<p>Yes to “according to that particular director” and all in the above post. Thank you so much for pointing that out, shaun0203. </p>
<p>In our situation, vocal range seems not to be taken into consideration (professional voice person here) as there will be kids who will be singing in damaging ranges for their voices in this cast. I can’t go into any more specifics, but we don’t take any of this as a statement of k’s lack of talent. There’s too much evidence to the contrary on other levels and in other places. I think what’s more disturbing is that suddenly, according to the director, k has little talent or skills and has, somehow, over the last year regressed and become deeply flawed as an actor and that the director seems to feel that that is a perfectly ok thing to say to justify his decision and isn’t offering any concrete ways to correct these “issues” other than waiting around for hours on end.</p>
<p>We are so beyond the casting now, it’s all about the schedule. DK asked for this same schedule last year as a large supporting and was granted the hours he needed to train. This year, ten minutes on stage, and he needs to be there hours a week more. It doesn’t make sense given his skills and training and seems to be almost punitive.</p>
<p>In terms of letter of rec., luckily, we have professional directors at a couple of arts organizations and colleges that k has worked with on a number of productions who are going to write k’s letters. And k already has one from an academic teacher and will have a couple more soon. K’s an excellent student, so I really don’t have any worries there. Actually, I did a little research on letters of rec. and at least a few MT programs seem not to require them. Often in VP programs, it’s the same. It is largely based on what the teachers see and hear in the audition that really counts, and depending on the institution, the grades…I’ll look into that a bit more though.</p>
<p>Theatremomma - you should go to CafePress.com design and sell your tee shirt:
“High school will not determine your success, but it can really suck!”
It will have mass appeal and you will make 15% on every one sold!</p>
<p>DappledApple - I would not trust this director to write a recommendation! He has had made it very clear what he thinks of your s/d… Glad there are other more reliable options.</p>
<p>BTW my earlier reference to letters of rec was not just about an artistic letter (which you are right DappledApple is often not required). I meant the letters from academic teachers as well which can also discuss issues of character, maturity etc. (And teachers do talk to each other.) Just be sure you think through what is to be gained or lost by escalating the drama about drama. Just putting it out there as a word of caution nothing more.</p>
<p>On a related note, post #39 on this thread is really good.</p>
<p>halflokum, thanks for that info on letters of rec. your comment do-what-u-luv. We are grateful for our other options, especially now.</p>
<p>We are going to de-escalate and just do what we feel is best and simplest for our kid given the situation. We tried to work out a schedule, and that has now been nixed, so we have to decide where time is best spent for the next few months in light of the knowledge of how the whole year will play out. Thanks for all your help and thoughts. It really has been super helpful.</p>
<p>I feel as if I’m in a similar situation to jeffandann’s daughter - I have been in a bit of a slump for the past year. It has been disheartening. As a rising senior, it’s so easy to think that it’s “my time.” It’s because casting at this level is often so political. But life throws you curveballs. For example, I’m in my third season with a pre-professional training company in the city. We’re doing Into the Woods, which was one of the first musicals I ever saw. I’ve wanted to play the Baker’s Wife for years now. As someone with seniority in the company, and this being my last show with this company, I thought getting the Baker’s Wife would be a given. It wasn’t. We have a new director for this show, and though there were 4 equally votes across the creative team for casting, the presence of a new person completely skewed the perspective of a normally predictable panel. The Baker’s Wife came down to me and another girl. I didn’t get it (I got Cinderella’s Stepmother/Giant). It hurt a lot - in fact, I pulled a muscle in my chest from crying so hard (but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to accept how you were cast and move on to enjoy the show, right?). What I know I have to keep in mind is that casting really is like a puzzle. Once you’ve got some pieces down, other people, no matter how talented they are, can’t fit in certain places. And not all pieces are congruous.</p>
<p>Wow - that is a great way to look at it, CanadianMTgirl. It’s nice to get a student’s perspective, since sometimes it is hard for us parents to not see the little girl or boy we want to still protect.</p>
<p>You should be proud of the way you handle things. It is a real sign of maturity. As a matter of fact, I think you need to change your name to CanadianMTwoman!</p>
<p>I would hope younger students (and their parents) would read this thread and perhaps gather that it may be good to seek performing opportunities and connections outside of your school when you can. Don’t put all your eggs in one school’s basket, as it were.</p>
<p>“It’s nice to get a student’s perspective, since sometimes it is hard for us parents to not see the little girl or boy we want to still protect.”</p>
