<p>Halflokum, what parts are good for taller girls? Mine is 5’9". Sounds like we’re in the same boat.</p>
<p>^^^Any role where the leading man is taller :). Actually, I think height can be an advantage in roles where the character needs to show some strength. Standing out physically can help with that. </p>
<p>I’d like to see my daughter play Guenevere in Camelot some day. She recently was Nancy in Oliver and I thought the fact that she was taller than the other girls worked there as well. The list of possibilities is long but I was actually only half kidding about the leading man being taller thing. I’m sure both of our girls may be out of some opportunities in future because of a shorter leading man. I guess every size and shape brings its own challenges and advantages.</p>
<p>Another thing to remember is that in HS or college, the kids are auditioning in a closed environment. In the “real world” if you know that a casting director doesn’t like your “type”, you simply don’t audition for him/her any more- there are plenty of other options. In school, you audition for pretty much the same people time in and time out, and if one of them dislikes you, or should I say, " Really likes someone else", you can turn in the best audition going and still not land the part (or sometimes, any part). And that can be exacerbated if you have that teacher/professor for a class, because any problems there are carried over into the casting process.
Take what you can from those years and learn from it. There is a whole lot more waiting out there when you get handed those degrees.</p>
<p>Half the battle for these kids is understanding they will not get every role. My daughter was fortunate enough to get the lead in several high school productions. However, there were other roles she wanted, came to auditions extremely prepared, thought she nailed it and for whatever reason she did not get cast. While she was upset, she was not bitter. She was able to understand why the role was given to those classmates and was graciously able to congratulate them. We were also fortunate that she was accepted into a few top MT programs. However, she was NOT accepted to the one school she dreamed of. One of her classmates was accepted and she truly felt that person deserved to be there. I am not trying to paint my daughter as a saint, but the sooner they learn that they will not have every role, the easier it will be in the long-run. It’s harder on the parents. The kids know what they are in for. A little rejection will make them strive that much harder the next next time. Personally, I feel it is very important for them to be able to be happy for the next person’s successes. The college programs are extremely competitive and their fellow classmates will be their families for the next four years. Concentrate on your craft, hold your head high and be considerate. You get a lot further with Honey…</p>
<p>Keep in mind when your kid hits the professional audition circuit in NYC, talent alone will not be all that matters in the audition, though having the talent is necessary. But typing is even more prevalent than when in high school or local theater when they have way more talented people to pick from. Then, if you are non-Equity and trying for an Equity production such as Broadway and other theater work of that sort, it is hard to even be seen or be cast. Also, it is harder to be cast at an open call when they are seeing actors through agent submission appointments and a lot of casting goes to those with agents. Also, at the highest levels of theater, you are up against those with major credits on their resume and it can be hard to break in when you are auditioning against someone who is known to casting directors and has been on Broadway, etc. and you are an unknown actor. So, you can have an amazing audition but all the things I mentioned are factors you can’t control but come into play at this level.</p>
<p>Soozievt brings up a terrific point. It’s a shocking day when you head off to NYC and start doing the EPA’s and agent submission auditions. You leave an audition thinking “I really nailed that!” and then you get a callback…so you BELIEVE you really nailed it. Then when you show up to the actual callback, you walk into a room full of 5 or 6 women that look EXACTLY like you. I don’t mean they have the same hair color…I mean they look exactly like you. It happens over and over on a daily basis. I would see the same handful of women and could generally guess who I would see at a callback. Most of the time, if I didn’t get cast…one of them would. Unless, of course, Emily Skinner suddenly became available and then we’d all be back in the unemployment line. </p>
