The Bluebirds Trio Probably the most intimidating part of writing a new show or mounting a production is choosing the CAST. Many of the children who sign up to do a Children's Theater Show (ages 5-12) have never been in a show before. They don't even know what they can do. When writing a show for kids to perform, the author must take that fact into account. And as a director, you have to use your best intuition to look for talents that may not have surfaced yet. Sometimes, the casting choices are very obvious from the selection available. Other times, the talent pool that shows up may not provide the best options to satisfy all of the roles. So you do the best you can and hope things will work out. Creating or choosing a show that has FLEXIBLE CASTING is so important! That ensures there are built-in adaptations possible.
In Children's Theater, there are usually at least five girls who sign up for every boy who comes out for the play. And yet, I have noticed that a great majority of the stories feature a boy as the lead character. And most of the stories that the young girls like feature a princess who becomes a love interest to a youth who is out on a quest. In reality though, the young boys HATE being cast in a "love" story. They prefer battle scenes and comic situations, while the girls love to dance and wear pretty costumes. So, when designing a new production, the author must keep these things in mind. If you want to attract boys to your cast, you better NOT do a "love" story. And if you want girls to be in the show, you better have a lot of dancing and colorful costumes.
Another problem that comes about in Children's Theater is that the kids like what they know. They are very distrusting of anything else. So they will get excited about titles of shows they have seen or heard of before. With the availability of so many movies that have been made into Children's Theater shows, kids assume that the stage play will be the same as the movie. But a junior stage production cannot be like the animated movie. In a community production with a limited budget, characters cannot fly or swim, fight with real weapons on horseback through an avalanche, ride in a parade of dinosaurs, disappear in a puff of smoke or pixie dust, or many other magical effects that can only happen in animation or computer generated film making. And even if the show has the same songs, they usually have to be shortened and modified to fit the ranges of young children. (At least, they really should be!) So, kids tend to be disillusioned when they are cast in a production that they think they know, but then everything is very different.
In Children's Theater, there are usually at least five girls who sign up for every boy who comes out for the play. And yet, I have noticed that a great majority of the stories feature a boy as the lead character. And most of the stories that the young girls like feature a princess who becomes a love interest to a youth who is out on a quest. In reality though, the young boys HATE being cast in a "love" story. They prefer battle scenes and comic situations, while the girls love to dance and wear pretty costumes. So, when designing a new production, the author must keep these things in mind. If you want to attract boys to your cast, you better NOT do a "love" story. And if you want girls to be in the show, you better have a lot of dancing and colorful costumes.
Another problem that comes about in Children's Theater is that the kids like what they know. They are very distrusting of anything else. So they will get excited about titles of shows they have seen or heard of before. With the availability of so many movies that have been made into Children's Theater shows, kids assume that the stage play will be the same as the movie. But a junior stage production cannot be like the animated movie. In a community production with a limited budget, characters cannot fly or swim, fight with real weapons on horseback through an avalanche, ride in a parade of dinosaurs, disappear in a puff of smoke or pixie dust, or many other magical effects that can only happen in animation or computer generated film making. And even if the show has the same songs, they usually have to be shortened and modified to fit the ranges of young children. (At least, they really should be!) So, kids tend to be disillusioned when they are cast in a production that they think they know, but then everything is very different.
Henny Penny, Chicken Licken, Sister Chicks, and Mister Rooster In my own writing, I have had the most success with stories that are adapted from famous sources (Aesop or 1001 Arabian Nights), or folktales that have been retold in many ways. Since these stories have been presented in so many different and existing iterations, one more version must seem perfectly acceptable. One possible exception was my telling of "The Tale of Chicken Licken." Some of the kids thought they were auditioning to do a stage play of the Disney animated version of "Chicken Little." At first disappointed, once they got acquainted with this new production, they were fine and really enjoyed themselves.
Looking to create or produce shows that have opportunities for FLEXIBLE CASTING is the KEY to your success. (This means that the lead characters could be played by either a male or a female.) There should be enough featured characters to make it seem that every role is equal and very important. Action, comedy, dancing, colorful costumes, and NO LOVE story are also very important. The songs should be short and in vocal ranges suitable for young voices. And, the entire production should stay under 60 minutes from start to finish.
Looking to create or produce shows that have opportunities for FLEXIBLE CASTING is the KEY to your success. (This means that the lead characters could be played by either a male or a female.) There should be enough featured characters to make it seem that every role is equal and very important. Action, comedy, dancing, colorful costumes, and NO LOVE story are also very important. The songs should be short and in vocal ranges suitable for young voices. And, the entire production should stay under 60 minutes from start to finish.
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