At This Performance: Farah Alvin of Broadway's New Musical IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU!

BroadwayWorld presents the latest installment of our latest weekly feature, 'At This Performance' highlighting the work of some of Broadway's hardest-working actors - understudies and standbys!

Waiting in the wings, these show-savers detail their favorite moments on stage, backstage, and in rehearsal in this new series, offering an inside look at one of the most stressful jobs on the Great White Way.

Farah Alvin is in good company. Part of the all-star cast of the new Broadway musical IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU, directed by David Hyde Pierce and co-starring Tyne Daily, Harriett Harris, Sierra Boggess and more, Alvin currently serves as the standby for the roles of Jenny/Annie/Aunt Sheila, played by Lisa Howard, Montego Glover and Anne Nathan, respectively. She's right at home on the Great White Way, with previous credits in NINE, THE LOOK OF LOVE, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, GREASE and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Her Off-Broadway credits include THE LAST SMOJER IN AMERICA, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES and many more. Regionally, Alvin has appeared in SYCAMORE TREE at Signature Theater, [TITLE OF SHOW] at Theatreworks Silicon Valley, PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Huntington Theatre, and RAGTIME at White Plains PAC.

You can find her on Twitter at @FarahAlvin.

Being an understudy in a new musical, with a cast such as IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU's, what's the rehearsal and preview process been like? Exciting. And tiring. (We're making lots of changes.) And hilarious. Because I am an offstage cast member, I have this really unique perspective where I get to watch everyone's process from the outside. There are so many brilliant actors in our show, it's kind of a master class in comedy.

Do you feel like you have the freedom to be able to interpret the role differently? I think so. I'm very different from the ladies I cover (Lisa Howard, Montego Glover and Anne Nathan) so I think it would be a disservice to the play to try and imitate or equate one of their performances. David Hyde Pierce is such an actor friendly director, I think when the time comes, he'll want me to play the characters with my own sensibilities. That said, I think it's important for an understudy to be aware of the other actors' timing and energy so that everyone else's performances can stay relatively intact.

What's the most challenging part of being an understudy? The unpredictability. You can only prepare so much on your own. It all changes when you're thrown onstage unexpectedly. Also, yourarely get a chance to do several shows in a row so it's hard to get into a rhythm. You know, when you go "Oh shoot, I forgot to move that prop" or "That cue came in late, I better pick it up". You might not be on again for another month so trying to put all the pieces together, that's hard.

What's your most memorable call-time story in previous productions you've been a part of? Oy. I did a show at the Brooks-Atkinson where I was covering Capathia Jenkins. We were in previews and I had learned the first act of the show but hadn't tackled the second act and we hadn't yet had understudy rehearsal. Suddenly Capathia, who's normally never out, got a terrible allergy situation that she couldn't sing through. Stage management told me to be ready to go on. I had no costumes, no rehearsal, nothing. We had an emergency put-in before a Wednesday matinee and I was on. They bought me costumes at Bloomingdales and in the wing, they'd throw something on me, cut the tags, the dance captain would tell me where to stand at what point in the number, and they'd push me onstage! It was terrifying. Sometimes I'd see a spotlight moving onstage and go "Oh, I'm supposed to be in that light" and I'd go stand in it, following the light instead of the light following me. I had one other terrifying understudy moment on my next show and then vowed I would never do it again, my nerves couldn't take it. But you know. Famous last words!

What's your favorite way to pass the time backstage? Well right now I'm still watching the show a lot and studying. But eventually I'll do a lot of reading and knitting and working out. And I have a toddler at home so I have no time to myself so I'm looking forward to just staring off blankly into space.