I seem to be something of a fallback option. I’m not complaining, just pointing out a trend. You see, I tend to find myself in positions such as the one I encountered this weekend: replacing an actor who either booked something else, disappeared, or was fired. Let me rewind.

Early last week I received a phonecall from a director I work with often. It seems a play he had entered in a play festival had received a performance slot. The play is a work that has bowed before an audience at another theater, and the same cast was to return in their respective roles. All was well until the play was moved to a later slot in the festival#–suddenly one of the three actors would not be able to perform. Thus, the phonecall!

And of course I said yes, even though I was also shooting an NYU Short Film in Connecticut this past week.

So began a whirlwind of preparation: 40 pages of play memorization, one blocking rehearsal, one tech rehearsal, and then showtime! Some people thrive on this kind of experience, while others wilt in fear#–I’m somewhere in between. Needless to say I’ve been a bit of a hermit the past week, running lines and worrying. The show itself went over well, with only one hitch where I went up on a line. The audience would never know, but it made my stomache jump into my throat, a complete alternate reality playing forth in my mind’s eye in which I couldn’t remember a single other line and the play flopped like a dying mackerel. No, fortunately that did not happen. Instead, we covered, and the play went on without a hiccup.

This kind of scenario is not new to me#–I have replaced actors many times in my career, and while I am fortunate that directors think of me in a pinch, I also know that my fight-or-flight response could use a break from the action. I wish I could have posted advance notice about the performance, but I just didn’t have time.