Supernumerary actor

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Supernumerary actors are usually amateur character actors in opera and ballet performances who train under professional direction to create a believable scene.

Look up supernumerary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Definition[]

Supernumeraries rehearse a scene of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo

The term's original use, from the Latin supernumerarius, meant someone paid to appear on stage in crowd scenes or in the case of opera as non-singing small parts. The word can still be found used for such in theatre and opera. It is the equivalent of "extra" in the motion picture industry. Any established opera company will have a supernumerary core of artists to enhance the opera experience. The Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York and the Washington National Opera are known for their high profile and seasoned supernumeraries.

The WNO has had some major supernumerary personalities on stage such as U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and Kennedy.

Typical supernumerary work[]

Supernumeraries are usually amateur character artists who train under professional direction to create a believable scene. They almost become part of the props and give a sense of credibility to scenes where crowds, court assistants, lackeys, peasants or a variety of period characters are needed. Some operas require over 50 supernumeraries. Work is assigned according to the ability to deliver an understated performance that doesn't "steal focus from the main actors" but it is still vibrant and effusive.

The repertory at any established opera house certainly includes operas with many supernumeraries. Setting a record, with 227 supers, was a new production of Prokofiev's War and Peace, which had its last performance of the season on March 19, 2006. Other operas at the Met and other great opera houses awash in supers include Aida (the triumphal march with 165) and Puccini's La Bohème (the Café Momus scene with 125), according to François Giuliani, press director of the Met. (Those numbers do not include soloists, members of the chorus and dancers.)

But the chance of being a super is pretty much limited to those with experience and "people who can take direction," said Bob Diamond, administrator of supernumeraries at the Met. "We don't take people off the street," he added. Supers agree to take part in a minimum number of performances—to as much as five hours a day for four or five weeks for, say, a newly staged opera.^[1]

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