I Was Thrown On in the West End for a Role I’d Never Played | Awareness, Attitude, and Always Being Ready – Allie Dart

You're On Tonight

In this episode of You're On Tonight, actor Allie Dart shares high-stakes stories from her career as a theatre understudy. She details the i

Key takeaways

• Allie Dart stepped into a male role in 'The Comedy About Spies' with only hours of notice after Chris Leask was injured.
• Her performance in 'The Comedy About Spies' went viral on social media platforms like TikTok.

Main topics

• Understudying challenges
• West End debuts

Notable quotes

You just have to be brave.

Conclusion

The episode provides a fascinating look into the unseen resilience and

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:09) Hello and welcome back to You're On Tonight, the podcast where we talk to the unsung heroes of the theatre industry. The understudies, swings, standbys and alternates who make sure the show goes on. Speaker 1 (0:20) Today, you're going to hear one of the most incredible stories from one of the most brilliant performers we've ever spoken to as we talk to actor Ali Dart. You Speaker 3 (0:28) may have seen the hugely viral story of the actor who stepped into a role she'd never officially covered in the West End with just a few hours to prepare, well... That's Ali. Speaker 1 (0:38) She'd never rehearsed, never looked at the lines, never even thought about playing the character. We Speaker 3 (0:42) talk about that unbelievable day, what was actually happening behind the scenes, the pressure of covering a high profile performer, creating new work, and why sometimes the only option is to back yourself and just walk on stage. Speaker 1 (0:54) It's really, really inspiring. And what I love about this episode is it shows just how insanely skilled understudies are and shows that even when you think, you know, your job can't get any more unpredictable. Well, guess again. So Speaker 3 (1:04) here we go. Speaker 3 (1:11) I'm Cara Alberts-Turner. Speaker 1 (1:13) And I'm Liam Horrigan. And Ali Dart. You're on tonight. Oh, Speaker 2 (1:16) no. Speaker 3 (1:16) The fear. Speaker 2 (1:17) Instant fear from that phrase, isn't it? The Speaker 1 (1:20) anxiety just channels up into the chest. We did pick Speaker 3 (1:22) the name of the show to be like the trigger for any guest that comes on. So, yeah. But thank you so much for coming on. Thank you Speaker 2 (1:28) for Speaker 3 (1:28) having me. I'm so excited to be here. Speaker 2 (1:30) You're Speaker 1 (1:30) on your day off at the moment because you're doing Thespians, Mischief's first musical on tour. How's it going? Speaker 2 (1:36) It's going really well. So much fun. Such a wholesome show. And the cast are amazing. We're having a lot of fun. It's just racing by. I can't believe it. it's only three weeks left and then we're done but hopefully you know it won't be the end of the show because this is the very early stages of it so fingers crossed it comes back yeah Speaker 1 (1:53) that's Speaker 2 (1:54) amazing and Speaker 3 (1:54) it's a lot of people you've worked with before right on this show which is which is really cool so it's a mischief show and you've done a mischief show before and also uh robin grant who you've worked with before so was that Speaker 2 (2:05) was it nice to come into a space that like felt Familiar? A hundred percent. It was like a weird mix of worlds because me and Robin go way back. Like we trained at drama school together. We had our own theatre company together for years. And then our style of comedy has always been like compared, not compared, but mirrored with mischief. And they've been heroes of ours for so long. So then now I got to work with mischief last year on Spies. And then them coming together was like this great mix of. talent amazing so coming into the room it was really good because I felt quite chill which is nice because everyone knows me and my weird quirks and stuff which is really good but also I just knew that like something magical was going to happen because I think when like Robin and John came together their ideas and brains work in such similar ways that they're both like bouncing off each other so it was a really really great start to the process that's amazing and you've worked on a lot of new work Speaker 3 (3:01) across across the board which is so I guess coming into this like How, as a performer coming into a space like that, can you like sort of stretch your creativity Speaker 2 (3:10) as well? I'm just constantly trying to throw stuff at the wall and like always be an ideas girl, basically, in probably quite an annoying way. Speaker 3 (3:23) Sort of rein it in and really like pick your moments to be like, oh, by the way, here's a thought. Speaker 2 (3:28) But yeah, I... New work is like my favourite thing to do. I just love it because I love the whole collaborative process and getting to really get my creative juices flowing in every aspect is my favourite thing to do. So I really loved creating these characters as well. And me and Matt Cavendish in the show are very much like a double act. It's a very like buddy comedy track that we do together. So we had a lot of... room for play and ideas the whole time, which was just really fun. That's Speaker 1 (4:00) amazing. Speaker 2 (4:00) It's Speaker 1 (4:00) really, really Speaker 2 (4:00) good. Speaker 1 (4:01) Oh, sorry. Sorry. Hello? Oh, it's Andy! Andy, our represent company manager. Hey, how's it going? You good? There's Speaker 