Dear Parents,
Our first week has been busy and filled with auditions! I was so impressed by the professionalism and warmth of your children! They all made a point to support and applaud each other, and it is this spirit of camaraderie and community that is so important in theater!
Casting is my LEAST favorite part of every show. It doesn't matter if I'm working with children or working with professionals, every time I cast a show I lose sleep and spend hours fretting over the fact that I have to disappoint hopeful people. Please remember that casting is not a measure of talent. There are many factors that go into casting decisions, and most of them have nothing to do with the LEVEL of talent of the actor. A performer can be absolutely brilliant and not be right for a particular role. Mel Gibson, for example, would make a very crummy Othello. A beautiful soprano will not get cast in an alto role, despite the fact that she might sing beautifully. An awesome tap dancer will not get cast in a role that requires ballet, despite the fact that they might be the best tapper on the planet.
Each child that I saw audition this week has talent. My casting decisions were made based on the specific needs of this particular show, the combination of actors onstage, and the specific strengths of your children. NOBODY should be disappointed. I considered all your children to be successes!
One more note on casting:
We put your multi-talented kids where we needed them most! For example, this show depends heavily on strong dancers. If you child is a brilliant singer AND is a strong dancer, I may have cast her or him in a heavy dance role instead of a heavy singing role, just because we need her or his strength! Likewise with acting, singing, and general adorableness.
On to other matters (phew):
We have extended to deadline for program messages to next Friday, due to a dearth of submissions. This is a neat way to send a special and public 'congratulations' to your child!
We invite parents who own businesses to consider advertising in our program. Purchasing ad space is tax deductible, and it helps us defray the cost of printing the program.
The deadline for children to sign up to be in the parade is Monday at pick-up. All children in the parade should bring a bell to ring, if they can (a bell is not necessary for participation. If you don't have a bell, don't worry about it). The bell is our clever (sneaky) way of meeting the parade's requirement that our float match the parade's theme. The parade's theme is "Let Freedom Ring". We will 'ring' the bells to help support our float's theme of "'Ding Dong' the Witch is Dead". A stretch, I know, but we hope the parade committee will be indulgent!!
Warmly,
Heather Elise Hamilton