The Scene: April 20th, 2022
In today's email: How to Never Hide Again After Posting Your Cast List, and more
Also in today’s email:
Hot Topics: EdTA launches the Connected Arts Network and more
Teacher Feature: Madison Haugland Leal
The Broadway Beat: Mrs. Doubtfire reopens, Ragtime on vinyl, what is Paradise Square?, and more
Shows You Should Know: Five shows that allow for gender-flexible casts
Around the Globe: Stage snow, Game of Thrones: The Musical dream casting, and more
How to Never Hide Again After Posting Your Cast List
By Ritchie Jackson (he/him/his)
Niceville High School, Niceville, FL
I hate that so many teachers have to “hide” after they post a cast list. Here’s how I never have to worry about my cast list posting and why I never have angry students or parents contacting me:
Share your vision for your theatre program with your kids — all the time. Tell them how you want your program to be the very best it can be for them, and that includes the shows you produce. That you will never put a show up that isn’t its very best, and that you would never cast actors into roles that they are not perfect for.
Level with your students about desire versus ability. Explain to them that although you may love a role and want it REALLY badly, it doesn’t mean it’s a perfect fit for you. Know your niche and your strengths. CELEBRATE your niche and your strengths!
At auditions, tell kids to look around the room. Remind them how many people are hungry for a role, just like them. Tell them that if they are not awarded a principal role, they sure should be thrilled to get an ensemble role because many people in this room will leave without anything. Let that sink in for them.
Adopt a STRICT policy about refusing roles or dropping out of shows and DO NOT WAVER. On your audition forms, ask specifically, “Are you willing to accept any role?” and think twice about casting ANYONE who answers “No.” That is a diva problem waiting to happen.
PREACH about the importance of an ensemble — all year! Build up the importance of a good ensemble year-round and your kids will begin to change their thinking and stop seeing ensemble as a “less-than” role.
Start giving curtain speeches. Parents and future parents you interact with are in your audiences. Gush about your department and how much pride you take in it. Drive home your vision and dream of the program and share with them how you strive to produce top-notch entertainment that will make the community proud.
Post your cast list in reverse. List the ensemble first, then your supporting roles, then your principals. If a kid sees that they got an ensemble role, they can be joyous before they find out that they aren't the lead.
Ritchie Jackson teaches at Niceville High School in Niceville, Florida, and sponsors Florida Thespian Troupe 7457.
The Educational Theatre Association recently announced the Connected Arts Networks (CAN), a five-year project designed to engage theatre educators in nationwide virtual professional learning communities (PLCs) while offering rich professional development opportunities around their practice. Apply here.
Disney’s Newsies JR. is now available for licensing! Find it here.
Celebrate theatre teachers everywhere! Each week, The Scene spotlights one outstanding educator and shares their best advice to fellow teachers.
Madison Haugland Leal (she/her/hers)
Redlands Christian Schools (Redlands, California)
Number of years teaching: 1 year
“Never undervalue your impact on your students as human beings, not just as artists. Of course as educators we want to make sure our students walk away with concrete principles and skills which will help them have an artistic life. But what remains even more impactful is our opportunity to instill in them that they are enough, that they are loved, and that telling stories can bind together and heal broken communities. Our unique position as theatre teachers gives us access to a more vulnerable side of our students while also encouraging them to be culture-makers! It is days when I lose sight of that that the numerous tasks can all feel overwhelming. We must honor this role of theatre teacher by empowering our students in their confidence to create because it just might change their neighborhood, their city, and our world!”
Now available on limited-edition vinyl: The Ragtime OBC Recording.
Video: Antonio Banderas and Laura Benanti Sing “What I Did for Love” in Spanish
Get to know Mrs. Doubtfire’s five new cast members for its recent Broadway re-opening.
What is Paradise Square? In this new musical, the love between Black and Irish New Yorkers in a Manhattan bar is threatened by Civil War riots.
See the cast of SIX perform with the students of Q252 at a recent Save the Music Foundation event.
Suffs review: Read more about Shaina Taub’s new musical at the Public Theater, which tells the story of the women’s suffrage movement in the years leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment.
Don’t know which students will turn out for auditions but need to find a show they are excited about? Here are 5 musicals that allow for gender-flexible casts, ensuring that, no matter who shows up, you will have parts for everyone.
On This Day In Theatre: Sister Act starring Patina Miller opened at the Broadway Theatre in 2011.
Production Tip: Want to make it snow on stage? Here’s how.
Dream Casting Corner: Who would star in Game of Thrones: The Musical?
Theaters Around the World: Gaze out into the English Channel at the Minack Theatre, an open-air venue carved into a Cornish clifftop.