A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Let's meet some little-known heroes of Broadway casts and national tours. They're known as swings, the performers who substitute for various chorus members at the drop of a hat. And the Actors' Equity Association, the union of actors and stage managers, has designated tomorrow National Swing Day in their honor. Here's NPR's Jeff Lunden.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CIRCLE OF LIFE")
TSIDII LE LOKA: (Singing in Zulu).
ANGELICA EDWARDS: My name is Angelica Edwards. I was a swing in "The Lion King" for 25 years, where I covered six dancers, six singers and Rafiki and Shenzi.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Which means that Angelica Edwards covered 12 separate chorus tracks in the musical. She explains.
EDWARDS: A track is everything that one person does in the show. So I would have to know everything they do onstage, every place they stand backstage, because there's equipment and everything moving and it can be dangerous. You just have to be able to go on at a moment's notice.
WILLIE TRE SMITH III: Swings are the superheroes of musical theater. When people call out, it's our job to suit up.
LUNDEN: And like Superman, Willie Tre Smith III flew from city to city rescuing productions of "Hamilton" when chorus members were sick or injured.
SMITH: I get a phone call like, hey, we need you to go to Chicago. And the next thing you know, I'm packing for, like, 2 1/2 weeks or three weeks for Chicago, and I end up getting stuck there for six months.
LUNDEN: Smith was what is known as a universal swing. And for 5 1/2 years, he learned that the tracks in the Chicago company were different from the tracks in the San Francisco company.
SMITH: So I always had to do, like, the copy and paste of where things are or where certain furniture moves go or which girl I'm partnering.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YORKTOWN (THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN)")
ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST OF HAMILTON: (Singing) The world turned upside down, down, down. Down, down.
LUNDEN: Smith says that things are a bit calmer now that he has the gig on Broadway. And Chelsea James just got the gig as a swing in the New York company of Chicago after having done the job in the international company in Korea. A week after she joined the production, she made her Broadway debut in a track that starts the show.
CHELSEA JAMES: You get to slide down the edge of the bandstand, which is really exciting. And you get to open the show. She does the welcome speech, which is amazing. Like, my Broadway debut stepping out onstage and doing that opening speech was something I'll never forget (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OVERTURE")
CHICAGO ORCHESTRA: Five, six, seven, eight.
LUNDEN: And let's not forget the contributions swings make to Broadway and touring companies every day.
For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHICAGO ORCHESTRA'S "OVERTURE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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