#weston wells olson
A view from the wings of Melissa O’Neil and Weston Wells Olson. Photo by maxgordonphotography.
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Here’s part 4 of Weston Wells Olson’s #SwingSeries! Learn more about what the life of a Broadway swing is like.
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Nate Hackmann was recently on for Jean Valjean, and I was on for his ensemble track: Courfeyrac. The best part about this track is definitely the constable costume!
When I go on for Nate, the factory gets a little tricky because I have to switch to either the Andrew Kober or Terance Reddick track (whomever is covering the foreman that day). Special agent swing skills!
Here’s also a pic of me up in the dressing room taking a break. :)
…and sometimes I’m not on and I watch The West Wing….
Always at the ready keeping an ear out for a page on the monitor!
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Take a look at part three of Weston Wells Olson’s Swing Series!
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Just recently Jason Forbach was on for Enjolras, so I was on for Jason as Feuilly!
I love the Feuilly track because it has some great features!
Thought I’d show you my convict, too. Watch out for 11751!
There was no split the other day…but I had a moment where I thought I was on for Dennis right before ABC. Luckily, I sorted it out before the towers parted! I constantly have to check in with myself onstage and off to make sure I know who I am and what I’m doing. This applies to real-life as well!
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We’re debuting a brand-new, inside look at the life of a Broadway swing. Follow Weston Wells Olson’s LES MIZ #SwingSeries. Now, without further ado, here’s Weston!
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Wazzup Mizzers! Weston here.
Who? Weston Wells Olson…..I’m a swing in the Broadway production of LES MISÉRABLES. Still have no idea who I am? Let me explain: I hardly ever think of myself as a hero, but I think that’s probably the best way to describe the swings (especially) at LES MIZ. We’re the cast members waiting in the wings (or our dressing rooms) for anything and everything to happen. We’re a highly trained special agent type of hero. There are five of us, 3 males and 2 females: Me, Max Quinlan, Andrew Love, Rachel Rincione and Katy Basile.
Why are we special agent heroes? Ok, so, say Jason Forbach (Feuilly) stumbles from the barricade, face plants into Chris McCarrell (Joly) who twists his ankle and accidentally shoves Nate Hackmann (Courfeyrac) into the orchestra pit. Yikes. Stage management immediately pages Weston, Max and Andrew and tells us to quickly get to wardrobe village in the basement of the Imperial Theater. Heroes to the rescue! We run downstairs (all six flights) and suit up for our roles of Feuilly, Joly and Courfeyrac, respectively. We wait for an appropriate moment onstage and walk on like nothing ever happened. The audience will be a bit confused….but they’ll get the hang of the new faces onstage and definitely understand what’s going on, especially following such a dramatic barricade trip-fall-push scene!
This has never, and hopefully WILL never happen, but it isn’t unusual for someone to have become ill mid-way through a show and has to call out or leave the show. It isn’t nearly as dramatic, but it does happen. There are also cast members who have vacations and “personal days” which are scheduled days off. These are the days that we are planning to be onstage and know what to expect. As a swing, I understudy 12 different ensemble roles and features. It’s pretty exciting, albeit fairly daunting at first, and can still be stressful, but it keeps my days varied and VERY interesting.
What happens if there are more people out than the three swings in house can cover? We’ll talk about that next time: just remember the words “split track.”
Happy Fall!
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Weston Wells Olson mics up in the basement of the Imperial by the Sound Department. Photo by maxgordonphotography.
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