<p>It just goes to show you that the people casting shows have a general idea before you walk in the room of who their “Fanny Brice” or “Ado Annie” is. I’m not saying a good audition can’t blow that wide open. Of course it can. But most of the time, they know what they are looking for. “Nailing it” becomes a non-issue. It many ways, it takes a ton of pressure off of the person auditioning. Either you are, or, are not what they are looking for. At the highest level, it has nothing to do with talent because it’s a given that everyone has the talent. It’s about being perfectly, specifically right. And sometimes it’s simply about who can fit into the dress. </p>
<p>At the high school or even the college level the casting pool isn’t deep enough to be that specific. At the highest levels, they can be as picky as they want to be. My freckles once cost me a Broadway show. No kidding.</p>
<p>We learned some of this since my kid did a little professional acting as a kid and teen. But it was enough to learn about type, type, type versus talent versus type. It’s a huge aspect of the biz. </p>
<p>Once you start hitting auditions as a young adult though, it’s a different story. Another aspect of the this career choice that makes it difficult. I am thankful for the experience my kid has had in terms of casting at this point. If he does decide to take up this profession, he knows exactly what he’s in for. It also helps with keeping high school/small town stuff in perspective. If he doesn’t get a role, it’s far from the “end of the world” for him. He has lots of other things he likes to do, read about, discuss, that, I think, in the end, will make him a more well-rounded person and actor. Sometimes it’s hard to see that parents and kids get so competitive about casting during these years…makes the whole experience less fun if that makes sense.</p>
<p>@jeffandann - as soon as I saw that my D was determined to head down the MT road, I starting researching everything that I could find in order to prepare myself for what I figured would be a very challenging career path. I found these books, which are first-hand accounts by professional actors, to be very helpful as a parent trying to “learn the ropes” and developing at least a modicum of insight into what she would be in for (the first two are referenced in the thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html</a>)</p>
<p>“Til The Fat Girl Sings: From an Overweight Nobody to a Broadway Somebody-A Memoir,” Sharon Wheatley </p>
<p>“Making It on Broadway: Actors’ Tales of Climbing to the Top,” David Wienir, Jodie Langel, Jason Alexander</p>
<p>“Unnaturally Green: One girl’s journey along a yellow brick road less traveled,” Felicia Ricci</p>
<p>Reading this helped prepare me for what she was going to face in the casting process from ninth grade onward and it has really helped to have some insight into what lies ahead at each step of the way. There are many other resources available as well. For example, Sharon Wheatley has an interesting blog.</p>
<p>My D has had some success as a child actor and the audition process is definitely more competitive now that she’s 18. Type is more important than ever and there are so many more talented actors for casting to choose from. She is hoping her BFA-MT training will give her the extra push she needs. I’m hoping it’s not a total waste of time and money.</p>
<p>^^cracked up at halflokum’s post regarding D’s height! Seriously, my D hasn’t been cast in many roles due to being too tall and she is only 5’ 8 1/2". Peter Pan and Alice were two such roles where the Director called her aside and told her she had the best vocal audition of the night, but was simply too tall. Then there was her being too young at 15 for Lily St. Regis, despite being told she had the best audition. The Director commented that she never saw a 15 year old that could act so sexy…I laughed, it’s called ACTING! Yes, we are hoping that college guys are > 5’ 11" so that she won’t dwarf them on stage : )</p>
<p>It is actually pretty funny!</p>
<p>Well, at least our girls stand out!
Today someone asked me which girl in the high school musical (this past weekend) was my daughter. I described a couple of moments when she might have stood out (remember, this was a cast of 90) and he said "Oh, I noticed her – I thought they brought in a little girl from the community."No, that would be my high school sophomore daughter.</p>
<p>Life is filled with disappointment whether we are in the arts or not . We learn what could have been done differently and we move on .</p>
<p>Not to hijack this thread, but . . . my daughter is tall too 5’9" and I’m hoping that there will be tall guys for her to play opposite when she hits college. I also hope that Sutton Foster’s height will help cause a trickle-down effect (way trickle-down! haha!) when it comes to casting tall men and consequently tall women. :0)</p>
<p>^^@kksmom: My D just got back from a visit to Otterbein where I know your D is going next year and is happy to report that there are a number of “well-over-6-feet” guys among the BFA MT population there.</p>
<p>Woohoo! My girl will be pleased . . . I think we (you and I) know one. ;0)</p>
<p>Here’s a story about girls’ heights and their prospects for performing. My daughter would like to work for Disney after college, and was disappointed that at 5’9" she’s an inch too tall to be a Disney princess (you have to be between 5’5" and 5’8"). So a couple months ago I ran into a woman at work who listed her employer as Disney. So I tell her my daughter would love to work there and I asked her what she does at Disney. She says she is a very good friend of Mickey’s. So I figure this means she’s the person who guides Mickey around the park. No, she says, but she is a very good friend of his. I’m not getting it, and she finally tells me that we all know Mickey is real, so you can never be Mickey, but you can be his very good friend. Which means she is actually one of the people that puts on the suit and plays Mickey.</p>
<p>So at this point I tell her that my daughter always wanted to be a princess, but is an inch too tall and how disappointed she was. Mickey then tells me two things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>She says: Not in Japan. Apparently the height requirements are different there.</p></li>
<li><p>She informed me that in general if you are a character actor at Disney, and there’s a height requirement, you get measured around once a year, and you are scheduled for that. So for actors that feel they’re a little too tall, what they do is go to the Hollywood Studios park, and ride Rock and Roller coaster around 5 times in a row. The g forces compress your spine a bit, and then you make the height requirements.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I went home and told my daughter and she was thrilled. My wife on the other hand still thinks I have lost my mind for even mentioning this to her child.</p>
<p>So I guess for those of us with taller children there are always options, depending on how dedicated you are to your craft!</p>
<p>^^My daughter was obsessed with Disney as a child too. She has no desire to work as a character at the theme park though. But she recently was contracted by Disney to compose/write for them and so it is a dream that has come full circle. If your D is not a character actor at Disney, maybe she can audition to be in one of their theme park musical productions. And maybe one day, she’ll perform something my D wrote for the show.</p>
<p>Yes, she’d ideally like to be on stage in one of the productions, but she thinks she’d also have a lot of fun playing a character if need be. She’s always felt being one of Cinderella’s stepsisters would be a lot of fun. And my understanding is that you can start there as a performer, and then either stay in that or move into more of a managerial type position. Time will tell, but for now onto a Chorus Line this summer.</p>
<p>“I disagree with one poster who thought ensemble members can’t or should not stand out. I have seen countless shows and there are ensemble members who have great stage presence and truly stand out in a positive way and you can’t take your eyes off of them.” SuzieVT</p>
<p>I was thinking about this debate and agree with SuzieVT. I have seen/been in a lot of musicals and plays and some of my favorite characters/performances have been side characters (Adolfo in Drowsy Chaperone at Ball State is one example). There are also definitely ensemble members that stand out just because…not that they are doing anything wrong or different…just because they do what they need to do with perfection/ease. Ensemble voices should generally blend, but the acting and dancing is going to vary somewhat depending on the strengths of the actors. This is probably what makes an ensemble member…memorable.</p>
<p>A couple years ago I was in the ensemble of “South Pacific”. Several parents went up to the director after the Opening Show and asked who I was and where I went to school and said very positive comments about my performance. He happened to tell me about it a day or two later and I was very flattered. He was quite pleased and did not view it negatively at all. </p>
<p>The very next year I auditioned for “Merrily We Roll Along” at the same school with the same director. I was thrilled to be offered a lead in the show that year and maybe the attention from the year before made the director take a closer look at me. I WILL say I learned equally as much and had just as much fun in both positions (ensemble/lead). Getting a lead is good, but I would MUCH rather be a great ensemble member than to be miss-cast as a lead when I really did not fit the part. </p>
<p>I know colleges like to see leading roles on the resumes and it is nice to have those, but as some college reps pointed out…it is the audition that makes/breaks your acceptance or casting and the fact that you have been a lead (or not) sometimes has little to do with the outcome of an audition. Also all the other factors like height, body type, age, who you know, ticket sales…things that are out of your control can factor in. So why not enjoy whatever part you are given? And if you are not cast for some unknown reason…something better will always come along.</p>
<p>Post #76…I’m dying! Never thought about that roller coaster idea. It just may work, but FYI, Disney Anaheim just had huge casting call for Princesses and height call was 5’3" to 5’7", that wa true of Disney France too.</p>