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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to Super Swings, a miniseries from The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. Welcome! I'm Mo Brady. Now, it's been a few years since we shared stories from Broadway's superheroes, the Swings. These actors have some of the most challenging jobs in theater. Hero might not be each of their middle names, but they are definitely superheroes of Broadway. In general, Swings are hired to understudy multiple ensemble tracks on a show. They're asked to remember all of the lines, blocking, choreography, vocal harmonies, and backstage traffic for multiple roles. The number of roles they cover vary from show to show, but it's usually every role in the ensemble, sometimes of all genders.

Last season, 288 actors worked as Swings on Broadway. That's literally a third of the performers working under Actors' Equity Chorus contracts. When people say, the show must go on, Swings are usually the people who make that happen. Gabi Campo made her Broadway debut last season as one of the two female Swings on The Prom, where she covered the lead roles of Emma and Alyssa, as well as all eight ensemble women and their features. A graduate of Pace University, she will be back on Broadway later this season in the upcoming revival of West Side Story. Here's our conversation.

[1:44] Mo Brady: Hi.

[1:45] Gabi Campo: Hi.

[1:46] Mo Brady: Will you introduce yourself and tell us what neighborhood of New York City you live in?

[2:02] Gabi Campo: I'm Gabi Campo, and I live in the financial district of Manhattan.

[2:07] Mo Brady: And will you tell us what your job currently is?

[2:10] Gabi Campo: I'm a Swing in The Prom on Broadway. Whenever someone is injured or sick in the show, I cover around 10 plus parts. It's grown ever since we've started on Broadway. I cover those parts, and I go on for anyone if need be.

[2:27] Mo Brady: Had you swung before?

[2:29] Gabi Campo: No, I've never swung before. I've understudied before, and I've understudied multiple parts in shows, but I've never swung.

[2:38] Mo Brady: In your opinion, you've done this now for almost a year, what are essential qualities of a swing?

[2:44] Gabi Campo: You have to be quick. You have to be able to be flexible and versatile, as well as being extremely talented on so many levels. But you also have to be mentally and emotionally and physically prepared and disciplined. On top of all that is you have to be extremely positive. It's such a hard job that you're sometimes like, oh my goodness, okay, what am I getting myself into a lot of the times when you go to work? You're like, okay, it's never boring. It's wonderful. It's great. But it's also like, okay, my shoulder hurts, but I'm here to save the day. You know, like you're really the superheroes of the entire theater. To be able to walk into work and say, okay, I'm extremely blessed to be in the position that I am right now, because it really means that you're talented enough to do it. But also yet you are employed and like you have a job.

[3:41] Mo Brady: So did you audition specifically for being a swing or just a member of the company?

[3:46] Gabi Campo: No, I went in to dance for Casey Nicholaw on a Friday. And I got the job on a Monday, that Monday. So I think it was probably like the last round. And they saw that I picked up choreography very fast. And I think that was kind of the deciding factor. And then they heard me sing and all of that, but it never was like, oh, this is the swing audition. Like it was never anything like that. I think they probably just saw that I could cover.

[4:20] Mo Brady: Okay, so you get hired, you're a swing. How many swings are on The Prom originally?

[4:27] Gabi Campo: Originally, there are four swings. In The Prom, there's kind of two ensembles, there's the teen ensemble, and then there's the adult ensemble. So there's two teen swings, Jack Zippel and I, and he's the dance captain. And then there's Kate Murilly and David Josephsberg, who are the two like adult swings. And they cover like, all of the like, the moms, the dads, the reporters, as well as Barry and Dee Dee and Angie and all of the Broadway stars in our show. Usually in a show, when there's just like one unified ensemble, there's around four. And everyone kind of does and pulls their own weight and does their own stuff. And there's enough coverage. But with our show, there really wasn't enough coverage. Because there's, you can't put an adult on as a teen and vice versa. Although that has happened before.

[5:20] Mo Brady: Oh, really?

[5:21] Gabi Campo: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And, you know, when you're doing that all the time, it's super, super hard.

