On January 16, Mike Birbiglia welcomed the winners of his online contest—to find understudies for his Broadway solo show, The New One—to the stage at the Cort Theatre. Prior to the evening's performance of The New One, executive producer Ira Glass (This American Life) hosted Adam Bush, Maria DeCotis, and Hannah Solow as they performed their winning entries in front of a Broadway audience.
According to Birbiglia, friends had been asking him what happens if he can't do the show. Birbiglia currently does not have an understudy, so he thought, "Why don't I have a contest!” The winners didn’t exactly become Birbiglia's understudy but they did earn a cash prize of prize of $1,000 and the opportunity to make their Broadway debuts.
Flip through photos of the event below:
