Video: A Declassified Understudy Survival Guide with THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG's Damien Brett
Damien understudies five roles in The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway.
By: Joey Mervis Mar. 13, 2025
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, The Play That Goes Wrong understudy extraordinaire Damien Brett breaks down how he manages doing quintuple understudy duty as Trevor, Robert, Jonathan, Dennis, and Max.
"The nice thing about The Play That Goes Wrong is that even when you call someone the wrong name or say something completely out of the story, which I definitely did... nobody knows," he joked. "It's The Play That Goes Wrong and they think it's part of the show!"
Damien has starred on Broadway in Kinky Boots. National tours: Kinky Boots (original cast); Billy Elliot. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse (Annie); St. Louis Muny (28 different productions). Television: “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Film: Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn.
