Understudy refunds

Photograph: Joan Marcus

Q If you get an understudy at a Broadway show, are you entitled to a refund or the option to move your ticket to a different day if you ask before the show starts? I saw West Side Story the other day and was pissed off that the well-touted girl playing Maria wasn’t there. She was the reason I bought the tickets in the first place!—Fred W.

A Josefina Scaglione wasn’t there to rumble with the Jets and the Sharks? You were entitled to a refund, according to the policy at the Palace Theatre, where West Wide Story plays—but each Broadway show has its own rule. “We typically institute the policy that’s been set by the show itself or the theater chain,” explains Jerome Kane, executive vice president of Broadway.com. “Most shows will either allow a refund or an exchange if an actor or actress the viewers wanted to see is out of a performance and their name is listed above the title.” But there is no steadfast Broadway refund or exchange policy. A law that does remain constant across Broadway states that the audience must be made aware of an understudy before a performance begins. The producer must make sure the change is announced at curtain call or that update slips are inserted into the Playbills. Additionally, a written announcement must be posted at the entrance of the theater where tickets are collected. That announcement goes for all understudies—no matter if it’s for Maria or an unfriendly green ogre.—Sandra Plasse

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