<p>I can see how it would be tough. In all honesty, my parents wanted to pull me from ITW in the wake of casting because they saw that I was just SO upset. They had my best intentions at heart, but that was never even an option I considered. I was going to cry it out, get over it, and have a blast (this company is my home in the way that high school theatre is a home to many). And that’s what I’ve done. In some ways, I think I’ve moved on faster and more completely than my parents, who still want to protect me from casting. I think the most important thing parents can do is to be a supportive ear and shoulder and understand that it’s not truly the end of the world. I understand that immediately following casting, I may say things like “I’m sick and tired of always getting the short end of the stick,” because in the moment I’m obviously going to be frustrated. But I don’t mean it, not truly, and I don’t want my parents playing the blame game on my behalf because of it. Most of the time, I haven’t truly been wronged, and most of the time, casting isn’t actually personal. There’s little that I hate more than having to hear my creative team blamed just because I didn’t get what I want - at the end of the day, I still look up to everyone I’m working with and want to make them proud. In that same vein, I don’t want them to be any less respected by my parents just because I didn’t get my way. I don’t envy the people behind the table. Casting is hard. There are so many factors that go into casting a show that it’s a miracle most shows even get cast at all. Because of that, disappointment is inevitable. It’s the nature of the beast, not the fault of the creative team.</p>
<p>“I think the most important thing parents can do is to be a supportive ear and shoulder and understand that it’s not truly the end of the world.” </p>
<p>Kids are kids and drama kids tend to be dramatic by nature. They will yell, cry, & scream and as a parent the inclination is to try to fix it, but we can’t. Do you really think a phone call or an email from a mom or dad is going to change a casting decision. Of course not, and it shouldn’t. Now, that doesn’t mean they weren’t wrong. They are often wrong and everybody knows there is no such thing as fair so you really do just have to move on. One year our high school director cast a girl who had never done theater at all as the lead in the spring show. She was a senior. She was pretty. She was awful. There’s always another director and there’s always another show.</p>
<p>Just a thought in hindsight, a realization I had the other day:</p>
<p>All those other kids who beat me out for leading roles, who always got cast over me, who everybody thought they were “sooooo talented!” ? They don’t do theatre anymore. They do business and nursing and education, some have gained weight, married or had kids, gone on with their lives, their interest in theatre left in the pages of the school yearbooks. </p>
<p>And here I am, majoring in theatre, just cast in a mainstage production this year, having worked for one of the largest theatre companies in the state (I dare even say country)…? Patience, young grasshoppers. Time has a way of weeding out the other grasshopper from the truly stubborn ones who will stick it out!</p>
<p>austinsmom - loved that article. Again - and as SongSearcher also said - it just seems that once you are surrounded by students who really want to be there (as compared to high school kids who maybe don’t want to follow theatre as they grow up), wonderful things happen! In the article, it looks like even if kids don’t get what they want, they have others with them who are going thru the same thing. </p>
<p>And as far as that post-audition celebration they talked of, I would have skipped Taco Bell altogether and doubled up on the Ben & Jerry’s.</p>
<p>As usual - there was no need to panic. Our high school musical was cast, and all the kids are happy with what they got, and are all looking ahead now to rehearsals.</p>
<p>So “lift that razor high, Sweeney” and on with the show!</p>
<p>Hope everyone else’s experience was also smooth sailing.</p>
<p>An update. After the angst of last week, the cast list went up Friday night. My daughter, despite not getting a call back, was cast as Titania, one of the leads in A Midsummer Nights Jersey, some kind of combination of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jersey shores.</p>
<p>After the list went up, a friend told her at callbacks they didn’t have anyone read for her role or the role of Oberon, being played by a good friend of hers. So apparently the director knew he wanted those two cast as the Fairies based off the original audition. She is very happy, mom and dad are very relieved, and a good lesson ahs been learned by all.</p>
<p>jeffandann - I was waiting and hoping that you would update us! So glad for your D.</p>
<p>Same thing happened with S. He did not get a callback at all, but nobody else got a callback for Sweeney! And when the list went up, he was cast as Sweeney Todd - he is thrilled. </p>
<p>So as you said, important parental lessons were learned . . . and will promptly be forgotten during the next audition cycle.</p>
<p>It is fairly unusual when the director has callbacks, but not for the lead, so I would have been concerned too. I would rather it be that way though than have meaningless callbacks when the Director has already decided.</p>
<p>We just had auditions for the winter musical–mercifully rescheduled for late February (after college auditions)–my S will be the King in “The King and I.” Marbleheader, I’m sure you are laughing hysterically by now, having seen my son in person…let’s just say he is gonna have some exercisin’ to do to change from his current football-player-with-injured-ankle shape to “Shall We Dance” condition!! But if the director wants him to shave his head for the performance, at least he won’t be bald for Unifieds. Congrats to all on the casting–amd here’s to an increasingly challenging senior year for our kids!</p>
<p>Congrats to al!! Marbleheader- Sweeney Todd so cool! How do they do that in high school? Is there blood? I would love to see that at the high school level! Have a great show!!!</p>
<p>Freaking out a little about how fast auditions are coming at us. D got confirmation for yet another on campus audition. First one is in November. I think we are in pretty good shape with everything but I just want it over with. D is meeting with an accompanist tomorrow about recording her music. This whole 16, 32 bar and knowing the whole songs is a little crazy. Why can’t all of the schools go with the same cut? And to help pay all these audition expenses I’m going to sub in a horrible middle school this week. Subbed there for two days last week. It’s glorified babysitting. I don’t enjoy being called rhymes with witch and worrying about getting shanked in the back all day. I’ll just keep thinking of my awesome kids all day and who I’m really there for and it ain’t the the thugs sitting in those desks.</p>
Congrats to all on the casting–amd here’s to an increasingly challenging senior year for our kids!</p>