Open Forum

To those of you who have done this show and expanded the cast:

Exactly how did you break down the characters?  Any important considerations that you'd like to pass along to me?

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Cindy Baker
Larkspur CO
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This is how we broke down the characters (with gender flexibility) for casting purposes:

Richard Hannay……………………………………..       M                                

Annabelle Schmidt ………………………………...        F

Chairman McQuarrie/ Radio Announcer /Thug 1…  F                                             

Clown 2/Thug 2…………………………………...           F                                                         

Compere…………………………………..................        F                                             

Mrs. Memory…………………………………...........        F                                                         

Milk Woman / Clown 1 ………………………..….          F                                             

Mrs. Higgins & Palladium Announcer……….…         F         

Chief Inspector Albright/ Salesman 1…………           M                    

Salesman 2 ………………………………………...          F

Pamela Edwards…………………………………....        F                                                         

Crofter/Sheriff…………………………………..........       M                                                        

Margaret       ………………………………………….       F                     

Mrs. Jordan/Paper girl      …………………………        F                     

Professor Jordan/ Train Porter…………………          M                    

Policeman 1…………………………………………         M        

Mrs. Dunwoody / Police(wo)man 2………………        F                                 

Mrs. McGarrigle/ Passenger 1…………………….        F                                                         

Mr. McGarrigle / Inspector/ Passenger 2 ………         M                                            

Clown 3/ Pilot 1……………………………………....       F                                                   

Clown 4/ Pilot 2……………………………………....       F    

The ensemble of this show will also play walk–on roles, dancers, train passengers, etc.

Some of the roles we cast as female could certainly be male.

Hope this helps. We had a great time with the show and audiences loved it! Best of luck!

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Dawn DeMaio

I did the show a few years ago with a cast of 11 - 6 men, 4 women & a pianist who played all the music live on an upright directly in front of the stage, did some of the sound effects like the train whistle and had a several interactive bits with the cast, embracing a "show with in a show" concept. I didn't go into auditions with any specific plan in terms of numbers or break down, other than to keep the cast on the smaller side, I let the auditions dictate those.

After auditions I went through the script and tried to logically brake down all the parts based on give each of the nine at least one "bigger" character to play and then, aside from the actress who played Pamela (I think she only played 2 or 3 additional bits in the first act), divide the rest of the show up relatively equally. I turned Mr Memory's assistant into a "showgirl" for the 4th bigger female part which worked really well, especially for the scene at the end of the play, but kept all the rest of the characters their original genders regardless of who played them. The only thing I "added" to the show, besides the pianist, was in the train scene. When we blocked the scene I had used 8 of the 10 actors, I kept the changing hats bit between the salesman/old lady & paperboy/constable. The cast said they really wanted at least one scene that they were all in and asked if I could include the other two actors on the train. I put the two as passengers in the compartment between the salesmen & Pamela, and it worked beautifully - sometimes the kids really do know best.

If you're interested in any more specific details, let me know.

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Melissa Purdy
Westminster High School
Westminster MD

For the piano, where did you get the piano music to work with the scenes? I love this idea and I always love brining in live music to my shows when possible.

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Steven Slaughter
English/Theatre
Rosslyn Academy
Nairobi, Kenya

"Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts." - W Berry
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-28-2016 09:39
From: Melissa Purdy
Subject: expanding the cast of 39 Steps

I did the show a few years ago with a cast of 11 - 6 men, 4 women & a pianist who played all the music live on an upright directly in front of the stage, did some of the sound effects like the train whistle and had a several interactive bits with the cast, embracing a "show with in a show" concept. I didn't go into auditions with any specific plan in terms of numbers or break down, other than to keep the cast on the smaller side, I let the auditions dictate those.

After auditions I went through the script and tried to logically brake down all the parts based on give each of the nine at least one "bigger" character to play and then, aside from the actress who played Pamela (I think she only played 2 or 3 additional bits in the first act), divide the rest of the show up relatively equally. I turned Mr Memory's assistant into a "showgirl" for the 4th bigger female part which worked really well, especially for the scene at the end of the play, but kept all the rest of the characters their original genders regardless of who played them. The only thing I "added" to the show, besides the pianist, was in the train scene. When we blocked the scene I had used 8 of the 10 actors, I kept the changing hats bit between the salesman/old lady & paperboy/constable. The cast said they really wanted at least one scene that they were all in and asked if I could include the other two actors on the train. I put the two as passengers in the compartment between the salesmen & Pamela, and it worked beautifully - sometimes the kids really do know best.

If you're interested in any more specific details, let me know.

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Melissa Purdy
Westminster High School
Westminster MD

Here's my breakdown from a couple years ago.  It worked well.  Isn't necessarily "equal" division as I divided after auditions to planned it to my actors' strengths.

Actor 1	Actor 2	Actor 3	Actor 4	Actor 5	Actor 6				Actress 1	Actress 2	Actress 3
Hannay	Memory	Ques 1	Ques 2	Compere	Ques 3				Anabella	Pamela	Margaret
	Sales 1	Sales 2	Sheriff	Mrs H.	Milkman				Mrs. Jordan
	Crofter	Heavy 1	Prof Jordan	Dunw	Heavy 2
	Pilot/VO	Thug 1	Police 1	Porter	Thug 2
	Mrs. M	Inspector	McQuarrie	Paper B	Police 2
		Pilot 2		Mr. M

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Rob Grumich
Director of Drama, Chaminade College Prep
St. Louis MO