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Supernumerary is a member of the staff or an employee who works in a public office but is not part of the manpower complement: a temporary employee in addition to the permanent staff. *
This use of the terms supernumerary and its counterpart, numerary, originated in Spanish and Latin American academy and government; and it is now also used in countries all over the world, like France, the US, England, Italy, etc.
Supernumerary is distinguished from numerary which is a civil designation for persons who are incorporated in a fixed or permanent way to a society or group: regular member of the working staff; permanent staff or member.
The term usually refers then to a type of employment which has a temporary contract. *
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Types of supernumeraries
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There are many types of supernumeraries, depending on the society where they belong:
supernumerary accountants, *
supernumerary judges or magistrates, *
supernumerary members of a Council of the Royal Academy of Engineering. *
supernumerary members of a prelature like the Opus Dei prelature. These members are not fully available to work on the apostolic and formational tasks of the prelature. Having the vocation to become a saint by sanctifying their ordinary circumstances and work, they are generally married men or women who live in their own homes and who perform their normal jobs with a strong sense of commitment. They help in the apostolic tasks of the prelature as their circumstances permit.
supernumerary actors. 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 (WNO) are known for the high profile and seasoned supernumeraries. The WNO saw its supernumerary golden age under the direction of English actress Jennifer Crier Johnston who was supernumerary director for eight years (1998-2006). Ms. Johnston belonged to the select movie extras that appeared in classic Hollywood movies such as My Fair Lady, The Unsinkable Mollie Brown and The Sound of Music. The WNO has had some major supernumerary personalities on stage such as U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ginsberg and Kennedy who made their last appearance in the opening of Strauss comedic opera Die Fledermaus. Other famed supernumeraries include Patrizia DiZebba, a veteran of the WNO stage for the last 25 years, Michael Walker, a recent addition to the "A" list of supernumeraries that included Victor Yager and Fernando Varisco. In 2005 Walker, Yager and Varisco were invited by the well known opera director Cindy Oxberry, who has been assistant director for the WNO for over 10 years, to work in a brand new production of the Washington Savoyards' The Mikado. Oxberry's style and force were obvious in these performaces and the Washington Post agreed that "The Savoyards fully captured the energy of Arthur Sullivan's inimitable melodiousness and the thrust of William Schwenck Gilbert's satiric dialogue, riddled -- perhaps a little too obviously -- with updated political jabs."
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. Ms. Johnston's style emerged through her experiences in Hollywood and the British theater and she coached all of her supernumeraries until the character, the movements, pose and demeanor matched the period of the opera being presented. Rehearsals can last from 2 weeks to several months depending on the complexity of the performances. Some operas require over 50 supernumeraries. Work is assigned according to the ability to look the part and in many cases by the costume size since many of the productions are borrowed from other major opera houses. The Varisco-Johnston style of "supering" emphasizes an understated performance that doesn't "steal focus from the main actors" but it is still vibrant and effusive. Other styles have evolved like the method acting of Yager and Walker. Supernumerary work keeps evolving as operas evolve. There has been a merger of techniques used in Broadway, movies and opera. A good illustration of this type of merging will be seen for the second time at the WNO 2006 Fall opera season with the presentation of Puccini's Madama Butterfly where Polish director Trellinsky, originally a movie director, will present his innovative production which uses an extensive cast of supernumeraries as Japanese fishermen, Yamadories and live statues.
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People who served as supernumeraries
Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale - The act of exception passed in 1883 deprived all members of families that had reigned in France of their military positions; consequently the duc d'Aumale was placed on the unemployed supernumerary list.
Aubrey Herbert, M.P., (1880- September 26, 1923) was a British diplomat, traveller and intelligence officer, associated with Albanian independence - served in a supernumerary position for the Irish Guards.
A. C. Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSA (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.
Nick Middleton is a physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.
Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and defense minister, was a uniformed member of the British Supernumerary Police during the Emergency of 1936-1938.
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