Swing Nation: The epitome of ‘the show must go on’

Zachary Williams, Christine Desjardins, Brian Ross, Jacqueline Bartney and Anthony MacPherson, the swing team for this year’s Stratford Festival production of Guys and Dolls, pose on a rehearsal stage at the Festival Theatre.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On one unassuming Tuesday morning, Stratford Festival swing performer Zachary Williams was sleeping on a bus coming back into town from Toronto for a performance of Guys and Dolls. When he woke up, the bus wasn’t in Stratford – it was broken down on the side of the highway.

As it happened, festival alum Steve Ross, who plays Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the musical, and Jeremy Carver-James, who plays Calvin, were also on the bus. Without many options, and with a show all three of them were supposed to be in, Steve suggested calling an Uber from the side of the 401.

“We're shaking JCJ (Carver-James) up because he just won't wake up,” Williams shared. “… We get in the Uber, and we're like, ‘Okay, great!’ because Steve Ross had to go on because his understudy was sick. Anthony (MacPherson, another swing) was on, and if Steve Ross didn't make it to the performance, it would have been cancelled. And the only person who covers JCJ is me.”

Scheduled to arrive in Stratford at 1:30 p.m., stage manager Cynthia Toushan called Williams en route and informed him that another performer was sick. Toushan asked him if he could step in.

“Yes, it’s my job,” Williams responded – and true to his word, within a half hour of showtime, Williams had his wig and costume on and was on stage at the Festival Theatre. None of the audience members in the 1,833-seat theatre would have known just what it took to get all three actors on stage that afternoon.

That anecdote is but one of the many break-neck stories the festival’s swing performers have from behind the curtain. As Williams said, a swing’s job is to learn multiple ensemble parts (called tracks) and replace cast members who cannot perform – be it a pre-determined date known far in advance or mid-show due to an injury or illness. Swings need to know the choreography, singing and acting of each track, waiting in the theatre wings at every performance, just in case they are needed.

At the festival, there are two teams of performing swings this year – though each department at the festival has their version of a swing or understudy.

For Guys and Dolls, Williams joins Jacqueline Burtney, Christine Desjardins, Anthony MacPherson and Brian Ross (no relation). Wade Pierre Buller, Jarret Cody, Josh Doig, Alexandra Gratton and Ali Powell form the swing team for Something Rotten!

Speaking with the Times, they all espoused just how integral rehearsing is to what they do.

Stratford has a long rehearsal process compared to other domestic theatre companies, a necessity for how complicated, large and long the productions typically are. For instance, the choreography team and dancers for Guys and Dolls started pre-production in January this year, with the swing team starting in February for an end-of-May opening.

“Once we start, especially the first four, five, six weeks of the rehearsal process, it’s just homework city,” Powell said. “… The details we know are so much smaller than (what) most people would expect. It isn't just ‘know the steps.’ It's ‘know the steps, the traffic, the spacing, the costume, the order, the backstage traffic, all of it.’

“… Because, for us, we have to be six times more comfortable with everything, so that we can do it six different ways.”

All of the swings were quick to add that teamwork is incredibly important. As the rehearsal process goes on, they all need to work with one another to make sure everyone is performing at their best, which means leaving ego at the door and being honest, professional and compassionate.

“This is a team sport,” shared Cody. “There's no way the five of us could do what we could do alone, and it's wild because often, when you swing on in a show, you’re by yourself. You're the one person swinging on in that show, and it’s no one else's responsibility. The rest of the ensemble are going to do their show. It's your job to fill in the blank. No one can help you do that. But the only way that you get to a place where you can do it, is because you have people who are doing (the work with you).”

“Having a group of people that you know are there to help you is really awesome about swinging here specifically,” Brian said, who has been the sole swing in other productions and companies in the past. “… Getting the chance to be able to go in and just focus on one track and know that you have support is really wonderful.”

“But don’t count your chickens,” Desjardins added, explaining how a cascading effect can cause chaos as multiple tracks need to be filled. “I had to go on for three people here once (during a production of Rent). … I’m on one side of the stage, but another character over there had to say a line and I’m just yelling it from across the room because something else over on this side had to be done, words needed to be said. It was exciting. The stage manager and I were trying to map it out in advance because so many people were ill or injured – but the show had to go on.

“To create that vision, to still portray the story as best as we could, is another exciting and ‘adrenaline junkie’ element of what we do.”

To keep on top of everything they need to know, the swings keep detailed notes listing everything from blocking to small character beats and prop handling, though the format and organization of these notes naturally differs from person to person. They can be handwritten, highlighted and tabbed in journals, taken through digital apps that allow for notation, or a combination of the two.

Keeping a calm, ordered routine and having strong separation between their work and personal lives are also strategies the swings employ to keep up with such high-pressure jobs.

As Cody said, the job is to prepare for an exam they never know is coming, comparing swinging to showing up at school on the first day of class with teachers warning you of the final exam.

“They just start hurling information at you. And it's not that the exam is in December, or it's not that the exam is in June. The exam is at 10 a.m., when you get a text message that says, ‘Today's the final exam,’ and you go, ‘Okay, I hope I (prepared enough).’”

“That final exam could be stepping in in a rehearsal,” Doig added. “It could be, ‘Hey, we're in the middle of tech, we need you to jump in for this person because their child is sick.’ It's opening night and so-and-so has the flu. You have to perform their entire track, having never rehearsed it.”

“You’re in a three-piece suit in the theatre because you thought you were going to enjoy the show, but you're actually on,” Cody laughed. “… Our job is the epitome of ‘the show must go on’ … If we didn't know what we’re doing, or if we weren't competent, or if we didn't relay confidence to the people around us, it would not happen.

“That’s how I approach everything – that idea of ‘what can I do to make sure that the show is seamless, that people don't know (that a swing is on).’ For all the work that we do, the biggest compliment I've ever received is ‘I didn't even know you were on today.’”