After several years of this rodeo and the crushing weight of expectation and headaches that is the cast list announcement, we decided to try something vaguely different for our upcoming Spring musical production of 'Zorro the Musical.' By this point in our program's life, our students know the general expectations of behavior, and have also been relentlessly coached on dealing with disappointment. They also know that, unlike real life, we do really try as a program to rotate as much as possible through different performers, in order to give as many people as possible the chance to shine and to grow, which also means we typically double cast our lead roles.
What we had noticed (and by we, I mean myself and my wife, as we are in the happy circumstance where Nathalie is very involved in all aspects of the theatre program) was that, when we posted the announcement at school, there tended to be some fallout. Nothing major, but definitely some disappointment that would result in one or two folks exhibiting symptoms of sour grapes: "They always get the lead role!" "I deserve the role of _________ more than him!" "But I didn't want that lead role! I wanted _______!" "Just solo chorus? What are they thinking?" and other alternative facts of that sort. And it only takes one or two people to have sour grapes before a production is able to get underway to potentially sink the whole enterprise. Whether the announcement was on a paper posted outside the auditorium, or posted online, at least someone would have time to fire off some shots because of their disappointment. So we trialed a new method: The Live Cast Announcement.
After the auditions, we called all who auditioned to the first rehearsal to hear the cast list announced, to be followed immediately by the first read-through. It was fun, but nerve-wracking; the worry that we could be causing major anxiety issues for some was a very real concern, as some of our students are high on the crippling anxiety spectrum, and it felt a little bit like an awards ceremony: "And the winner is..."
Turned out all right, in the end. As roles were announced, students had to deal with their feelings immediately and publicly, and be sure not to react in a negative way (whether the role was a main role or a chorus part). It was an awesome time to people watch, to see how the individual who got each role reacted, and those around them who may have wanted that role. The students did amazing things, and dealt with it really well. What really helped in this instance was the fact that we then went straight into the read-through; so instead of a few hours, or a weekend, or a few days between the announcement and the first read-through, students immediately got to see the logic behind why folks were cast; they could see that, oh, that girl really suits that part. Ah, I understand now. And by the end of the read-through, everybody appeared to have worked through any initial disappointment and was able to get behind the cast list.
There was only one student who got a lead that struggled, as they had really wanted a different lead. This despite the fact that the role they were cast in actually required more of them and gave them more opportunities than the role they desired, but we managed to work through it, and after a few rehearsals in the character, they've come to really appreciate the role. In all plays and musicals, there's always the one role that everybody wants, because of the perceived 'coolness' factor, or, what I tend to find with teenagers, the role is edgier or darker or more twisted: everybody wants the Heath Ledger Joker role, as opposed to playing Commissioner Gordon, or Alfred. But it does seem, at least on this trial, that I had to have far fewer of these conversations than I normally would if the cast list had been announced the traditional way.
And I'm not sure if this is because of the Live Cast Announcement method, or because I've gotten better at this casting schtick, but in this production, we have had the fewest number of students dropping out than ever before. We plan for about a 20% attrition rate for every cast, because that's generally been the pattern, whatever size the cast happens to be. 'Zorro' is our largest cast production ever, with over 60 students involved (just performers), so the expectation was that we would lose up to 12 performers due to the normal multiple variable factors that impact a students' decision to drop. For this production, at this stage in the production, only 3 have dropped. One is moving, one had multiple home issues and over-extension problems, and one was just the token never-showed-up-after-three-rehearsals case.
If you're interested in trying this out, feel free to drop me a line and ask me about it. I'd love to share. I loved how this worked out for us, and would love to share that sense of peace that this method bought us in our program.