The Substitute System
Why Conductors Go Berserk
Regular or Sub? - We won't tell!
Who's on First? What Game are we Playing?
When you begin to play jobs in New York, it will not be long
until you encounter the infamous substitute system. It will be best not
to question it too much, since it may be the means of your becoming
established in free lance circles.
Audiences are generally unaware of substitute players. Players and
orchestra contractors are all too aware, but it seems to be a hard lesson for
many conductors. If they are fresh from the conservatory or have been with
some permanent orchestra in the U.S. or abroad, they seem genuinely
surprised when they keep seeing new faces at rehearsals (maybe even concerts).
The reasons for the system are mainly economic. Let's say you have been
engaged for a week of rehearsals plus 2 concerts. You no sooner accept, when
another contractor offers you 3 rehearsals and one concert at more or less
the same time. A quick calculation might show you that you could actually
do both sets of concerts if you could only be in two places at once on two
of the days. You solve this by accepting both engagements and sending in a
substitute for yourself at 2 of the rehearsals. You may or may not inform
the contractor of what you are doing, depending upon who he is, how well
known you are, and who the conductors are.
If you choose not to inform anyone, you will have to cook up a story about
taking your sick aunt to the hospital (not used much anymore) or being ill
yourself. With some contractors, the more incredulous the story, the more
likely they are to buy it. Sometimes the stories can backfire.
There was one case where the contractor saw the musician driving down the
street only a day after the musician had told him he had totalled his car
on the West Side Highway.
Some conductors become overly sensitive about subs. When I had been engaged
to replace a player on a long run Broadway show, the conductor came over
and said "Now that your're here, I suppose you will start subbing out right
away." (This turned out to be true). Another time, I was engaged as a
sub for the first night(!) of a new musical and sat in on rehearsals. The
"angel", or financial backer casually dropped into one of the rehearsals and
immediately said "well, we haven't even opened yet, and I see there is a horn sub already."
Admittedly, some players go too far, e.g. advising their sub not to take
their place until the lights have gone out, hoping the conductor won't
notice (but they always do). Or advising their sub to give a wrong name if
challenged.
With all the tricks and shenanigans that are possible, there is still one
ironclad rule. If you are sending in a sub, try to send in someone who
is BETTER than you are. No use sending in someone worse so that they will
appreciate you more. Better they should know they can count on you to
send only the best person available. (If that person decides to send in
a sub for himself, then you hope that he observes the same rule).
RR
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