Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Laurel Highlands High School has a new director for the upcoming production of 'Grease.'
Mark Santore is leading this year's show, bringing a new structure to the student cast while aiming to keep rehearsals light-hearted and entertaining."
10 comments:
I think this director is very wise to give such structure to each participant of the show, especially when there is a cast of over 60. In so many cases like this, people spend a whole day doing absolutely nothing. I admire him for thinking of everybody involved and keeping them productive.
I will agree with Peter that I'm glad that the director is structured, but I think the way he talked about double-casting is a little weird. Although double-casting does allow more people to be involved, it can also hurt the overall performance more than it helps.
I agree with the director's ideas and approaches to high school theatre, in that it is all about exposure and the individual experience. By double casting he is allowing more and more students to become involved with theatrical productions. I also likes how he talked about generating specifics for each student, because that is what they need to have the individualized experience that is so important.
Generally I'm not a fan of double casting, I think it detracts from what each actor gets from the experience. However at a young age just getting the exposure to theatre as an option is really important. it is an opportunity that everyone should be lucky enough to have.
After going through a high school experience with double (and potentially even triple) casting, I absolutely feel that in a high school with almost 100 people involved in the musicals, double casting is a really good idea. It allows for more students to get their opportunity to shine, which is a really important thing in high school. It also prevents the necessity of understudies, which are something that are difficult to do in high school theatre. Making a high school student learn a role and then never perform it is not exactly the best thing to do to them.
The idea of doing double casting in a high school show is a good idea. For the fact that in high school the school has limited number of shows per year meaning that in the end very few students get a chance to experience theatre and to feel what it's like in the spotlight. Although in the end it does take more time to double cast with the practice hours along with other things in the end it works for everyone. But I think that double casting only works in certain situations and environments. If there it is an environment that the people are not comfortable with or with each then it will not work.
I can't imagine the diligence this director must have to make rehearsal so individual for each member of such a large cast, but I think it is great for each member to be of such value. Double casting may not be a great idea in a more professional environment, but in a purely educational setting I think it really only benefits the actors.
Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Music ed majors directing. No good ever comes from this! I ended up going to anger management because of a music teachers thinking they knew how theatre works. They also alway find the kids that have never done a show before and are way too excited about theatre to interview. It's also Laurel Highlands, if the show is like the colleges work, I'm not going. 60 People!! This is another think I can't stand. "lets get half the school to be in the show by making the cast twice as big as it ever should be. You just can't fit that many people onto stage without problems. Double casting wont work. It's impossible enough to get a single cast to learn lines and blocking, let alone a second cast. AHHHHhhhhhhhh.
Double casting does work, but what doesn't is double casting just so that more kids can get involved. Yes it's a happy loving environment where we can skip in the daisies, but man it can present issues. I worked a show that was only supposed to have 8 people and the director ended up casting 40. That was fun...especially when the boss said he couldn't cast more than 30. What I found most interesting, was the comment, "I didn't think this would be too dance intensive..."
And... this is only possible in high schools where we don't have to pay the actors. It's like wasting paper clips in your office, just because you can, not because they are all necessary and needed. I hate these artistic choices that are so overrated and unnecessary.
Post a Comment