Last Christmas, not long before the new Broadway production of The Music Man opened with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, Ms. Foster missed a few performances due to you-know-what. Her understudy, Kathy Voytko, filled in as Marian the Librarian, which led to a memorable and highly viral curtain speech by Mr. Jackman praising Ms. Voytko and others who cover roles and sometimes go on with very little notice or rehearsal. If you didn't see that speech or need to refresh your memory, here's a link to it.
I guess it was inevitable. A few weeks ago, it was Mr. Jackman's turn to be out with the same you-know-what and taking his place was understudy Max Clayton. Here's the curtain speech that Sutton Foster gave the first night Mr. Clayton went on. No doubt the audience was unhappy not to see Hugh Jackman — especially those who took a second mortgage on their homes to be able to buy the tickets. But as you'll see here, they seem to be pretty happy at the "memorable event" nature of the performance…