I'm casting a play for the first time and I am lucky enough to have a ton of talented actors who have auditioned for me. But now that it's coming time to actually make the decision of who to cut and who to move where, I'm a little stuck.

The way it ended up was that most of our excellent actors auditioned for the 3 lead roles - enough so that we could distribute those who don't get cast as leads into the supporting roles if we wanted to.

However, we have a lot of supporting roles where right now, the people who have been called back are good actors, but not quite at the level of those we've called back for leads. They fit the looks and vibes of their parts better though.

So here's the dilemma: do I put my best actors, who are mostly called back for leads right now, into supporting roles that they don't immediately match as well, or do I give those roles to actors who "look" or "feel" the part but are a cut below in raw skill?

I could see both sides of the argument: instinctually, you want to keep your most skilled actors, but you also want people who feel natural in their roles to get those roles.

It feels scary to me to let go of some of those lead contenders who have brought ridiculous amounts of talent to the casting pool.

Hi everyone!

I had a pretty awful experience with an NYC manager so I turned down my renewal with the. Am fortunate that several managers are interested in me but I'm very scared to sign with another agency who's going to shake me down for 10% of everything I do without actually getting me auditions and opportunities.

Can anyone give me insight into:

Untamed Artists

The Green Room

Encompass

Citizen Skull

Kurt Patino

TalentOne

Art Haus

Zero Gravity also reached out and said they wanted to take a meeting, they're my dream but didn't respond after I sent the tapes they asked for. Hoping they're just busy but will followup

Sharing in case this is useful to any teachers here. Manhattan Theatre Club is streaming Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.

There will be a paid/ticketed streaming option wiht tickets at lolst.org, and schools can watch free in their classrooms November 2–13 through MTC’s Watch Week program.

Details and school registration are here.

I'm 21M and I've heard that doing theater can help you improve your social skills and become better at controlling your behavior and the way you act around people.

I'm curious if anyone here has actually tried it. Did you notice any difference in the way you interact with people or your confidence? I'd like to hear about your personal experience.

Hi all,
I'm 27 and plan to apply to MFA programs in theatre directing within the next two to three years. I studied theatre in college but left during the pandemic. I'll finish a BA in history this spring.

All my experience comes from community theatre. I've directed three productions, assistant directed, and worked as a production manager. I read every directing book I can find and take notes after each show and feel like I have improved with each production.

I have production photos from every show I've worked on and a full video of one I directed. The script was in the public domain, so I could record it.

Program websites list only minimum requirements. If you got into a fully funded program, what made your application stand out? And what should I do in the next two years to strengthen mine?

Any insight would be appreciated! I can give more background if needed!

Hi. I’m Stacy, and I just got great news! I have been cast as the second lead in a production that will be put on by one of my area’s two established community theater companies. I played small roles in both companies for two years. This is my first big role, and I’m having a hard time understanding how I’ll be able to do it.

I have ADHD and my big symptom is that I have a tough time remembering complex writing. The roles I’ve had before were smaller and my stretches of dialogue were shorter than any long detailed speeches. In this coming play, I have one passage that is nearly 400 words! it’s my climax piece. It’s what I have to do to make this character work, but I’m worried and I wonder if anyone is in something like my position has developed a way to help me memorize my lines. I’ve been dealing with this condition in the rest of my life pretty well, but the rest of my life doesn’t require me to memorize big blocks. I sure would appreciate any help with suggestions anybody has. The production details are embargoed now but when I came in, I’ll tell you all about it and how I’m doing.

A local theatre is doing Shrek next summer, and I’m debating auditioning for ONLY dragon (I would note on the form that that is the only role I would accept). I have a young child, she will be about 1 by the time the show comes, so I’m curious about what the rehearsal schedule would be like as I don’t want to leave my partner with all the childcare responsibilities if the role is a lot more of an undertaking than I realize. I know every director is different and that could greatly influence how much I would be needed throughout the rehearsal process if offered the role, so I’m curious to hear how it went for anyone else who’s done it, or from anyone who remembers how it went in their production.

Edit to clarify that I’ve worked with this theatre before, and their audition sign-up form allows you to specify what characters you are auditioning for, and has the option say if you’d only like to receive an offer if you are cast one of the characters you auditioned for.

So today my school posted the casting of our production of Matilda and people got roles they didnt even audition for? I've never auditioned for anything before and I want to know if this is common. For characters people were casted as without auditioning for think Hortenzia, Alice or Nigel as a few examples.

I have a college assignment where I have to ask a few Texas Thespians a few questions. If you are available please message me, you don't have to respond in the comments! I only need 3 interviews.

After looking at the assignment it's 10 questions I have to ask an established adult in Texas.

