The School of Theater’s last mainstage show of the season, Three Sisters, opened April 5 in Burg Theater in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center.
The six male understudies in the cast are:
Dustin Barlow, acting sophomore (Kulygin);
Erik Hamilton, acting sophomore (Andrey);
Max McIntire, acting freshman (Chebutykin);
Walker Northcutt, acting junior (Vershinin);
Zach Prall, acting freshman (Solyony), and
Joey Witten, acting freshman (Tuzenbach).
The understudies said they have become friends and call themselves “underbuddies.”
Q: What is the best part about being an understudy?
Witten: The camaraderie amongst the group
Prall: The opportunity to work under very talented people
Q: What is the worst part of being an understudy?
Witten: The pressure of not knowing if you will go on or not
McIntire: Being scared I’m underprepared
Q: How did the name “underbuddies” catch on?
Hamilton: I was sitting with Zach and Joey on the couch during rehearsal, and I kinda called us “underbuddies” under my breath. Joey started calling our seat the “underbuddy couch,” and then Zach convinced Samantha the assistant stage manager to call us that.
Barlow: I didn’t even know about it until we had a group chat and that’s what it was called.
Q: What is your dream understudy role?
Witten: “Moritz” from Spring Awakening
Prall: “Genie” from Aladdin because it’s a hard role, but I’d only want to do it once in a while.
Hamilton: “George” from Sunday in the Park with George. Mandy Patinkin makes me melt.
Barlow: “Hanschen” from Spring Awakening or “Hamlet”
McIntire: “Happy Loman” from Death of a Salesman. For a musical, I’d understudy one of the princes from Into the Woods. They’re the worst characters ever, and I love them.
Northcutt: Prisoner 24600 in Les Mis
Q: If you could understudy any person, who would you choose?
Witten: Danny DeVito
Prall: Lance Marsh
Hamilton: Joey Witten, my arch nemesis, so that when he’s sick, I can take over and ruin his life
McIntire: It’s probably cliche, but Matt Tuley (Who I’m understudying now). I love getting to see his process. Or Ewan McGregor.
Barlow: I would so understudy Tessa McQueen.
Northcutt: Wes Peddycord
Q: What is your favorite part of Three Sisters?
Witten: The last Tuzenbach scene
McIntire: I like the “Oh, my lovely porch” song because it’s the last time on stage when people are actually happy.
Prall: The subtle technical aspects like the music and the lighting. It’s not in-your-face, but it’s really good.
Barlow: Masha’s Act III dress
Hamilton: Every time someone mispronounces “Irina”
Northcutt: When it’s over
Q: If you had to understudy a different character in the show, who would you choose?
Hamilton: No second thoughts, Solyony. He’s my favorite character. He’s so compelling and drives the plot so well. I find him so relatable because I have a lot of demons I struggle with regarding relating to people and being by myself. Of course, I don’t express it in awful horrible ways like he does, but I think he’s fascinating.
McIntire: Natasha. I would understudy the crap out of Natasha.
Witten: Kulygin
Barlow: Tuzenbach or Masha. “There’s a noise in the chimney.” That scene is so hot.
Prall: Young Olga. I want to dance.
Northcutt: The bottle of cognac
Q: What is your understudy character name?
Barlow: Nikolai
McIntire: Serge
Hamilton: Thirteenovich. We made a group chat during crew view. Dustin asked why there aren’t actually 13 at table. Why can’t Kulygin count? We decided we should all sit in the thirteenth spot in a giant trenchcoat and call ourselves “Thirteenovich”
Prall: Russian Guyovich
Witten: Boris Svetskovich
Northcutt: Deckhand
The underbuddies are taking over the Oklahoma City University Instagram this weekend and will update the account’s Instagram story with their adventures. They also are creating a “Which Underbuddy Are You?” Buzzfeed quiz.
Comment below to recommend the next Feature Friday.
Editor’s Note: Erik Hamilton is a staff writer for Student Publications.
Leave a Reply