A fantastic article by Dick Cavett about being an understudy/standby, with specific focus (and deserved praise) for our Cunningham standby, Jared Gertner.

An amplified voice from backstage utters those awful words: “For this performance, the part of … will be played by …” Before the sentence ends, a groan goes up from the entire audience. The moment is bad for them, but infinitely worse for one person standing backstage who hears it clearly. The one who, somewhere earlier in the day, has been told, “You’re going on tonight.” The one who has not yet made an entrance but has already, in effect, been booed. Hearing the dismal reaction at the mention of his name is enough to shrivel the soul. […] Sorrow and self-pity were short-lived. Another splendid actor, Jared Gertner, entered for Gad and instantly won the hearts of the disappointed. And held those hearts right through to the big, rewarding moment at the end — the one that surely makes up for standing backstage and hearing the announcement of your name trigger a groan — the curtain call. There’s a big surge in the cheering as you take your solo bow and your onstage fellow players salute you for having not just somehow having gotten through it, but gotten through it with distinction. He looks delightfully funny. Bulky of upper body (padded, possibly) and with legs appearing barely adequate to support their load, topped by oddly orange hair that fits the head like an ample, folded-under hat of some sort. Gertner exudes comic presence.

A ‘Book of Mormon’ Understudy Gets His Moment