<p>Bringing this thread back from this time last year because here we go again. Hate high school musical audition week and all of the angst it brings! This year’s show is West Side Story. I’ve mentioned before our unique challenge – the two high schools in our district combine to do the musical, so instead of the 2000 kids at our hs, there are 5000 kids to draw from. This is an affluent area with many talented kids. They do this, best as I can tell, so they can spend $40,000 on the musical. The hosting high school chooses and casts the show, and also directs. Most leads are double-cast, but not 50/50 per school (there is some competition/jealousy between the schools). This is not our school’s year to cast.
The good thing is that our school will be hosting during D’s senior year. Still, she has her heart set on a part this year, so it will be a stressful week for all!</p>
<p>Yup, it’s that time of year again. Good luck to everyone going through high school casting angst. May all your stories end as well as this one has:</p>
<p>My son spent a busy day Friday. In the morning he was role-playing a suicidal teen at the medical school, part of an adolescent medicine workshop he’s participated in for years. In the afternoon he won a poetry recitation competition (“Poetry Out Loud” - he gets to go to the state tournament next). He went directly from that to his high school for callbacks for “Grease.” It must have been quite an intellectual turnaround. </p>
<p>Casting was supposed to be posted Saturday night. Naturally, it didn’t go online until 9 PM Sunday, which means that about 50 local teenagers were able to do nothing productive prior to that time. </p>
<p>My son has NEVER been given a leading role at his high school, except for student-directed one-acts. His previous character in a one-act was in drag, as Dame Ellen Terry in Durang’s “Actor’s Nightmare.” (Long story.)</p>
<p>This time the waiting was worth it! He was cast as Danny Zuko, the thuggish male lead in “Grease.” He has already started changing his posture, his accent, his hand gestures, and his wardrobe, in order to prepare. I’m more concerned about vocal range. Danny is listed as a tenor, and my son sings Bass 2 in chorus. He swears he can do it and I guess the people doing the casting agree. </p>
<p>Danny is not at all his dream role. But it’s nice he will get the whole “senior year lead in a musical” experience.</p>
<p>Congratulations! So happy you have a happy ending :)</p>
<p>Prodesse, congrats to your son! It IS a crazy time of year for high-school seniors; I can never figure out why all the competitions and other “extras” take place at the same time of year as both college auditions and school winter shows. Our musical just ended, and like your son, mine had never had a big role in high school–he’s not an MT kid, and he played a fall sport (when our “straight” plays are produced), so he had done crew work, ensemble for musical, senior-directed plays, and lost his one major role last year when he broke his ankle and had to be replaced. He just finished playing the lead in “The King and I,” and it was the first time most of his classmates and teachers had seen him on stage in a full-scale production. It really was an awesome experience–I’m sure your son will love it–it’s a unique opportunity not just to have a big role on stage but to be a leader behind the scenes too. And how great for him that he can really focus on it, since college auditions are over! Hope you both enjoy the whole experience thoroughly. :)</p>
<p>Prodesse…hope your son has a blast! My son’s school did Grease last year and he was Kenicke. This year, they just finished Little Shop of Horrors and he was Seymour. He loved loved loved it…and it was a wild show. </p>
<p>2 more shows to go this year, 39 Steps (he plays Richard Hannay) and tomorrow he auditions for Zombie Prom. These are both for our teen aged kids in the local children’s community theatre, his high school shows are over. He was very sad yesterday but seems to be ok today…</p>
<p>Prodesse-
My son’s High School is also producing “Grease”. My son is cast as “Roger” who sings
“Mooning”. He would have loved to be cast as Danny, but as he said to me, “Mom, I’m cute, but I’m not handsome.” It has been very clear from his casting results thus far he is a character actor. Hope your son has a wonderful experience. The Thunderbirds and the Pink Ladies were at Johnny Rockets this past Thursday for the promo photo shoot.</p>
<p>Argh - auditions canceled today because of snowstorm. Just prolonging the week.</p>