Sometimes Everyone Gets a Role
(Photo: Dodd Middle School)
by Traci Dill, Guest Editorial
Sometimes, in a school theatre, I feel like Oprah!
Posting a cast list is like:
“You get a role, you get a role; everyone gets a role!”
I try and have one show each year, or at least every other year, where I cast basically everyone who auditions. Okay, not basically everyone. Literally everyone.
Not everyone may agree with my technique here, but I hate being a heartbreaker! I save heartbreak for our competition team and our performance ensemble groups. But I choose a big show with tons of casting possibilities so that occasionally, literally everyone who has the guts to show up makes it onto that cast list!
Why?
Well, you know what—here is a shocking statement.
Not everyone is good at theatre. *mic drop*
But so many people love it!!! Some kids love being on that stage, belting their little hearts out in some key that has never been written! Those poor babies with a complete lack of natural talent have an enthusiasm for the stage that some may never feel!
I will always lie (whoops don't judge me) at the first cast/crew meeting by saying, “Well out of 63 who auditioned; I kept 47. So congrats to you guys making the cut.” (There were only 47 that auditioned—have two days of auditions and only allow them to come once...they’ll assume there was 63).
So, sometimes, I cast all the children. I cast them all because it took guts to show up. It took guts to sing, dance, read, or act in front of their teenage peers. They auditioned to look for fun. They auditioned to look for a place to belong. They wanted a family, and we had the best one. Theatre is the best family I’ve ever had.
You may not cast them all in every show, but those kids will get addicted. They’ll come out and help paint the set for a small show they were not cast in. They’ll sell tickets and concessions. They’ll do anything to participate in our family, and I will not turn them away every time...even if they can’t sing their way out of a bucket. The belting chorus of ensemble members will sing right over all their sour notes anyway.
So, sometimes, pick a show that gives all the kids a chance to be a part of something so magical and incredible. It is okay that sometimes, at $8 a ticket, the talent can be described as “Well, they just had so much fun!”