Columnist Susan Snyder: These stars know how to swing

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000 | 8:29 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

Call them second bananas, second string or even the B-Team of the stars.

But don't go calling Las Vegas understudies second-rate. For when the Strip's stars fall, these people make sure the shows go on. They jump in at a moment's notice, covering for the ill, injured or vacationing.

Understudies learn several roles, memorizing who says what, which dancer goes where and which songs to sing when.

Swing performers -- "swings" for short -- sweat through rehearsals only to sit backstage and wait in case someone drops out. If no one does, they go home without setting foot on stage.

This is Paul May's world.

May, 35, portrays "The Master of Time," a principal role in the MGM Grand's "EFX" production.

Unless star Tommy Tune becomes ill. Then May slips into the lead. Out of more than 700 shows, May has stepped in for Tune 17 times (yes, he keeps track).

The prospect of being tossed on stage as a Las Vegas show's last-minute lead would send most people straight to the cold-sweat-and-cookie-toss booth.

May thrives on such fear.

"It's an adrenaline rush," he said. "It's a roller-coaster ride. You're excited and nervous at the same time."

He recalls when it was mostly nervous. That was about six months after he joined "EFX" in 1996. He was understudy for then-lead David Cassidy, plus the four principal players.

That's five major parts to learn -- just in case. Initially May sat through rehearsals, following each performer's lines in the script and studying where each one stood and what each one did.

"I had to sit around and wait for him (Cassidy) to get hurt," May joked.

Laughs didn't come so easily those first weeks -- especially the day Cassidy took a header during rehearsal.

"I saw him fall, and my heart just sank because I knew he wouldn't be able to perform the next night," May said. "They hadn't given me a rehearsal yet."

Costume workers called him the next day, saying he needed a fitting. Finally, it seemed, he was getting that dress rehearsal.

"(The fitter) said to me, 'You must be really excited that you're going on tonight.' And I said, 'What?!' " May recalled. "The performance was my dress rehearsal."

Most understudies have a regular role with an understudy of their own, May said. When the lead is out, the understudy moves up, as does the understudy's understudy. A swing likely replaces the understudy's understudy.

The whole mess sounds like a bad Abbott and Costello routine.

Standing in for big stars carries a lot of pressure. May must be highly entertaining while using an economy of personal style. He is fully aware people paid to see Cassidy or Tune, not him.

May figures it's a tightrope few are willing to walk.

"Other people hate it," he said. "I didn't even realize I had the ability to do it until I was thrown into it."

He grinned as he spoke. The guy looks forward to work like a kid looks forward to summer vacation.

"It's really something," May said.

And definitely not for the second-rate.