backstage.com: This year’s new crop of child-centered musicals place particularly heavy demands on the little talents who take center stage. Their parts are tremendous, featuring numerous musical numbers, dance routines, comedic scenes, and dramatic arcs. That can be a tall order for young actors, and a great feat for the casting directors who have to choose from thousands of young hopefuls.
9 comments:
The thing that interests me about children "taking center stage" in Broadway musicals is the fact that the producers of a multi-million dollar musical would trust a child to star as the lead. Such roles as Annie and Matilda are the show-stopping parts that are what bring the audiences to the theatre. It surprises me that producers, who tend to ONLY want shows that they know will succeed, will trust in young children to drive their show. It's actually really exciting and interesting to see this happening!
I'm glad to see that this year's Broadway crop includes children. Although I agree with Nathan in that producers take great risks in investing their time and money in young and less experienced actors, I also think that children can be a great addition the theatre. Very often, children are seen only in the audience, enjoying the magic of theatre. When children are put on stage in a setting such as Broadway, it has the power to create spectacle for the audience members, both children and adults alike. I cannot help but wonder how much the rigorous and intense atmosphere of Broadway effects such young actors. Personally, one of my close friends was fortunate enough to perform on Broadway during his childhood, and although he says that it was one of the busiest and scariest times of his life, he also says that it was by far the best. I'm glad that other supremely talented children will have the opportunity to experience Broadway this year, and hope that their experience is rewarding for both them and the audience members who will share in their magic.
Just the other day, our class was discussing something that relates to child stars. We were saying that it is very rare that you would find an actor or actress playing in a role that kept them at their current age. With child actors, there is no way to avoid that because what plays a better child than a literal child. It is incredible to see how much talent is in a person as young as 7 or 8. I do appreciate the idea of a casting director who looks for a child that is “real” and not a done up little kid that their parents clearly made up. Not only is that more realistic, but it doesn’t put the child in an identity crisis and doesn’t pressure them immediately to change the way they naturally look. Magazines and TV does that for us already, we don’t need the extra push from the casting director as well. I’m glad to see that a lot of kids get the opportunity to be on the bigger Broadway stages. It is going to be something that really pops on their resume in the future and really places them in the heart of theater where everything is amplified. I think it is the proper world for a kid because I feel that kids can handle the hectic craze with more poise and less panic than sometimes an adult would.
It's a delicate balance to try to be well-rounded and rugged but professional at the same time. I find it more and more unrealistic for casting directors to find themselves in an ideal situation of finding some random person that looks the part and just so happens to have an incredible voice and dance abilities. But then again, more and more unexpectedly talented people show up and rise to the occasion. That makes me wonder how well CMU's well-trained actors are going to fare once they graduate.
Many people (myself included) like to moan and groan about how Broadway producers are playing it safe, and theatres across the country are failing because they don't take enough risks. But isn't it an old saying that the two things you should never work with are child actors and animals? And Annie has both! Even though Annie might have the name recognition that makes box office sales safer, the mechanics of running the production are far from safe. I guess there's a difference between a safe box office and a safe production process. I guess we're still trying to find a show that is safe in both respects.
Beyond those issues of responsibility, trust and nontraditional casting, the casting of a child (or, in Billy Elliott's or Matilda's case, large casts of children) involves another layer of infrastructure in order to manage the kids. A young child can't play 8 shows a week, so shows like Billy have set up a rotating cast to allow the kids not to get tired out, and also to allow for schooling and illness. A child wrangler or wrangling staff must be brought on to specifically manage the kids while working, and their parents or guardians must be backstage during the young actor's call, according to AEA. That topic of school is a big issue, as kids have a requisite education requirement which eats up a lot of free time and can impact the child's rehearsal schedule during the day. Producers and managers for shows with children starring have a set of concerns and considerations which go above and beyond satisfying the requirements for a normal AEA 8-shows-a-week actor.
It is always so impressive to see young kids acting side by side with adults, maintaining a level expected from a professional show. They bring something to the stage, a sentiment, an honesty, that mature actors just can't re-create. I don't know however if I agree that a Broadway show is the best place for a kid to be; while I can see all the advantages to it, there are also many negative ways it could affect children and their development.
Hello to the next step of the YouTube phenomenon! I cannot believe that casting children begins with an online video submission! People auditioning for shows and reality tv through online submissions is nothing new, but putting children through an online "first date" audition is a whole new level of stage mother or stage father low. In person someone can get a sense of how a child feels about being in a show or performing in front of a crowd, but looking to videos you eliminate the human aspect of an audition, which is critical when working with children. So tisk tisk to Broadway casting agents and tisk tisk tisk to the parents who audition their children online.
I love to see the talent in children utilized in large productions. We usually oversee the talent of those younger than us and it's good to see producers taking a risk to work with young actors and proving that anyone can have talent. I can't wait to see the reviews from the shows to see how they turn out. I can't wait to see how the young actor works with others in the business and how they respond to the world of theatre instead of dealing with normal local children theatre companies.
Post a Comment