Hello Arden,
Wow! You really are doing something right! Over 20% of your school population is involved in your program? That is amazing! We have a little over 100 involved, but we are a school of 1400.
Yes, in my long career I have found that involving as many students as possible grows them as performers and individuals. They all learn from each other and learn to work together. The leading actors learn to appreciate what the smaller roles contribute to the whole. Those with smaller roles learn from the experience of the leading actors and learn their importance. I just did my fall play
I Hate Shakespeare! with 40 actors. It could have been done with 15, but I wanted to cast everyone who auditioned, and thankfully I had to double only about five actors. After the show my adult daughter commented, "You cast everyone who auditioned? Everyone was so good in their parts!" School theatre is all about education and growing people to be productive and giving members of society.
Our musical productions usually have more than 100 audition, so cuts must be made to fit them all on the stage and to make it more manageable. I direct the fall play by myself (40 was not a problem), but the musical has a team of Director, Assistant Director, Vocal Director, and Choreographer to manage the large cast of about 65.
I am actually considering
Peter and the Starcatcher for my next fall play, and I intend to cast as many as I can. The popularity of the show will probably bring out more than 40, so I may have to cut, but I know I will still have a very large fall play cast.
Best wishes for a great production! You obviously have the tools to make it wonderful, no matter what size you go with.
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Valerie Gargus
NJ Thespians Festival Director
Play & Thespian Troupe Director
Northern Burlington County Reg HS
Columbus, NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2017 04:35
From: Arden Thomas
Subject: Peter and the Starcatcher - cast size
First time musical theater director here! We're going to do Peter and the Starcatcher. I have a question about cast size.
Our school is brand new - only two years old, 90 students grades 9-11. Last year I had to beg students to be in our shows and was able to get 8 for Twelfth Night and 7 for AntigoneX. This year 15 signed up for Almost, Maine, and now 21 for Peter and the Starcatcher! Looks like we're doing something right ...
These are my first high school theater shows, and I'm still not sure how the whole thing works in terms of casting. In all the other shows I've directed in the past 15 years (professional and college), the idea is to cast the best actors and look forward to seeing the others at another audition. But in high school it seems like the idea is both to cast the best actors and to give as many people as possible an amazing theater experience. Am I getting this right? So for a musical do you just cast as many people who sign up, even if some of the students have tiny roles?
Peter and the Starcatcher calls for an ensemble of 12 to play over 100 roles. Have you directed it with more students and just divvy up the roles? is it better for this particular play to stick with 12? I'm directing and I'm the musical director. Is 21 too many students to manage?
Thank you!
- Arden
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Arden Thomas
Teaching Artist, Theater
Sequoyah High School
Pasadena CA
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