I think I have nowhere near MistressAndy's experience, but here a few of my thoughts.
1) Boys. There is usually a lack of boys. Generally, I have had ample numbers of girls try out for shows, sometimes just a few boys. Thus, nearly every boy gets cast, and I have to cut girls. I try to pick shows where small and ensemble parts can be played by girls. 1776 is a near impossibility.
2) I will generally have a few show "meetings" before auditions (or even announcing the show), to hear the group of kids sing & dance, so I get a gist of what I'm working with. Usually, I will have it narrowed down to 3 or 4 shows before the meeting, and then I will pick and announce the show when I see that, for example, we have a lot of kids who can dance. Then I conduct auditions.
3) I have worked with several schools that had very few minority students, which led me away from doing "South Pacific" on one occasion.
4) In terms of subject matter, I would never choose something like "Cabaret" for a school to do. Not that it is too mature for the high school kids, but that because a good chunk of the audience for school shows is even younger kids. For the record, I love "Cabaret" and have taken high school kids to see it. I just don't want to open any cans of worms when their 9 year old siblings are asking their parents about Nazis, drugs, bisexuality and abortion.
5) I try to pick shows that have an element in either history or literature that I can open kids up to. I recommend "further reading" to the kids, and will discuss books with them, both individually and as a group. I've discussed Grimm's Fairy Tales with kids while doing "Into the Woods" and Sholem Aleichem while doing "Fiddler."
Mostly, I try to remember through the whole process what a high school show is to the kids: bonding time with other kids, learning about the show and theatre in general, and a time for them to come out of their shell and feel comfortable being creative and fun. I don't care if the show is great art (although I try to make it good), or if anyone pursues a career in show biz. I want them to look back, as I do, on their high school show as a time of opening their eyes and hearts. High school shows were hands down my favorite thing in school. |
