Maskerade

14

This will sound familiar to anyone who has ever seen Singing in the Rain, or knows any of the many other stories where this plot device is used. Terry says:

“The idea of an understudy doing all the work for the star is probably a common film cliché. I don’t recall it in any film about music, but now I come to think of it there was a Fred Astaire film where he dances instead of the star of the show (wearing a mask… I didn’t say it was a good movie). But the basis of the Agnes/Christine thing lies not in any movie but in real life. It has happened. My sources tell me that stars have gone on stage jetlagged or stricken with a sore throat and someone has been put behind them in the chorus to sing the role. I believe there has even been at least one case where the prompter (in the box in front of the stage) has tried to jump-start the dumbstruck star with the first few words of the song and ended up singing it all the way through. It’s not a big step to go from that to the setup in Maskerade.”