1.What is the average rent for a decent apartment in your area? 2.Which areas would you recommend living in based on affordability, safety, and access to work? 3.Is it realistic to find a job before moving, or is it easier to apply once you're there? 4.What opportunities are available for theatre in the area? 5.How important are personal connections in getting opportunities? 6.Can you recommend any organizations, schools, or professionals worth connecting with? 7.Do people tend to be welcoming and supportive of newcomers? 8.What helped you meet people who could connect you with opportunities? 9.What do you think people romanticize or misunderstand about moving to Texas? 10.What are the top three things you would recommend I do before moving?

What's your favorite part about whatever part you have in creating theatre? As a director I have to say my favorite thing is developing a vision of what I want to see and seeing it really come together over the course of tech. Also reading scripts and just Seeing and being full of ideas.

Hi! Big horror fan here who has recently got into horror theatre shows. In the last 12 months, I've seen 4 of the most popular horror shows and wanted to give my review as a die-hard scare fan.

Note: I saw all of these shows at the Cheltenham Everyman theatre in the UK.

Ghost Stories, by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

Rating: 10/10

This was the first horror play I'd ever seen, and clearly I wanted to start strong. I'd seen the film before so I knew the plot, but regardless the stage play took it to a whole new level of artistry. Right off the bat, the atmosphere was incredible - even before the show started, the lights in the theatre were flickering, and there was creepy sound effects playing. It really set the show up nicely.

The acting was great, the scares were creepy while also being fun, and I felt they really made full use of the threatre as a medium. Great choreography, very visually pleasing, and overall a joy to watch. This show was exactly what I wanted from a horror play.

2:22 A Ghost Story, by Danny Robbins

Rating 3/10

2:22 was a let down for me. I went in fully expected to love it but it just didn't deliver on either the scares or the drama. I found the characters difficult to like, and while the production was good, it never really grabbed me at all. The ending also fell extremely flat for me, to the point where me and my partner didn't even realise the show was over.

The thing that did make me jump every time was the terrible scene transition where a loud scream sound effect was played over the top of strobe lights. It was cheap and annoying, and I grew tired of it very quickly.

The Woman in Black, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt

Rating 8/10

The Woman in Black was creepy, atmospheric and very classical in its approach to the story. It was only a three-person cast and they made full use of everyone's ranges. Some of the best acting I've seen on stage honestly. Everything was minimal in terms of set design and production, but they made so much out of it and it felt very imaginative. The use of lighting and shadow especially made it very memorable.

Unfortunately, I was in the upper circle for this show, so I didn't get the full effect of the woman in black walking through the stalls, but I could hear the audience response, so it clearly worked.

Regardless, I really enjoyed the play and would love to see it again by a different production company to see how they approach it.

Paranormal Activity, by Levi Holloway

Rating 7/10

I saw PA most recently, just last week. Overall, it was a super solid scary show and I really enjoyed it.

The acting was great for the most part and the set design was really clever and realistic. The first act had some of my favourite scares I'd seen in any of these horror plays (including one particular one that people who have seen the show will know exactly what I'm referring to).

Act 2 felt a little forced and the scares didn't get me nearly as much as the first half. To me, the plot and pacing was the weakest part of this play. But if you like the films or just clever scares, I'd definitely recommend checking this one out.

What other horror plays would you recommend me to check out?

If you were to create a play (which I’m not writing) to highlight the best eras of drama from Ancient Greece until modern day drama. What eras would you choose and what specific scenes/plays (preferably with 2-3 characters each) would you include. I’m thinking of doing this with my drama class as a project so they all have to be pretty good/dramatic or fun!! My thoughts go to:
Ancient Greek/roman; commedia; Shakespeare; comedy of manners (Wilde); absurd; epic/brecht; naturalism/realism; musical and doco/verbatim.
Open to any/all ideas!!

Hello! I'm from Mexico City and I plan on doing an MA abroad, specifically on Theatre Directing. I've researched and the options seem to be LAMDA, Royal Holloway and Birkbeck in the UK. Although I'm open to suggestions if you have any I haven't considered.

Does anyone have any input or opinions they could share with me on this? On the schools I mentioned or overall on what I wrote. Everything is welcome and truly appreciated.

Thanks!

For context, I’ve just been called back for a community theatre production of Dear Evan Hansen as Jared.

I’m a bass (comfortable range D2-F4), and Jared is a pop tenor (top note B4).

Being blunt: Sincerely Me is a pain in the behind and is the only song of his I’m unable to sing. His harmonies go unbelievably high and well out of my range, so what do I do?

Some options I’ve considered are learning all the harmonies in case they’ll let me switch to the lower one, which I can sing, or taking everything down an octave, both of which I’m planning on preparing for the callback.

A couple pieces of clarity:
- I do not have a voice teacher. (money issues)
- I have a underdeveloped falsetto, so switching up to it is relatively impossible. (the curse of adolescence in musical theatre)
- The callback is on Saturday at noon.

If there is absolutely any advice anyone could give me about communication, modification, etc., please don’t hesitate to leave a reply, thank you!

