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Audition Notices (Read 993 times)

Reply #20 - Apr 29^th, 2010 at 3:42pm

kitchensinger Offline
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in my kitchen

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spiker wrote on Apr 29^th, 2010 at 1:15pm:

Silent Knight wrote on Apr 29^th, 2010 at 1:05pm:

gem2477 wrote on Apr 29^th, 2010 at 12:04pm:

kitchensinger wrote on Apr 29^th, 2010 at 10:26am:

My 2 cents about audition notices and whether/not to announce a precast role:

If a director already has a certain actor "in mind" for the role, but sees someone else who is qualified and fits the role at the first audition.� He/she gives her a callback for the same role.� No need to post "precast role" here because the director is giving the other actors a fair shot.

If, however, under the same circumstances the director chooses NOT to callback the other actor for the same role because he/she thinks in the back of her mind that the role "is already filled" or that he doesn't want the precast actor to have the competition at callbacks...then that role is technically precast and should have been disclosed in the audition announcement.

Totally agree. There is a difference between having someone in the back of your mind that you want to fill the part and precasting - but if you don't give anyone else a chance, it is.

But what if this actor played the part so perfectly at the first audition that the director made up his/her mind then and therefore did not call back anyone else? That would not be pre-casting.

My big question is, can anybody to a concrete situation where they know something like this has happened? and I'm not talking about circumstantial evidence like "they always cast this person" or "I think there were people who auditioned who were just as good."

Just because a decision is typical or easy to foresee does not mean it was made in advance.

Or what if the director did call people back for a role that they had someone in mind for, but wanted to see if there was anybody else that they liked better, just in case--you know, wanted to give other people the benefit of the doubt.� And then, didn't see anybody they liked better and went ahead and cast the person they had in mind all along.� People may perceive it as precasting, but it's not.

Precasting is often in the eye of the beholder.

And to be on topic: I don't think anyone should have to say on an audition notice: I already have someone in mind for Role X, so if you're interested in that role, you better bring your A game.� On second thought, maybe people should start saying that.

I wouldn't consider it precasting if a director had an actor in mind, called back others for the same role, and still cast the original actor.� But as I mentioned in my original post, I would consider it precasting if talent was shut-out at the first audition to reserve the role for "the actor in mind."� When people invest time and energy into a first audition with the understanding that all roles are open, they need to have a fair shot at a callback.� I really appreciate the honesty of theatres who are upfront about their intentions with precasted parts; especially given the fact that they know less talent will turn out to auditions since the precasted role isn't available.�

And to answer your question, Dark Knight:� Unfortunately I have seen evidence of precasting.� I've heard it from the mouth of a director.� And even more alarming was that fact that I was the only one who seemed disturbed that the precasted role wasn't posted.� I suppose the director felt comfortable enough to announce at callbacks that this certain role had been precast because *drumroll* there was no one at callbacks for that role because they had all been shut-out at the first audition.�

"I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm."--Calvin Coolidge&&&&"Some families go water skiing together; others go camping.....our family does THEME PARTIES." --my brother Ben

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Reply #21 - Apr 29^th, 2010 at 5:04pm

Silent Knight Offline
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www.maniccity.tv
Manic City

Posts: 1793

Kitchensinger, did he use the term pre-cast, and say he wanted to avoid competition? if so, i agree that's not a good way to go. But again, if he decided at the first audition that actor was exactly what he wanted, I think calling nobody else back and making an announcment at callbacks is EXACTLY the right thing to do (to do otherwise would be dishonest and unfair to those called back). I certainly am inclined to take what you have to say seriously, but, it's kind of hard for me to judge without knowing his exact words, I guess.

In late 2001 I auditioned for a show where the lead role ended up being played by a good fiend who had not auditioned. It was announced at callbacks that he was being considered, even though he couldn't be there. Having attended that callback, I think they made a good choice. Said friend is, in my opinion, better than almost any other Utah actor at driving a farce (which this play was), and, frankly, not one person at that callback read well for the lead role (even with a great cast the show managed to crash and burn, artistically and financially, because of an awful script, but I digress). But I'm quite sure most of them complained about unfair "pre-casting".

http://www.maniccity.tv/

"The power is not in the mask. It's in whether we chose to wear it."
-Peter Blustrinsky

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Reply #22 - Apr 30^th, 2010 at 11:59pm

Rosie Poppins Offline
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Still I'm incandescent
Salt Lake City

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OK, kids, we've all covered this before.

Do a search for pre-casting on the site, you'll get a bahjillion opinions and most of them can be summed in the following dialog

Actor: Don't pre-cast
Director: Unless absolutely necessary
Actor: Just tell us so we don't waste our time at auditions.
Director: Fair enough.

The 'Actor' from this dialog now can now focus on improving his stage skills instead of trying to get inside the Director's head.
The Director knows to just announce a pre-cast role, and if she doesn't, she can go to the special hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

I deleted some posts as they were just repetitive. If you start a new topic about pre-casting, please ensure you have something new to say.

Thank you,
Your Moderator� Kiss

Back to the thread about audition notices...

Let me make one thing quite clear: I never explain anything.

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Reply #23 - May 1^st, 2010 at 11:05am

Silent Knight Offline
All Access
www.maniccity.tv
Manic City

Posts: 1793

Furthering the discussion of audition notices, if a stipend is offered, do you want to see the ammount posted? I would like that. For me, there is an enormous difference between even $10 dollars per show and $20 dollars per show.

http://www.maniccity.tv/

"The power is not in the mask. It's in whether we chose to wear it."
-Peter Blustrinsky

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