen,'"he said.

Seetoois gladCOVID-19 has changed that.

"We have the same motivation which we used to have that we'd go on no matter what's happening," he said. "We're still doing that, but we're staying home because we want the show to continue."