Video: A Declassified Understudy Survival Guide with Hannah Florence

How do Broadway understudies survive? The gig isn't easy! Understudies and swings are some of the hardest working performers on Broadway (and beyond), having to be ready to go on at a moment's notice, often for multiple tracks. Think you could swing it?

In this video, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club understudy extraordinaire Hannah Florence breaks down how she manages doing double understudy duty as Fritzie and Kost.

"I think the biggest friend you have as an understudy is honestly just sheer courage," she explained. "You're gonna get nervous. You're gonna have adrenaline. You might be physically shaking, but  you have to remember who you are, why you're here, and plug yourself into the scene. When I'm nervous as an understudy I just remind myself when I'm in the wings- what is my character doing in this scene? What do I want? If you plug into that, that's the best thing you can do."

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