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Monday, September 06, 2021
Who Casts Broadway Shows? And More Casting Questions Answered!
www.broadwayworld.com: At any point in time, up to 41 companies of talented actors, singers, and dancers can be occupying a Broadway stage. How are they chosen as the elite few to take a Broadway bow...? It's all in the hands of casting directors.
3 comments:
Louise Cutter
said...
Casting Directing has always been an elusive job to me. I know little to nothing about it, what it does, who prominent casting directors are, how you become a casting directing, and etc. Over the past year, I have come to appreciate good casting. A couple months ago, I read an interesting article on the transphobia behind the current way casting is done. Casting calls are split up in two ways, men and women. For nonbinary actors, they are forced to choose a group to identify with, invalidating their gender identity. In general, I have noticed that casting calls masquerade as being inclusive, being open to all races, sexualities, sizes, disabilities, and etc. However, when you look at the diversity of performers onstage, you will see a predominately white, cisgender, skinny, abled bodied, and neurotypical cast.
Although I am not a performer, I find the casting process extremely interesting. Before reading this article, I had heard the word “casting director” before, but I never really knew what the job entailed. I would love to learn more about what stages a casting director and the production team they are working with go through to decide who is the best candidate for the job. Now, I guess this can apply to other job application processes as well, but the theatre industry isn’t just looking at your resume and how well you did in the interview. I often wonder what my interviewers were thinking for my college interviews for stage management because, to my understanding, it isn’t just about the job position, but the place in which you will be implementing that job. You cannot just be a good fit for the role, but a good fit for that show’s company and what they stand for.
I have always thought the casts are chosen by the directors of each show. From this article, I understand now that casting directors also play an important role in deciding who gets to be on stage. I guess as a casting actor, you’re not just looking for performers that best fit the script (although this is probably the key factor), you’re also searching for potential and talent. I think as Louise has pointed out, the biggest problem with casting in theatre is that there’s still a lot of diversity missing. Although casting agencies welcome people from all backgrounds to apply, the ones who finally end up on stage are still not the ones from marginalized groups. Obviously the casting directors may have selected certain performers for various reasons, but I hope it’s not because of bias towards marginalised groups. I believe playwrights should also actively include more P.O.C characters, so that performers who are P.O.C can have significantly more chances to be casted.
3 comments:
Casting Directing has always been an elusive job to me. I know little to nothing about it, what it does, who prominent casting directors are, how you become a casting directing, and etc. Over the past year, I have come to appreciate good casting. A couple months ago, I read an interesting article on the transphobia behind the current way casting is done. Casting calls are split up in two ways, men and women. For nonbinary actors, they are forced to choose a group to identify with, invalidating their gender identity. In general, I have noticed that casting calls masquerade as being inclusive, being open to all races, sexualities, sizes, disabilities, and etc. However, when you look at the diversity of performers onstage, you will see a predominately white, cisgender, skinny, abled bodied, and neurotypical cast.
Although I am not a performer, I find the casting process extremely interesting. Before reading this article, I had heard the word “casting director” before, but I never really knew what the job entailed. I would love to learn more about what stages a casting director and the production team they are working with go through to decide who is the best candidate for the job. Now, I guess this can apply to other job application processes as well, but the theatre industry isn’t just looking at your resume and how well you did in the interview. I often wonder what my interviewers were thinking for my college interviews for stage management because, to my understanding, it isn’t just about the job position, but the place in which you will be implementing that job. You cannot just be a good fit for the role, but a good fit for that show’s company and what they stand for.
I have always thought the casts are chosen by the directors of each show. From this article, I understand now that casting directors also play an important role in deciding who gets to be on stage. I guess as a casting actor, you’re not just looking for performers that best fit the script (although this is probably the key factor), you’re also searching for potential and talent. I think as Louise has pointed out, the biggest problem with casting in theatre is that there’s still a lot of diversity missing. Although casting agencies welcome people from all backgrounds to apply, the ones who finally end up on stage are still not the ones from marginalized groups. Obviously the casting directors may have selected certain performers for various reasons, but I hope it’s not because of bias towards marginalised groups. I believe playwrights should also actively include more P.O.C characters, so that performers who are P.O.C can have significantly more chances to be casted.
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