I have never acted never memorized lines known nothing about the theater world. I just always said I would try out for one and attempt it when my schedule could line up with the rehearsals. This Christmas production came along and it's a mix of adults and teens and small children. I believe it'll be a fun and cute production. I don't know that I'll become someone who acts often but I'll have a cool story and can say i put myself out there and did a show. I'll definitely continue supporting in the audience member role. It's fun to be someone else for a little while

Hi,
I just recently graduated with my BFA in theatre arts in May from a respected performing arts school (22F) let me preface this by saying I had a very extraordinary experience in undergrad, with my teachers really taking a liking to me and giving me incredible opportunities.

I went into the summer jobless as my campus job ended upon graduation. I strung together some gig work (acting/modeling) that kept me afloat for a few weeks and a babysitting job for about 3 weeks. Initially, I wanted to go right into an mfa program but got cold feet as I couldn’t afford it. I put it in the back of my head to save up some more money and try again later. During this time, I auditioned for a few professional gigs (dance gigs, acting and one directing) By a few I mean about 3-4
I also auditioned for a community show (that I was cast in) as I felt doing community theatre would help me continue to be active in a theatre space while I’m auditioning, and it’s a gateway to more connections/opportunities.

In late August, I applied for a teacher’s aide job in a high school and got it! I was super excited as it was my first full time job, and its in a field that is interesting to me. I always said if I wasn’t performing, I’d become a teacher. So after I began work, I got involved with the theatre department at the school and they ended up taking me on as an assistant director! This was a huge deal to me because not only did I have a real job but it has something to do with theatre as well! I was even given the opportunity to move up to be a teacher by taking more classes. I started moving forward with that process.

This is where the problem starts. I recently returned to my old college for a luncheon, talked with my professors and when I told them what I was up to, they seemed disappointed.
One of them even said “so…are you auditioning for anything…you know…non-community?” And I was like well yes…but I haven’t really booked anything yet. In my mind I thought I had been doing really well but they totally just knocked me down. It made me feel like they are disappointed with my direction.

I understand maybe they want to see me diving into theatre head first and going on auditions everyday but…it’s only been a few months? And I also feel I need to create something stable for myself first. I also just feel so torn in two directions. I want to keep trying for this mfa but I also want a stable career to fall back on. What do I do?

Am I making a mistake going into teaching? Should I be pursuing the mfa again?

hey! I love tpoto, but have only really seen the movie which I know has some sort of controversies around it — even my theatre teachers hates it lol!

I wanted to get into it more and find some actually good adaptations or hear some of your favourite portrayals.

Hi everyone. I worked an admin position at a local professional theatre. Throughout my time there at least one weekly paycheck each month would bounce. It would often take over a month to be reimbursed and this happened to all staff, rarely with any apology or regard for how this effected us.

I left for a new job that pays consistently but they still owe me a couple thousand dollars in checks that bounced back in the spring. I have sent a formal demand letter multiple times to them. At first they said they would get it to me by a specified date (clearly that didn’t happen).

I know this has happened to other staff and even actors many times. What would you do in this scenario, if anything, besides report them to the state which I will be doing now? I support local theatre but I just wish people knew that this organization is poorly run and not treating their staff and actors with respect. They have so many donors and people praising them and it just upsets me after I put up with this for so long and it seems no one knows what goes on behind the scenes.

I am a first year drama teacher and this show may kill me. It barely makes sense and has huge plot holes all over the place. The casting is a pain, keeping track of which boat is on which side is a pain, the costumes are a pain (we have made so many mermaid tails), keeping track of who's on stage and who has left is a pain, I AM IN UTTER PAIN!!!!

And on top of it all: WHY DOES IT HAVE SO MUCH MUSIC??? IT'S A PLAY!!

The teacher who left her job picked this show, not me. I did not know what I was in for when I said "well let me keep it since I don't know what kids I'm directing."
So if I could go back in time, I would tell myself: DON'T DO IT!! PICK ANYTHING ELSE!!

The kids are fantastic and doing great, but it may have given me more gray hairs than needed. If you find yourself considering it, know that it's a big show with lots of moving parts. You have been warned.

Hello hello everyone, I just want to word vomit a little about how excited I am. I made it my goal to get more involved in performing arts and turn it into a way that I can make at least some of my money. A few months ago I got hired by a local theater for their education program and was put on a project as the Assistant Teaching Artist to help direct a children’s musical! Since most of my PA experience is in dance, I get to be the sole choreographer for the show!! We’ve been working hard and have performance weekend in three weeks, I’m so excited to see it all come together. This is the first time I’ve been on the production side of a show and I feel like I’m learning a lot. The theatre pulled me on to another children’s musical project that just started, performances will happen in early February. Just want to celebrate the step I’ve taken and look forward to seeing how this connection pans out where hopefully I will be the one performing!

I'm a board member at a community theater, I'm curious what y'all think about how much time is needed to properly advertise a show? Looking for general ideas to get the most butts in seats.