I have done the show twice. The first time (about 5 years ago) I was on the production staff as the costume designer and the second time was when I directed the show just this year (performances were about a month ago).
The first production had a cast of 79 people so doubling was not necessary. There were plenty of people all over! There was a very clearly delineated “adult ensemble” and “teen ensemble” and there wasn’t much if any movement between the two groups.
For my production this year we had a cast of 32 and only 10 of those were boys. It was tough, but we did it! We used a lot of doubling. All of the boys except for Ren and Shaw were double (or sometimes triple) cast. As far as the girls went, we had a loosely defined “teen ensemble” and “adult ensemble” but definitely had lots of people go back and forth. It depended on the needs we had for a particular number. Once it became apparent (at auditions) that we would need to do a lot of doubling, I just chose to let go of the idea of having a clearly delineated ensemble and it was kind of freeing and gave me more flexibility to use the kids’ talents where they were needed at any given moment. I had all of the cast learn all of the ensemble numbers regardless so that even if it turned out they were not present on stage in the number, they could still sing backstage.
For “I’m Free/Heaven Help Me” we had the cast almost evenly split. I felt that it was important for that number to have a balance. We put the strongest dancers in the group of teens and the others in the adult ensemble. (The choreographer loved it and really pulled out all the stops for that number. It was very cool!) The adult ensemble for that scene all wore choir robes (except Shaw) and the teens all wore gym uniforms.
For the opening number in the first production the director really wanted (nearly) all the kids in the opening “Footloose” but since they have to come on right away for “On Any Sunday” it was complicated. (You haven’t lived until you have quick changed a cast of 79 teenagers in 37 seconds! To this day I’m really not sure how we pulled it off but we did!) For my show, I split the cast. We put as many people as we could in the “Footloose” opening (and we did backstage quick changes for them during the transition), but we had some cast as the church choir and a couple more “adults” waiting in the wings ready to start “On Any Sunday” until the rest of the cast could join.
Both shows were very different, but both worked well. It’s really going to depend on the size of your cast and your vision, but you can make it work!
------------------------------
Emily Olson
Theatre Arts Teacher and Director
Port St. Lucie, FL
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 02-22-2017 11:36
From: James McCulloch
Subject: Footloose Ensemble Casting
My school is prepping for an April 2017 production of Footloose. One of the issues I'm having is determining if I should have portions of my ensemble double as students and as adults. There is one number at the end of Act 1, "I'm Free/Heaven Help Us" where we need a singing student ensemble and a singing "adult" ensemble as the kids face off against the adults.
Any thoughts on whether double casting portions of an ensemble is too much a headache? Has anyone done this with Footloose or similar shows where ensemble needs to play different groups?
------------------------------
James McCulloch
East China School District
Port Huron MI
------------------------------