3 (4:10) a Speaker 1 (4:10) problem? Oh, no! What's happened? She's just started watching Lord of the Rings. Yeah. Oh, that's going to take her out for the best part of the week, isn't it? Extended edition? All right. I was only asking. Jesus. Okay, yeah. No, I'll tell her. Thanks. All right. Cheers. Bye. Speaker 1 (4:27) Ali, I'm so sorry, but that was... What's happened? That was Andy, our Omnipotent Company manager. And there's been a problem. And you're on tonight. Speaker 3 (4:35) Do we even have time? Because of Lord of the Rings. Because of Lord Speaker 2 (4:37) of the Rings, of all things. We've got Speaker 1 (4:39) plenty of time. We've got plenty of time. This can go on for... days this episode Speaker 2 (4:43) fantastic Speaker 3 (4:43) it's the director's Speaker 2 (4:44) cut Speaker 3 (4:44) exactly she's out Speaker 1 (4:46) yeah exactly exactly brilliant Speaker 3 (4:47) well besides that phone call there what was the most memorable time you've ever been told you're on tonight oh gosh there are a couple I Speaker 2 (4:55) think so I have this thing of like always being told that very last minute or like for a part I don't play or something weird and people like slowly creep up to me and they're like Ali so what do you feel about this and I'm like oh god but I think the most memorable to me probably has to be 222 because that was my West End debut and I was really scared that like the West End would be completely different to anything I'd ever done. Speaker 1 (5:26) That's interesting. Like Speaker 2 (5:27) I really put it on a massive pedestal. And when I got the job, I was like, one, it's like a four-hander, quite straight comedy play. And I'd been doing like stupid feminist comedy musicals at Speaker 3 (5:39) the Fringe, like on tiny tours Speaker 2 (5:41) for a long time. So I was like, one, I have to prove myself as like a real actor. And then also understudying to like celebrities is quite different to just understudying like a jobbing actor, I found anyway. And the first time I went on was. an hour to go and Sophia Bush who I was understudying was just taken ill she was just out for the count but she wouldn't she was really trying to be like I think I can do it I think I can do it and it got to the stage where the company manager was like you cannot go on stage like you're running a fever lie down go and go in there and the whole time I was sort of like floating around like Speaker 3 (6:17) trying to be really cash about it but I was like you can put me on if you want if Speaker 2 (6:20) you want if you want you can probably put me on and I was like really gearing myself up for it And then suddenly it was like, I think it was 6.30 and they were like, we're going to have to put you on. I was like, OK. And then just like went into this is happening, you know, lockdown mode. And then getting through that and proving to myself that I could do it. And when I stepped out, it was actually the same. It's still the stage and the audience is still the audience. And it's not like this crazy big divide that I sort of thought it would be. I think I thought that the audience would be like, whoa. Who is she? Why is she up there? What is she doing? She's so out of place. But apparently that didn't happen. Speaker 3 (7:00) But Speaker 2 (7:01) that was really memorable to me because I was just so, so excited after I finished that and was like, this is such a mark in my career that I'm really, really proud of. That's amazing. Were you Speaker 1 (7:14) filled kind of like taking the job? Did you have anxiety sort of the whole way through thinking this might happen and it might actually, it might make me... terrified if it does yeah Speaker 2 (7:23) i think i i was terrified immediately getting the job and i was also like um like the people that they got are often screen actors so i was like there is a good chance i could go on because you know theater stamina is very different to screen stamina i think so i was like if you're not used to doing eight shows a week so i was like i have to be on my game i have to be ready um And at the beginning, I had no guaranteed date. So I was like, if I'm going on, it's an emergency. And that comes with its own like terrifying adrenaline rush. So, yeah, I just felt like I really wanted to prove myself to all of those people in that room. But also. was like desperate to learn everything I could like as soon as I went to rehearsals I was just like gazing at everyone being like okay I had like three notebooks and had all my highlighters and I'm so ready to learn everything I can so I was just so elated to be in like a West End room for the first time that's Speaker 1 (8:18) really interesting because we've talked a little bit on the podcast about like when you're covering celebrities and why that brings extra pressure because you're like that's not the famous person I paid money to see exactly that's a stress but also that thing that stylistic difference between like if you're performing comedy a lot of the time and this is a drama but then like you say you laid on top of that the fact that you feel like they're screen actors predominantly yeah and they're doing stage maybe for the first time in a while whatever did that add an extra pressure of like did you feel like you were going to be performing in a slightly different style or was it the sort of rehearsals did the work and came in and grounded you i Speaker 2 (8:47) think watching them in rehearsal i was like oh this is like quite