[5:26] Mo Brady: What did you do during the rehearsal process? Were you up on your feet? Were you with a notebook?

[5:29] Gabi Campo: I read a book called, like, How to Be the Best Swing on Broadway, by Jenny Ford. Who's like a person who's swung many, many, many Broadway shows. Yes. A million. Evita, all of that. And in this book, she kind of says, either you're an invisible swing, or you're an incredibly present swing. So when I went into swinging Prom, and especially in the rehearsal process, I said, okay, I'm going to do a mixture of both. So I definitely went in kind of on my feet. I learned all the choreography on my feet. I learned it with kind of everyone else.

[6:10] Mo Brady: How do you keep notes? Do you do note cards? Do you do an iPad? Do you have a notebook?

[6:13] Gabi Campo: Whenever I have to go on for a track, I'll refer to kind of like, I call them my cheat sheets. So I have like a full Bible note album in my iPad. And I'll just go through and I'll read like, okay, exit here, enter here, prop here, prop there. And then I'll refer to videos, you know, understudy videos or anything like that for more choreography based stuff.

[6:38] Mo Brady: You talked about the number of tracks that you covered kind of expanding, but initially it was the teen ensemble plus Alyssa plus Emma?

[6:45] Gabi Campo: Yeah.

[6:46] Mo Brady: Okay. So how different is the dancing for the six teen women?

[6:53] Gabi Campo: In Prom, a lot of the choreography, we say it's like marching band choreography, because it's such a small stage. And we're constantly like in line switching, going from the back of the stage to the front of the stage, you know, we're so close together. So a lot of it is the same choreography, like a few ensemble members, a few of the girls do other numbers than other girls.

[7:16] Mo Brady: Oh, sure.

[7:18] Gabi Campo: There's the people who play like the Godspell cast and they're in this number that other women are not in.

[7:22] Mo Brady: Exactly.

[7:23] Gabi Campo: Exactly. So the thing that you have to really keep track of is the marching band choreography, is the making sure you don't hit anyone in the face or you don't get hit in the face.

[7:32] Mo Brady: Have you gotten hit in the face?

[7:34] Gabi Campo: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I've gotten stepped on, hit in the face, like, need, oh, yeah. I got great advice from Josh Lehman, who's in our show, who plays Sheldon, and he was a swing. And he said, just as long as you don't kill anyone, and you were sometimes in the right spot, you did a good job.

[7:56] Mo Brady: When The Prom closes, it will have played, I'm looking at the internet now, 333 performances. The show hasn't closed yet, but if you had to guess how many shows you'll have gone on, what percentage of the run will you have been on stage?

[8:08] Gabi Campo: The wonderful Kate Morelli, who is a swing in our show, she keeps track.

[8:16] Gabi Campo: I haven't asked her in the past few days, but I've been on for literally a month straight. I think I've had probably around three or four performances where I haven't been on. So I've been on... So when was the first time you went on? Oh yes. I remember my Broadway debut. So let me tell you the story. It was the weekend after opening. Our wonderful Beth Lovell, who plays Dee Dee Allen in the show, she fell sick at Places. Courtney Ballin, she had hurt her calf, so she was out on medical leave. And Kate Murilly was on in her track. And Jack Sipple was on for another boy's track because he covers like basically everybody in the show, like 15. So he covers both men and women. And when Beth fell ill at Places, they ran to me and they said, Kate's gonna have to go on as Dee Dee.

Can you go on as Olivia Keating, which at the time was a part I didn't cover yet. And I hadn't looked at it. I had been primarily focused on the six teen girls and Emma and Alyssa, and I hadn't looked at... She was one of the adult ensemble. She starts in a red dress at the beginning of the show. The curtain goes up, the overture ends, and she literally has the first line of the show. This is Olivia Keating from Broadway Mania and we're here with opening night of Eleanor. And introduces Beth Lovell to the entire audience. And they go, do you know the lines? Do you know the lines? Can you do it? And I was like, yeah, I guess I have to. And so it was the most whirlwind experience. Like I was looking at my cheat sheets.

