Open Forum

You know that feeling where you have 60 really, really invested kids auditioning for 25 parts and you know that you will break some hearts?  I'm in that place and figuring out the best way to prepare.  We advocate in <g class="gr_ gr_222 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="222" data-gr-id="222">theatre</g> that we teach students how to deal with rejection, failure, not getting what they want.  But I realized that I don't actually teach how to handle not getting the part they want, I post the cast list and hope that my few words of wisdom in the cast letter model how to move forward.  

Long story short, I am looking to start improving how I teach resiliency by putting together an audition guide/resource.  The audition guide would have articles that help students best prepare for the audition (like the recent article on monologues in Dramatics), and also articles on how to handle what happens after an audition.  This would be sent to both students and guardians. Does anyone have any favorite articles or stories that they use to help their <g class="gr_ gr_1822 gr-alert gr_spell gr_disable_anim_appear ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="1822" data-gr-id="1822">theatre</g> community navigate the time after auditions or best practices to prepare an audition?

First of all, what a great problem to have! Congrats on a strong and enthusiastic progam!

The article below might need to be adapted slightly, depending on your age level and climate, but it makes a good point.

Another thing I like to do prior to auditions is to have them imagine that they are in charge of casting an new version of >>insert timely title here<< and that they can cast anyone they want as the lead. You'll get almost as many different answers as you have students, because everyone has a different idea of what they like best. It helps them understand that sometimes there are lots of right answers, and the director has the difficult task of deciding which will be the best choice for this show. 

26 Reasons Why You Didn't Get the Part

Would you be willing to share your guide when you get it done?? That sounds awesome.

Here's an interesting article that, at the least, lets students know they're not alone. I've also been shifting our process of announcing auditions based on recommendations from Jo Beth Gonzalez and a few other posts on the discussion forums. Now, every kid who auditions receives feedback on the audition regardless of casting. They get a personal letter that includes their strengths and areas for improvement (and I've streamlined the process of writing those through google sheets and autocrat, which automatically merges the spreadsheet into separate letter templates for each kid). I now email each student with the role they are cast in, reminders about how hard auditions and casting are, and the feedback letter attached. The students have to email back about whether they accept the role or not, and once I have a complete cast list, I announce it publicly along with the crew list. There will always be heartache, but as an educator, I hope to make the experience educational for them if not easy. 

On Rejection and Resiliency in the Life of an Actor

I'd be happy to share! We have been working on our guides for preparing for the audition, and this is the first one we put together:

Preparing for an Audition

I'm going to put together a newsletter I can send home to guardians that <g class="gr_ gr_276 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar multiReplace" id="276" data-gr-id="276">links</g> to these sites, and hopefully, we will be adding the piece we are missing about resiliency after an audition.  Thanks for the articles!  They are quite helpful.

We're looking at these right now: 

It's Not My Bad

Audition Rejection: How to Deal (A Parents Guide)

Didn't Book the Job? Here's How to Deal

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Jessica Harms
Theatre Director
Acton MA

This is a topic that is very top-of-mind for me presently as we just posted our cast list for the school musical this afternoon.

In addition to this being audition week, it was parent-teacher conference week. (Don't worry, we posted the list at 3 PM when the final conferences were done.  Not our first rodeo.)  I will say though, in a week of conferences that was all sunshine and puppies and rainbows, my only bad conference was with a parent who had qualms about his daughter not getting a call-back.  THIS was not the conference I would have guessed would have gone badly. (Even the parents whose kids misbehave big-time in my class were a delight!)

Note: In my middle school, the shows are co-curricular rather than extra-curricular, so all of the kids who are in the class are in the show.  I acknowledge that "why am I not in the show?" is a different question than "why did I not get the part I wanted?"  (THOSE questions I had to field last March when kids auditioned to get into the class.)  But I think the feelings we're talking about are in the same family of feelings.  Still, I will contain my comments to the question of "why didn't I get that part?"

OK.  This is a bit of a career-long crusade of mine: We theatre teachers need to work hard to get out the message that the quality of one's theatre experience is not a function of the size of one's role.

Many kids and MANY of their parents operate from the faulty assumption that the validity of an actor's experience is a function of how big his or her part is.  I must believe that the vast majority of teaching professionals don't believe this to be true.  And yet, I think we tacitly reinforce this worldview when we engage in conversations with disgruntled students or parents and don't directly confront this thinking.  I choose to confront it.

I teach hundreds of students every year, all of whom are involved in some sort of public performance.  I've done so for more than 18 years.  So, thousands of young people have stood on my stage.  A tiny fraction of those have had a lead role.  I could not muster the strength to get out of bed in the morning and do this (often excrutiatingly) taxing job if I thought that the only ones who were having a quality experience were those select few who had the lead.  What gets me going each day is that I know that engagement with theatre is good for all.  And I'll bet you believe this too (because you don't camp out under the covers Monday through Friday).  We've got to say it whenever we get a chance.    

