What is the casting team looking for in my audition?
Auditions and the casting process come with a lot of big feelings: anticipation, excitement, anxiety, and disappointment. As a young performer, the casting process may feel confusing, and you may not always understand why certain decisions are made. It is our hope to demystify what conversations go on “behind the scenes” in the casting room with this guide.
THE AUDITION PROCESS
At Innovative Arts, we spend 4-5 weeks getting to know the students before casting them in roles, and creating the ‘casts’ students will spend the rest of the year rehearsing and performing their show with. Our main goal throughout the casting process is to place each student in a role where they will be showcased well, and to ensure each of our 12 casts as a whole will put on a successful show.
Musical theatre is a team sport. Students often think that playing their dream role is the thing that will make them happiest. However, in reality, we find students have the best Innovative Arts experience when their cast comes together cohesively, cares deeply about putting on a good show, and works effectively as a team to achieve this goal.
In order to place students into a role and a cast, the faculty will be assessing students in the following three main areas:
SINGING & MUSICIANSHIP SKILLS
When casting an Innovative musical, singing is typically the first skill the casting team looks at. What your voice sounds like usually has the largest impact on the roles you may be considered for. The casting team takes into consideration:
Vocal Range
Vocal Health
Pitch Matching & Tuning
Timing and Rhythm
Confidence Singing
Different roles require different ranges, placements and tones:
Who gets cast in the leading roles, which often do the most singing in the show, often comes down to vocal skill and vocal quality. A romantic lead usually needs a strong higher voice, with a bright, refined sound, and leading title characters often require a large range and a powerful sound. The casting team is often looking for these specific and nuanced vocal qualities. If you’d like to learn more about your voice and what roles you might be more likely to be cast in check out our upcoming blog, “Who does my voice sound like?” If you’d like to learn how to develop your voice check out our “Score the Role” Blog.
LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Next, the casting team will usually take into consideration a student’s learning and leadership skills to determine the level of responsibility the student would likely be successful taking on in their cast. The casting team considers:
Attitude
Leadership and Work Ethic
Memorization Skills
Maturity
Attendance & Punctuality
Taking on a role in a show is a big responsibility, there are a lot of people counting on you to do your part. If you know you’ve struggled with these skills in previous productions, the first step should be to take the time to showcase your growth here. Leading roles are offered to students who have already showcased these skills, they are not given to students who promise to take things more seriously once they are cast in their dream role.
ACTING AND PERFORMANCE SKILLS
Another large consideration the casting team weighs is a performer's acting skills. While acting does not have as large of an impact as a performer's vocal abilities, it is still important to put time and effort into showcasing your acting skills.
Commitment
Bravery
Confidence
Acting Range
Physical Characterization
Vocal Characterization
Your Acting Style and Potential
Sometimes casting teams will intentionally cast a student in a role that is very similar to them. However, the casting team might desire to cast a student against an actor's natural temperament, especially if an actor has played this type of role many times before, and would be challenged to grow in a new way.
Often it is more difficult to find students who have the acting ability to play a character like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, than it is to play Belle. These larger-than-life types of roles typically require a wider range of acting skills, and an actor brave enough to make bold choices on stage. This can mean stronger and more experienced actors might be needed in roles that are not necessarily their most desired role.
As you can see, the casting team has a lot of different factors to balance and difficult decisions to make. If you would like to know more about how the team interprets your casting form, read Demystifying The Casting Process Part 2: What to Consider When Filling Out Your Casting Form.
One thing we want our students to know is: just because you don’t get your ideal role, that doesn’t mean you are less talented, less successful, or less liked by our casting team than other students. Try your best not to take casting decisions too personally, and to have an open mind leading into auditions. We often find that frustrations with casting are short-lived once we move on to the joys of building our show and bonding with our cast members. However, if you are feeling discouraged consider reading Part 3 of our Demystifying The Casting Process series titled: “Once Casting Is Announced” for some strategies to process your disappointment.
We hope this helped shine some light on the Innovative Arts Casting Process, and look forward to seeing all of our fabulous students in the audition room!
READ PART TWO: What to Consider When Filling Out Your Casting Form
