The Theatre Question Amnesty Thread

Never heard the term before but it seems according to google search the same as a stand by.

Sometimes it means someone who's in the ensemble but can be taken out of it as needed and it won't affect any songs. They don't have individual lines. They can also be in the ensemble AND take over a more featured role in the same performance.

There's currently an onstage swing (the more common term here, I believe) in The Book of Mormon on Broadway who covers all the female Ugandan roles and a few of the male Ugandan roles. She is also in the show every night, but if she has to play someone else, it won't be a problem with re-allocating lines.

It's probably not wise for me to be explaining it but it's a way of disguising the title video so it doesn't get picked up on and deleted, seeing as bootlegs aren't legal. Slime tutorials are/were genuinely a big thing for kids to make their own fake slime/goo to play with at home so it's just something the bootleg community latched on to.

If this is info that shouldn't be out there - please feel free to delete haha

I have a question about shows where the cast play instruments — I'm specifically thinking of Music & Lyrics Fiddler on the Roof tour here, although I'm sure it will apply to others.

How does that work with covers? On top of everything else else (age, sex, vocal range, dance ability) did they have to have somebody who was e.g. a double reed specialist as well?

One of the daughters was a clarinettist and another a cellist — would they be covered by somebody playing the same instrument, a different instrument and a re-scoring (very unlikely I think?) or mime and have somebody else play it?

Walking covers tend to be understudies who specifically aren’t members of the ensemble or in the show in any other capacity (as first and second covers may be), but rather wait backstage should they be needed to take over.

So is there a difference between a walking cover and a standby?

The slip seats are seats that on the sides in the dress or upper circle which aren't boxes. Delfont Mackintosh theatres often have them. They can be decent value for money depending on the show.

The fold down seats are called Strapitan seats.

Thank you, Jon!

(The fold down seats should be called "strap-it-in" seats... they felt very narrow and precarious and I'd really like to avoid them in future!)

Not necessarily - for example, if you watch the film version of Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda's mic is on his forehead while Leslie Odom Jr has his at the side of his face.

So seems to me it has everything to do with the quality of the mic itself and not where it is positioned!

You wouldn't want it preshow, as it would ruin the aesthetic of those who happened to be walking in. Instead of the show's front cloth or opening set, stuff that is carefully created to set an impression of the show (and these days, look good on social media), you'd have a safety curtain.  

Most theatres legally have to "show the iron" to the audience at every show to prove it is working, and this can be done at any point from house open to house clear. The interval makes sense as everyone knows what the show is about by then, and preshow and postshow pics seems far more common than interval ones. Also having it in in the interval can make it safer for those working on stage to set for Act 2, so they or the scenery and props can't escape into the stalls or orchestra pit. 

Fun safety curtain fact, many of them still have asbestos as their insulator. 

Yes that is rather impressive although sitting at the front it does feel a bit odd when it starts to close

Many shows DO "show the iron" before the performance. They've always done it at Book of Mormon and a few others around the West End. Usually the stage crew will wait until a minimum number of people have entered the auditorium as soon as the house opens (I can't remember the exact number) and will lower the safety curtain then. That way they have covered themselves legally but aren't lowering the curtain to a full audience which some producers don't like and can make resetting during the interval more difficult on some shows.