I was looking at videos. I was looking at like any information I had on this character. And I was looking at the script and everyone just kind of like swept me into makeup and put my pin curls in and put my wig on and just kind of pushed me out there. And literally like the curtain went up and I had that microphone in my hand and I was like, I guess this is it. And I started the whole show. This is Olivia Keating from Broadway Mania. Yeah, I did the whole show in a part that I had barely looked at.

[10:19] Mo Brady: Okay. So you've been on for the roles that you were initially hired for. You've been on for adult women. Have you been on for a teen boy?

[10:25] Gabi Campo: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Just a few days ago. A lot of our show is very like gender specific. So a lot of it has to be boy girl partnering to show the difference between Emma and Alyssa because they're the same sex. Some of the boy parts I can't do, but a lot of the non-gender specific stuff. Yeah, I do go on a lot as a boy. Just as a girl. A lot of people ask me that. They're like, so you go on as a boy? And I go, no, I go on as a girl, but I just do the, I just, yeah, just as a girl.

[10:58] Mo Brady: Understandably, the first time you went on wasn't necessarily a time where you felt comfortable on. When was the first time that you were like, I got this and I can just focus on acting?

[11:11] Gabi Campo: It usually takes around 10 times in any track to feel completely safe and comfortable and good in any track, just because there's always different things going on. People make different choices, you know, after around 10 times, they'll be like, oh, okay, that person does that different than in the video, you start to catch up on things, your brain can kind of slow down a little and relax and start having fun.

[11:42] Mo Brady: What was the best piece of advice you've gotten for swinging? Was it that piece from Josh Lehman? Was it something in Jenny Ford's book?

[11:49] Gabi Campo: We're blessed at The Prom to have so many people, Angie Schor, Josh Lehman, Kate Morelli, people who have swung before and amazing. And a lot of the advice that I've gotten is from Kate Morelli, who's kind of been my big sister in all of this, my big swing sister. I had a lot of issues and a lot of kind of insecurities about not performing every night. I was like, I want to perform, you know, and she really made me feel swings, you're the most important person in this building. And we're here to serve everyone. And we're here to save the show, but also know in your heart that you are here for a reason. And so it was kind of like affirming, she was affirming and Angie Schor said that a lot to us too along the more like technical lines of being a swing.

The best advice I've gotten was learn your lines before anything. Because a lot of the times when you're in rehearsal, and people are being pulled out for fittings and all of that. And you're learning the choreography in the room. So that's kind of in your body. But when you people get pulled out, and they're like, okay, do this scene. And you're like, what are my lines? And the best advice that I got was learn your lines first know your lines. Plus, also, if I hadn't learned like basically everyone's lines by the time that I had gone on for Olivia Keating, I would have I wouldn't have known it. Same thing for Kate. I mean, she got thrown on for Dee Dee that was her first time being on.

[13:25] Mo Brady: The last thing I want to ask you is about being able to perform with the full company on the parade and on the Tonys. That's not something that always happens. But what did that mean to you to be able to be part of both of those performances?

[13:39] Gabi Campo: It meant the world. Casey Nicholaw, our director, he was a swing before too. So he kind of knows the plight that swings endure. And he understands and he has empathy for us because he was one himself. He made sure to include us in that in those performances, because he knew that it was important to us and that we're such valuable players, MVPs. He wanted to, I don't know, reward us or make us happy and was really kind enough to include us in those performances. And I think also it makes it more joyful too. You include more people in it, it just makes it look bigger and more wonderful and increases the energy and the more the merrier. So it was really, he did not need to do that. And the producers did not need to do that.

One of our head producers, Dori Berenstein, she wanted to make it a surprise to Jack and I that we were doing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And so she brought us on stage and told us, and I started crying. I was like, thank you. Because that had just been a dream of mine for ever to perform on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And so I was like, thank you so much, you don't need to do this. And she's like, we want you there. So it's just been the greatest mix of directors and producers and people who really want to include swings and value swings.