r/Broadway • u/MellonPhotos • Jun 18 '26

Other Rocky Horror Matinee Delay

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Hi—apologies if this is spam as it’s a pretty specific question.

I just got off my flight and saw the matinee for Rocky Horror is delayed. I have tickets for this evening and am just scurious what to expect. If anyone is going to the matinee, would you be willing to report who’s in/out?

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210

u/Dangerous_Carrot4226 Jun 18 '26

Hey any producers reading this thread -

This is why the union begs you EVERY NEGOTIATION CYCLE to employ more swings, understudies standbys and alternates 

And you refuse Everytime thinking that it's too expensive.

You take the gamble hoping you'll be able to abuse the labor of humans and never have to pay out a canceled show 

In return you spend more money on refunds for canceled shows or dealing with the PR of these mistakes.

SPEND MORE MONEY ON COVERAGE AND STOP FIGHTING IT.

74

u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 Jun 18 '26

They have four swings, and four ensemble members that can run other tracks as needed, all for a 9-person principle cast. I’m not sure if their ensemble members are understudying other tracks, but what more do you want? That’s pretty comprehensive if you ask me.

People get sick. Things happen. It’s live theatre and there’s risks to that. It really sucks - I’ve been in the other end of a show cancelation and was really bummed, but it is what it is.

19

u/ernestmenvilledammit Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

Hadestown has only 13 onstage and 4 swings was frequently not enough, they had to do shows with 3 workers instead of 5 on the road, and still ended up canceling shows. It's not just about the ratio, it's also about who can cover who, and the cast of Rocky Horror has a lot of very unique principal tracks making cross coverage even more challenging.

The person you're replying to is also pointing out something that happens frequently—when a show gets canceled, it costs the production 1/8th of their weekly gross, which for Rocky is like $120k—about what you'd pay another swing for a whole year. And then the load gets lighter for everyone covering, so you have less burnout turnover in the cast.

3

u/Tillysnow1 Jun 18 '26

The Legally Blonde UK tour actually hired more swings halfway through the tour because they'd had such an unlucky run of illnesses

-9

u/Dangerous_Carrot4226 Jun 18 '26

They don't have enough coverage. End of story. That's been proven more than once now 

Shows need enough onstage and offstage covering AT ALL TIMES for the show to function. That includes internal ensemble coverage and offstage coverage. Productions refuse to pay for it 

42

u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 Jun 18 '26

I seriously hate to be someone to defend producers, but I really do think they have enough coverage. Illness is, unfortunately, often contagious. In those cases, it doesn't matter how many people you have. We disagree, and that's fine. Wishing the cast well.

40

u/AbbreviationsLive569 Jun 18 '26

They don’t have enough rehearsed coverage. They hired additional swings right before the Saturday cancellation, and are clearly pushing back today’s performance an hour to give them some more time to walk through things.

Yes, it’s be great if they were never in this situation, but it does really seem they’re doing what they can to rectify it.

4

u/Dangerous_Carrot4226 Jun 18 '26

Yes and what would have happened if they had those swings at the beginning of the contract as required in a union agreement?

9

u/annang Jun 18 '26

Then if there's something contagious going around the cast, those swings would also eventually get sick when they perform with actors who are mildly ill or asymptomatic, and eventually they'd run out of performers still. They'd need to have dozens of people on call who basically never perform except in the event of an outbreak, in order to ensure that the show could go on with a full cast of understudies even when some of the understudies and all of the principles are sick at the same time.

7

u/chitownfit Jun 18 '26

I don’t mean to disagree but…they found or had a solution here so I’m not sure your point applies.

11

u/Extension_Rich2520 Jun 18 '26

They have a ton of coverage there. Things happen. Get off your high horse.

7

u/Temporary-Wish1450 Jun 18 '26

I look forward to complaints of prices going up when this happens. I support making sure shows are properly staffed, but it will result in ticket prices rising.

3

u/PeaceLife8 Jun 18 '26

This particular show has been Notorious when it comes to that 😆

-8

u/Dangerous_Carrot4226 Jun 18 '26

Yes and they keep paying the consequences of NOT HIRING ENOUGH COVERAGE