THE UNDERSTUDY - Act Two

Table Read

Manifest Media / TABLE READ

Fiction, Tv & Film

4.0 • 440 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The wish came true.

Now the consequences begin.

Natalie Primavera is trapped in a hospital bed, her body broken, her future uncertain — while her mind is stuck inside Ava Ross, a dancer who was never supposed to be good enough for the spotlight.

Ava, meanwhile, is living inside Natalie’s perfect body… and discovering that perfection is a prison with great lighting.

As Nutcracker rehearsals intensify, the magic destabilizes. Roles are threatened. Loyalties fracture. The Sugar Plum Fairy becomes a battleground. And the line between ambition and identity starts to blur.

Friendships turn sharp. Parents get complicated. Romance gets messy. And a Romanian ballet master with secrets of his own begins pushing both girls toward a reckoning neither of them is ready for.

Act Two is where the comedy deepens, the stakes rise, and the story stops being about switching bodies — and starts being about who deserves the life they’re fighting for.

Because wanting something badly doesn’t mean you understand the cost.

It’s still funny.

It’s still chaotic.

But now it hurts in the best way.

Written by award-winning writer Jenna St. John.

Starring:

Kensington Tallman as Natalie Primavera

Logan Laurel as Ava Ross

Konstantin Lavysh as Mr. Constantine

Carson Bolde as Grayson Garcia

Sasha Knight as Trevor

Rita Dos Santos as Kenzie

Samantha A. Smith as Jasmine Kearn

Eva Binder as Zoe Dennings

Adele Abinante as Bean Ross

Avery Clyde as Mrs. Primavera

Katherine Brunk as Ms. Ross

Brandon Potter as Mr. Primavera

Sarah Elmaleh as Miss Lana

Miki Yamashita as Miss Miyako

Paula Tiso as Narrator

Only on Table Read.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The weight is over. Dive into Audubles' most anticipated collection, the best of 2025, featuring top audiobooks, podcasts, and originals across all genres. Our editors have carefully curated this year's must-listens, from brilliant hidden gems to the busiest new releases.
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0:47.2	Okay, so check this out. Last episode, Natalie Primavera, our school's diva ballerina,
0:51.8	auditioned for the sugar plum fairy and the nutcracker. My best friend, Ava Ross,
0:55.0	who's only been dancing for five years, also went for it. Our new ballet director, Mr. Constantine, is also super weird and creepy.
1:00.0	But anyway, Natalie got the role and Ava got cast as her understudy.
1:04.0	To celebrate, Natalie took this epic Instagram shot on a bridge.
1:08.0	At the exact same time, Ava made a wish on Mr. Constantine's magic snow
1:11.8	globe to be Natalie. Natalie falls off the bridge and midfall, they switch. So now Ava is stuck
1:19.5	in Natalie's body in a coma at the hospital. I know. Super dark. And Natalie is in Ava's body.
1:26.1	Natalie thought about switching back, but she decided to stay in Ava's body and have her moment as the Sugar Plum Fairy before switching back to her injured body and saying goodbye to ballet forever.
1:36.3	The problem is, Ava's mom and little sister are getting suspicious, not to mention me, Theo, and Ava's boyfriend, Trevor.
1:47.9	Not sure how Natalie's going to pull this off, but let's see.
1:51.9	Ava's bedroom night.
1:54.1	Early morning and still dark.
1:55.8	Ava's phone chimes.
1:57.7	5 o'clock a.m.
2:00.6	Natalie shuts off the alarm and jumps out of bed. Exterior Street, sunrise. Natalie
	...

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