What exactly is a "Swing" on broadway.. like next to the persons character description, it says swing.

Question

What exactly is a "Swing" on broadway.. like next to the persons character description, it says swing... as in what?

Answer 1

A swing is a person who has a variety of smaller roles, and understudy multiple larger parts. The day of a performance, the swing people are told which part(s) they have to perform in the upcoming performance.

For example, in Wicked the Ozian Officials, Wizard's Guards, s**z Students, and Denizens of the Emerald City are mostly played by ensemble members, but there are several swings in the mix as well.

Answer 2

A swing is an actor/actress that can jump into many different parts in a show so if like someone is sick in the ensemble they can put a swing person in or if one of the leads are sick they can fill in fot them as well.

Answer 3

If Broadway works the same way as the West End, a swing is(in most productions - there are exceptions) a performer who covers all the ensemble tracks, so that when a principal is off - sick, on holiday, whatever - and their understudy is pulled out of the ensemble, that person has a replacement. Swings jump into the gaps. It's a very hard job.

Of course you get exceptions. In Starlight Express, for instance, the swings covered the principals - a principal role was covered first by the swings, THEN by the lesser characters in the show if there were no swings available. In a show so likely to incur injury and legitimate time off, this system made a lot more sense. It also lead to less of a 'domino effect' when announcing who was covering who before the show - if one role is covered, it doesn't sound as bad as if four are, even if three of them have just shuffled around a bit.