Broadway Documentary The Standbys Streams Free This Month

The award-winning documentary "The Standbys", which details "the story of the actors you don't see", will be streaming for free in December.

This film follows three amazingly gifted but undiscovered performers backstage on Broadway through their dramatic ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, onstage performances, and private lives.

Here's how to stream the documentary, for free, right now:

"The Standbys" reveals the unique and challenging lives of Broadway’s understudies, who fight every day against long odds with the hope that their hard work will finally earn them a moment in the spotlight, on stage.

The film features never-before-heard stories from industry insiders and celebrities who reveal the struggles and triumphs these talented performers endure as they wait in the wings for their turn to perform on the world's biggest stage. 

"The Standbys" is now available to stream for free, worldwide. A direct link to the stream has been added to our list of free musicals and plays. The film will be available through December 20th, 2022.

The film features appearances by Ben Crawford, Merwin Foard, and Aléna Watters with interviews from Bebe Neuwirth, David Hyde Pierce, Zachary Quinto, Sutton Foster, Brian d’Arcy James, Cheyenne Jackson, Jerry Zaks, Nelle Nugent, Michael Riedel, and Jim Wilhelm.

In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, John DeFore said: "It may not be 20 Feet from Stardom, but in its modest way Stephanie Riggs‘s doc The Standbys is as illuminating for theater fans, introducing the gifted and dedicated actors who, though dreaming of having their own names up in lights, take jobs as the back-up performers waiting in case the star takes “break a leg” too literally one night. Enjoyable and benefiting from a well selected trio of subjects, the film will please drama buffs and aspiring thespians who find it in niche bookings and should have a healthy life on video."