This is a great discussion! I would like to echo what others have said about quality and quantity not being mutually exclusive. In my productions, I always try to prioritize both.
I teach at a middle school, and it's my policy to cast everyone who auditions. I really believe in this, primarily because I believe students cannot improve as performers unless they are given opportunities. I want to make sure I am providing opportunities and acting training not only to the students who are already strong actors, but also to students who may have little to no experience, but could become skilled performers if given the chance.
From a quality standpoint -- when you open up casting to a larger group, you're developing a larger, more experienced pool of actors for future shows. This can often lead to higher-quality productions.
(And even if a student never does another show, I hope that from a personal standpoint, they've still benefited from all of the positive educational benefits that theatre provides. I want to provide these positive experiences to as many students as I can.)
That being said, my way certainly isn't the only way. There's no "right" way to cast your shows -- you have to do what works best for your school, program, and students. I recognize that the needs of a high school program can be different from a middle school program. I also know that if the cast size gets large enough, you can reach a point of diminishing returns. I usually have 30-50 students auditioning, which is manageable for me -- but at some larger middle schools, it's common to have 80-100 (or more!). If I had that many students auditioning for my shows, I might have to rethink my casting policy!
Regarding the question of quality vs. quantity, I really do believe that you can have both. My experience has been that when you set a high bar for everyone, students really do rise to the challenge. Your most experienced students can also help model this for the newbies. I always try to be really intentional with my casting and staging so everyone has a chance to be featured. (Dividing the ensemble into smaller sub-groups is one way to do this.) Finally, I try to plan my rehearsal schedule carefully, calling smaller groups of actors when I can, so that students still get individualized attention.
I won't pretend that it's easy, or that I can always provide as much individualized attention as I hope to provide! But for me, including more students in the production has always been worth it.
Once again, though, my way certainly isn't the only way. Small-cast shows have their own benefits -- and every school has its own individual needs. I wish you the best of luck with the shows and with your program!
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Elizabeth Berg
Drama Teacher
Ashland Middle School
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-26-2018 10:14
From: Christopher Dwyer
Subject: Quantitiy vs. Quality: Choosing your next production
Hi All:
I hope all is well as you wind down the school year. I am in the process (like many of you) of choosing next year's production. This year the theatre department produced The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with a cast of about 14 and the choral department produced the musical Fame. While LWW was considered a success, it had its moments of imperfection (and why not, it's a high school production?). Fame on the other hand had its issues with content and singing ability.
So next year I'm faced with the question: Do you reduce the cast size, excluding some actors and do a show like The Glass Menagerie, or I and You. Or is it the educators obligation to include all the students you can and make it a school wide event?
There is even more backstory that goes into this decision, one of which is that we are three years into our Arts Academy program. This is a college preparatory path for students with a strong interest in the arts. The AA kids are strong performers, but the general population students are unreliable, flaky, and don't always show up. We are in the process of gathering funds for a new black box theatre, but the growth of our Arts Academy program depends on the quality of the product on stage. We can't expect a huge investment if we don't produce work that lives up to an Arts Academy expectation.
So, what are your thoughts? Quality versus Quantity. We are considering Rumors and The Glass Menagerie next year.
Thanks a bunch!
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Christopher Dwyer
Head of Drama
Laurel MD
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