Curious here. I was flipping through the gorgeous new photos of Samantha Hill joining Phantom of the Opera on Playbill.com and began wondering:
Do replacement actors have a final dress rehearsal where the photographer comes in and takes pictures for publicity? My understanding was replacements get put in rehearsals, but not a full fledged dress rehearsal which the entire cast, makeup, lighting etc. When do they take these lush photos? It's not during an actual performance, is it? the lovely photos I'm speaking of
The chandelier photo seems to show people in the audience so, in this case, it seems to have been at an actual performance though, if not, I suppose there could have been a small invited audience filling the first few rows of a full dress rehearsal.
They could also simply be staged. Their first time with the whole cast/in costume is usually their first night performing.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
It's called a Photocall which usually takes place in the afternoon (before an evening performance). This would be a separate event from the put-in (where like you said, not everyone would be in costume and scenes not involving the new actor could be skipped). The photocall is usually a pose and shoot type of event, usually without staging or music. Equity wise, I'm not sure what the Broadway production contracts allow for a photocall on a long running show, but I would assume this is allowed (without having to pay the cast) when a new lead joins a show, or after a certain predetermined time passes. Maybe someone with knowledge of the Broadway agreement can tell us. All production crew and wardrobe/wigs would need to be paid however. I think Phantom can afford it!