As Kathy said, Jessie has a very good attendance record overall. I often avoid Saturday matinees in general if I want to see a specific performer, but you're looking at Sunday. For what it's worth, I was at the show this past Sunday and it certainly didn't feel like the last show of the week - the cast had tremendous energy and the crowd was great too.
@z5 said: "Why would a matinee mean a performer not go to work?? I don't get the logic behind this from a lot of people. "
People just assume sometimes for shows that are vocally demanding for a performer to take matinees off. Example, Alex Brightman having a 6 six show week instead of an 8 show week because of the intensity of the vocals.
Does anyone know for Saturday matinees? I know she is anticipated for all performances but some actors tend to take off Saturday matinees and wondering if anyone had seen her in it recently for a matinee show.
@z5 said: "Why would a matinee mean a performer not go to work?? I don't get the logic behind this from a lot of people."
Well, it happened to me once on a Wednesday matinee for The Producers and Nathan Lane did not perform. So now, if I want to see a specific performer, I avoid matinees.
LizzieCurry said: "WTF? Isn't that like saying "One time I went to Starbucks on a Saturday and they were out of green tea lattes, so I don't go on Saturdays anymore"
No it isn't. As I don't travel over 2500 miles either to go to a Starbucks. And if I'm going on a cross country trip to NYC to catch a show, I ain't risking it.
Unless there is an alternate who performs matinees, there is no reason why you're "safer" to see a specific performer on a different time than a Saturday matinee. Vacations are often full weeks and illnesses obviously pop up whenever they do. If anything, assuming there's a Sunday performance, I am most familiar with actors taking off Sunday to have 2 days off if they're taking a vacation day, but even that isn't enough of a trend to justify avoiding Sundays.
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Whether you're traveling 2500 miles or 2500 feet to see an entertainer you enjoy (be it an actor, an athlete, etc), you ARE "risking it" because this entertainer is human.
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I think this is may just a natural assumption that is made by people visiting from out of town. If one of the performers is going to take a show off, its going to be on a day when there are 2 shows.....and it will probably be the afternoon performance. I am guessing rightfully or wrongfully, people think this could possibly be the case. I have had the same thoughts as we will be visiting NY again in a few months and this trip we are planning to go to a matinee. Right away my first thought is....will the whole cast be there on a matinee? Again it sounds like that's completely the wrong thought process, but I do understand it. People who travel a long ways to visit broadway and love theater just hope they don't miss out on what they are hoping to see.
I've traveled from out of town to NYC and see four or five shows a year for the past 15 years. so that's close to 75 shows. We always do matinees exclusively. In all those years I've only had one occasion when a lead or featured actor was out, Wicked, back when it was new. Idina, Kristin, Norbert, Joel and Carole were all out. Hasn't happened again. So, you see how avoiding matinees because of one instance doesn't make sense? If you went to one evening performance and someone was out would you avoid evening performances?
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I think it's a natural worry to have, because occasionally performers (particularly ones in a very vocally/physically demanding role) do sit one performance a week, and it is oftentimes a matinee. That being said, there will usually be an alternate listed for the role at those specific performances (for example, Christopher in Curious Incident). However, more often than not, the performer will be on unless they're sick, have an emergency, or are on vacation.
It doesn't matter if you travel 2500 miles to see a Broadway show or live down the street from the theatre. Live theater always carries the risk of people being out, scheduled or otherwise.
FWIW - I saw Waitress on a Saturday evening, and Jessie was out. (The understudy was FANTASTIC!). I also made two trips specifically to see Audra in Shuffle Along and she was out both times - both Saturday evenings. (Of course, now we know why, but didn't at the time.) Thanks to that, I got to see The Color Purple - which was AMAZING!)
Until I finally saw him in She Loves Me, Gavin Creel was out each time I had tickets to see a show he was in. I was starting to think he wasn't actually a real person! But one of the nice things about that was I got to see Jay Armstrong Johnson go on for the very first time in Hair. And he was terrific! And I didn't avoid shows Creel was in, either!
My point is, stuff happens. But to avoid going at certain times is not only illogical, but you might also be missing a great opportunity.