Photo: /Hadestown/ instagram
When the chips were down at Broadway’sHadestown, actorT. Oliver Reidstepped up to save the day.
After the Wednesday matinee of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical was canceled due to COVID cases in the cast and other actors on vacation, the dance captain, swing and understudy, 51, prepared to step into a role he never played before so that the show could go on that evening.
“Our stage manager will tell you that the blood rushed out of my… Not only out of my face, but my entire body,” Reid tells PEOPLE of the moment he got the news that it was his time to shine.
Shortly before the 8 p.m. curtain, the production’s wardrobe supervisor ran over to Macy’s to purchase a dress Reid would wear that evening while the actor was on the hunt for makeup.
When he got back to the theater, Reid applied his glittery eyeshadow and put on his dress and heels to transform into one of the Fates. InHadestown— Anaïs Mitchell’s musical take on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice — the female trio of Fates follows the ill-fated lovers to the underworld, where Hades and his wife Persephone reign.
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Not only did Reid have to execute the trio’s detailed choreography, he was also tasked with singing the intricate harmonies that go along with it.
That afternoon, when the cast learned that the matinee had been canceled, Reid stayed behind with his musical director to go over his vocal lines. Though he’s always felt comfortable singing countertenor or using his soprano, he didn’t think he would actually take the stage as one of the Fates.
“We were hoping still that the person who was on for Fate 1 [had] a false positive because they’ve had a couple of false positives [before],” he says. “I thought, ‘It’s not gonna happen.’ And then when we finally got that news, it was like, ‘Okay, there will be a bearded lady Fate on stage tonight!’ "
He adds, “I don’t think that anyone thought that they’d ever see or hear of a male-identifying person playing one of the Fates. But a conversation that we’ve had the entire time is like, ‘They are gods, and there’s nothing that says that there could not be one [who is male].’ There just happens to have not been a male-identifying Fate yet — or until last night.”
“The initial entrance — and seeing people’s faces in the audience when I walked on stage — was priceless,” he says, adding that he refers to his version of this character as “Auntie Fate” (or “Side Pony” amongst the cast).
Prior to his Fate debut, Reid was on as Hermes. Thursday night, he goes back on with the Fates; Friday and Saturday, he will play Hermes; and Sunday, he will be back with the Fates. As of now, Tomás Matos, who identifies as non-binary, will go on with the Fates this week while Reid plays Hermes.
Performing the show-stopping trio “When the Chips Are Down” with the Fates was a highlight, says Reid. When posed with a lyric from the song, “What you gonna do when the chips are down?,” he laughs.
“You’re gonna beat your face, put on some heels and walk on stage!” he proclaims.
source: people.com
