Drama Dictionary: Standby

 

Hello, and welcome to the first Drama Dictionary entry!

As you get deeper and deeper into theater, you soon learn that actors have an almost absurd amount of slang, abbreviations, and shortcuts they use to talk about the performing arts. It's almost like a whole language, and nobody wants to be the one person who doesn't speak it. 

So I give you…the Drama Dictionary! A place to learn the definitions for the most obscure terms relating to theater, so you can be in the know and slang like a pro. 

Today's word:  Standby (/stănd′bī″/; Noun)

In my last post I mentioned that we got to see a standby perform the role of Elphaba when we saw Wicked in NYC. When I saw that she would be performing, my first question was what the heck is a standby? Everyone knows what an understudy is - an actor who shadows the lead and learns their role, in the event that the primary gets sick or hurt or cannot go on for some other reason - so why didn’t they just have an understudy filling in for Elphaba?

These questions led to a bout of research, and I soon discovered a lot of information I hadn’t realized.

In a big show like Wicked, or a show where a celebrity is playing a lead role, they often have standbys. A standby is a person who learns the role of a lead in the event that a lead cannot go on. So what makes them different from an understudy?

An understudy commonly plays an ensemble track in the show, as well as learning the track of a lead. That means that if an understudy has to go on, a swing (an understudy for the ensemble who usually learns several small parts, and who does not perform unless they are filling in) has to go on for the understudy.

A standby on the other hand does not perform in the show UNLESS they are filling in. They do not learn or have an ensemble track, the only track they know is that of the lead. Often a standby is at every performance, singing along with the lead backstage during the show, keeping their body and voice in peak condition in case they might have to go on at the last minute. Additionally, when a celebrity is playing a lead, sometimes their standby is also a well-known performer, so even if you miss the celeb you still get to see somebody cool. 

Being a standby is a ton of work. They are there every performance, ready to go on at a moment’s notice. They have to perfect a challenging role, and then possibly never have the chance to perform it. I feel like standbys deserve a lot of honor and respect.

I hope this has helped, and that you’ve learned something new about Broadway today. If you have any questions, or you have come across a theater word that you don’t understand, please comment below and ask me about it! I would love to hear from you. 

Remember to stop and smell the roses, and curtain up!

Rosie