um probably smaller and like a bit more nuanced but then the director matthew dancer is is really amazing at what he does. Like it was amazing to see him like mould them all and create these characters. So I learned a lot from rehearsals and then I sort of like took on the notes that he was giving to them and tried to remember that and be like, this is what he wants. But also like I knew in the back of my head, I'm never going to do it like them. And if I try to do that, it will be so fake and so obvious that I'm like playing a part. Do you know what I mean? So I was like, I have to have... the base level of all of the research and the notes that he's given of what he wants the character to be grounded in but then at the same time i have to bring my own flavor of whatever they are to me how Speaker 1 (9:38) do you do that how do you balance because i don't know did you get understudy rehearsals yeah Speaker 2 (9:42) we did yeah you did get Speaker 1 (9:43) time on the stage but if you're thinking about notes that are being given to a different performer a different actor how do you balance as like a craft those notes to someone else and then also trusting your instincts at the same time yeah i think it's Speaker 2 (9:55) really hard you just got to pick and choose i think and what what ones will be helpful to you like if their intention or if they're like relationship around the other characters around you then i think that's really helpful because then you can sort of lock into the other people on stage and be like okay you know this is how I feel about you and this is why we're having this conversation and blah blah blah listening Speaker 1 (10:16) to them and you're on stage and everything yeah yeah Speaker 2 (10:18) exactly but then if it's certain things like my like Jamie Winston is such a bubbly like larger than life like wet like east end character yeah and I was like my energy it's just completely different to that. I'm Speaker 3 (10:34) like, hi guys, I've been Speaker 2 (10:35) dopey and like much more soft spoken. I was like, okay, so our characters are just going to be completely different from the beginning. And in cover rehearsal straight away, like our associate was amazing. And he was, he was like, we don't want a carbon copy. Speaker 3 (10:49) So Speaker 2 (10:49) do like, do it. how you would want to do it. But it's also hard because as an understudy, all of your time is just squished into like this, like eighth of rehearsal that others get, sometimes even less. So you're trying to just get the base layer of whatever you can. I think it's also good to, you don't want to carbon copy, but some things you do just need to sort of take. and steal and that'll just help you get through because if you don't have time to discover all of this stuff it's like if you're thrown on you've just got to be able to get through it for Speaker 1 (11:22) sure Speaker 3 (11:22) and had you understudied before no never so this is the first time as well understudying yeah Speaker 2 (11:27) how Speaker 3 (11:28) because I mean you're talking like a seasoned pro really with that well because I think it's really hard like when you go into a room and you've not understudied before because you're also navigating how how do I learn not physically doing something yeah um but like That experience being your first understudying experience, like what did that teach you? It Speaker 2 (11:46) taught me that my brain is more powerful than I thought, I think. And it can like bend and twist in like weird ways. And I didn't realize it could before. So that was really good. It taught me that the main thing is knowing the lines. Like if you don't know anything else, as long as you know the lines, like. if you're in a good company of supportive people, they will push you around and drag you around. Like when you're thrown on, these people have been doing it for months. It's in their bones. So like, even if something goes a little bit crazy, they'll be there to support you. But as long as you're like, you're moving the story on, you're telling the story, you're staying on script as much as you can. That was really helpful to me. And it taught me that you have to have guts. Like it's so... Like, you just have to be brave. And before you go on, just throw everything to the wind and just trust that something's going to come out and it'll be fine. Like, once the train starts going, you're on the train. Especially in that play. Yeah, exactly. You don't leave, there's no time, right? Yeah. And I think that's what was also really daunting and why I had to know the script as much as I, like, really, really just... went over and over the lines so much because once you step out it's like there's no going back there's no really the good thing was it's like quite contemporary so you can get yourself out of sticky situations easily and cover it up but you like also the other people on that stage I'm like I want them to know that I'm doing a good job and I did the work and there's so many different layers of like fear that come into it but yeah it was an amazing amazing first step into the world of covering. Speaker 3 (13:28) That's really interesting because I mean when you go into your regular rehearsal room you're with like you said jobbing actors but then when you go into a room of people maybe that you've looked up to in the past I imagine that adds a second layer of being like I want to prove to myself I want to prove to them and then when you go out to an