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Flexible Casting

7/17/2019

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PictureThe 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. 

PictureHenny 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.

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The Song Is Ended, But the Melody Lingers on

6/26/2019

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       How does that Irving Berlin/Ira Gershwin ballad go?  "The song is ended, but the melody lingers on..."  

       Sometimes the success of a show is measured by how long the melodies linger on.  Many of my Camp Participant's parents approach me even now  saying that they still hear their kids singing the tunes from the show around the house.  (It has been several weeks now since our performance.)  That is such a compliment.  Of course, I hope that my songs and their messages linger in the minds of the children.  That is the entire point of doing the show.  I hope that they will remember to Be Sincere and that Everybody Works AND that these things are GOOD!
       But I am floored that the most memorable song from Never Cry Wolf this summer has been the Little Lamb's dance.  My daughter's little 22 month old daughter Avery goes around singing "Baa, Baa, Baa" and doing the little dance moves almost nonstop daily.  Notice the very nice first position turnout in the feet, the preparatory plie', and the lovely arm position on the turn.  This girl is destined to be a ballerina!  She will surely become a triple threat  -- she can sing (of course, right now she specializes in one word songs as long as that word is "Baa"); she certainly can dance; and here in the household we have witnessed her tendencies towards being a drama queen!  To me, that definitely spells T-R-I-P-L-E  T-H-R-E-A-T!
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       When I wrote the first iteration of this show about 20 years ago now, I just needed a little song simple enough for three five-year-old girls to perform.  They had had no previous performing experience and were scared of their own shadows.  Until the moment of the performance, I could not be certain these three little girls would do anything that they had been taught.  But, they surprised us all and had the the audience giggling so much they nearly fell off their chairs.  There simply is no arguing with CUTE FACTOR.

     So, while I would prefer that "Set for Posterity" or "A View from the Highest Mountain" or "Tapestry of Life" would be the hit songs from the show, I am still pleased that "Baa Baa Baa" enjoys such longevity.  The Camp might have ended, but the Song lingers on...
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The Empty Pot

8/22/2018

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Sometimes you write a piece and it sits for a while and you wonder what you will do with it.  "The Empty Pot" was written in anticipation of using it for a school production.  Then, the opportunity fizzled.  Then later in the summer, it was produced by another community theater group and directed by a different group of directors.  So, I was not the director for it's premiere performance.  

It had been advertised as having flexible casting, but when I went to see it, I was really surprised that the main character was a girl -- not a boy.  Other than that substitution, the production was very well done.  I just had a hard time adjusting my mind to the concept of that very important character being performed by a girl.  I suppose it worked, but the lyrics were problematic.  I couldn't tell if they were having her play the character as male or not.  They did nothing to disguise her to look like a little boy.  If they had, I probably would have accepted it better.

The next summer, I had the chance to produce and direct "The Empty Pot" for my first time.  We had a very large cast of 45 children ages 5-14.  Some of the older kids were very talented, so, of course, they needed some more challenging material.  Obviously, I needed to add some expanded scenes, songs and new characters.  The new show also got a new title "A Successor to the Throne."  

Directing that production was a very satisfying!  It was all volunteer for a church summer theater camp.  So many talented parents came out of the woodwork willing to share their skills.  We had wonderful parent Group Leaders, Choreographers, Hair Dressers, Seamstresses, Photographers, Make-up Artists and the list goes on.  The children were great, too.  Even the young children did their best to learn the dances and every word to the songs!

So I guess, technically, I still have yet to direct "The Empty Pot."  But I have directed "A Successor to the Throne" multiple times.
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    Author

    My name is Betsy Bailey.  I have sung, written and taught music all of my life.  I enjoy writing and directing Children's Theater shows.  This blog will be directed to topics on creating the magic of Children's Theater.  I would love to hear your comments!

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