Student Blog: Swinging in Undergrad

One of the many amazing things that I’ve gotten the chance to do during my undergraduate years is be a swing. If you’re not already familiar with the term, a swing is a member of the cast who covers many ensemble tracks/roles in a production. If a member of the ensemble is out or they are an understudy covering a main track, the swing steps in to fill in the gaps. In the fall of my sophomore year, JMU STAD was doing a production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George. In that production, I covered three ensemble tracks, Old Lady/Naomi Eiesen, Frieda/Blair Daniels, and a waitress track in the second act. While I did not swing in officially for any of these roles, the experience alone was something I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to do while in an educational institution.

One of the reasons is that I now know what I need to do to help me track a role when I’m not consistently doing it. As someone who typically learns tracks and lines by physicalizing them, this was a challenge at first. Throughout the process, if cast members couldn’t make it to rehearsal, we would swing in for them, which was great. The swings and understudies also had full runs of the show on occasion just to ensure we had a chance to experience it. But what I realized is that I needed more time to physicalize it. So, on off days or when I wasn’t called, I ran the scenes in a practice room either by myself or with fellow castmates who happened to be in the building and also needed to practice. Our music director, Adam Shenk was also really helpful when it came to tracking voice parts in multiple pieces. I believe I ended up learning all four upper voice parts for each song because of the nature of the tracks. Having that support was crucial. 

Speaking of support, the amount of support the swings received from the cast and Production Team was amazing. Swings are a vital part of the process and receiving equal support from all sides was so reassuring, especially since this was my first time. They had so many tips! From managing memorization to tracking changes, they never made us feel like we were out of the loop. Our director, Kate Arecchi would even nerd out with us about measures in the music during breaks and had us pondering these characters during scene study days. The size of the cast also had an impact on our bond. We were a relatively small cast for a Mainstage musical with most of us having worked together before on different projects. We really felt connected in moments of joy and stress and there really wasn’t a crazy divide. We were a unit. A unit of people pausing on a Sunday by the blue purple yellow red water.

This process has been by far the most rewarding process I’ve ever been a part of at JMU. If you are offered a swing role in your educational institution, take it. It may seem daunting at first, but I guarantee you it’ll be an experience that you won’t soon forget.