Also, I've participated in theatre in a bunch of capacities from childhood through my now--ugh--middle age?  And among these capacities has been actor.  I've been in a lot of shows.  I suspect the same is true of many of you. And you know what?  I've very, very rarely been a lead.  Often, I'm not even featured.  And yet...I've decided to devote my life to this thing called theatre.  If you're reading this, then so likely have you.  And you too may have spent countless hours in the chorus or the ensemble.  And why have we done this?  Because it's amazing. Because, more often than not, I've worked harder that I thought was possible and had more fun than I thought was imaginable.  Because I've met the best people I'll ever know.  Because I've learned things I didn't even think to learn about the world and about myself.  Being in the show is a miraculous experience. And, if we believe this, we need to shout this from the rooftops.  Actors (young and old) who take the stance that "if it's not a lead, it's not worth my effort" are missing the point and we need to be the ones letting them know so.  

So, let's please be willing to say a smaller role is not a lesser role.  If we don't say it, who will?  

Also, if the ensemble wasn't important, why would the ensemble exist?  They are written into the story for a reason.  Playwrighting is not accidental or random.

Furthermore, when I am watching a show (be it a school show comprising young people or a multi-generational show), I often feel that which distinguishes a truly great show from a merely good show is the strength of the ensemble.  Most schools have a few talented students annually who can handle a lead.  But when the full company is truly "in it to win it," that's when I've been fully transported and transfixed as an audience member. Plus, some of the greatest acting lessons I've learned have been in playing the roles that speak the least--the whole "acting is reacting" wisdom.  So, GO CHORUS!

Other things about casting that I wish parents and students understood that I need to get off my chest:

• We do not "take turns" playing the lead.  Every audition is a fresh opportunity. ["Mindset" is a much talked about topic in education these days, and I try my darnedest (my obvious level of frustration signals that I'm far from universally successful in this endeavor) to teach my students that the proper mindset for an audition is to view it as an opportunity rather than a chore the adults are forcing you to go through because to believe the latter is to subject yourself to the cruelest drudgery.  An audition is a chance to prove what you can do--to the adults in charge, to your classmates, and to yourself.]  At any rate, this fresh chance may mean the same people come out on top time and time again, if they earn it.  Plus, I always wonder, when parents and students evoke the "taking turns" argument ("It's my turn!"), what is the world that they imagine.  I teach grades 6-8.  So, in the turn-taking point of view, a student who had a solo in our grade six performance of Free to Be You and Me is automatically disqualified from playing a lead role in Aida in grade eight, because--what?--she's washed up at age 11 and has had her chance?  It's bewildering to me.  And, not to lean too much on the old "they don't act this way with sports" paradigm, but does everybody get a turn being the quarterback?
• Don't talk to me about how much your child "wants to be the lead" because the wanting is not significant or germane.  In the musical that we just cast at our school (High School Musical!) there are 66 cast members.  Now, truly, there are some who are happy just to be a part of it.  But of those dozens of cast members, I'd say most have least fantasized about being Troy or Gabriella throughout the audition process. Because...validation?  But when a parent leads with "But you don't understand, my child wants this..." I am dead inside.  And the other 65 don't?
• Auditions are not necessarily a teachable moment.  I know I am an educator. I love being a part of young people's growth.  I spend most of my waking moments 180 plus days a year (and not a small amount of time on my off days) dedicated to this goal.  I strive to lead by example, and it is my dearest wish that every moment your child spends in my presence is a moment of growth.  Still, I do not relish, not even a little bit, the inevitable queries of "what could my child have done better?"  Because, often, the hard but true answer is....nothing.  There was someone who did better.  Or, what sometimes feels worse for me, there was someone whose type was more fitting.  (This is a question I think about all the time--how early is too early to teach about type?  Because you can't necessarily change your type, which seems unfair, yet, especially for those who want to continue in theatre, knowledge of your type can help you make better choices later on.)  This is why I really enjoyed the link in this thread about "Why you didn't get the role." Because you have NO IDEA, really, post-audition what factors worked for or against your favor.  (Remember me referring to my vast performance experience earlier in this post?  When I was a younger, more naive performer, I dared to ask this dreaded question of directors I had auditioned for, some of whom I was dear friends with.  Because of those who were bold enough to answer I no longer ask this question.  Plus, since those younger days, I've spent much more time on the farside of the audition table as a director, and I understand the myriad considerations that have everything to do with the "big picture" of the show and little to do with the individuals.)

This is an important topic, and I'm glad we get to have this conversation.  Thank you to the original poster and thank goodness for the safe space that is the EdTA forum.  And thank you always to community members for enduring my long-windedness.