Once all the auditions and call-backs have been completed, the PGT artistic staff gets together for a long and arduous casting session. From a pool of 75-110 young actors, we cast our season of 3 or 4 productions. Here is some insight into our casting process:

Advice to Students

Casting is a tricky thing. When shows are cast, the directors and producers have a zillion things they have to take into consideration. When we cast at PGT, we are looking for good auditions, talent, directability, attitude, focus, acting technique, projection, choice of material, choices within the material, audition technique, and a willingness to try. We try to challenge each actor. We work to give each actor and each cast a good experience, in the rehearsal process and in performance. We look at group dynamics. We look at age and gender groupings. We try to cast so that the actors are in a group with friends but are also stimulated by meeting new people. Mostly, however, we cast to serve each show. As a theatre company, we are bound to serve the performance pieces so that they succeed as good theatre, as well as providing each actor with a successful experience within the show. As a theatre company dedicated to children and teens, we are also restricted by the realities of each child’s school, family and other activity commitments – your schedule plays a big part in how the season is ultimately cast. You may not like it, we may not like it, but it is the reality of doing theatre with kids.

In a sense, casting is like putting together a giant puzzle. The actors who audition are the puzzle pieces. Our challenge is to move the puzzle pieces around until we fulfill the big picture and complete the puzzle to the best of our ability, satisfying all of our requirements for each show. It’s not an easy task when you consider there are so many puzzle pieces to place! Faced with such a challenge, it becomes clear how important the audition is. The audition process can be a scary, nerve-wracking, arduous experience, but it is essential as it is only through auditions that we can meet new talent and see how returning actors have grown within the work, giving us an idea of how to begin to place them within a show. Knowing this, It is our hope that our young actors take the audition process seriously enough to come well prepared. We know auditioning isn’t easy.

For every role, there are at least, AT LEAST, 3 wonderful choices, and in most cases, many more—all of which would be great versions of these shows. Of course, this is why we can go to the theatre and see different casts do the same show many times. So many details to consider. So much talent. So many options. Believe me, we move those puzzle pieces around fervently. There is much debate. A lot of matching and moving and thinking and rethinking - trying out various combinations of people for the different casts. It is a long night filled with many possible endings.

What happens when there is more than just one “best one”? What do you do when one actor may be “just right” for more than one role? What do you do when that is the case for many of the roles? We want everyone to be happy. Of course, this is not always the case. We realize that. We are actors, too. We have all been cast in smaller roles than we would have liked. We have all felt crushed when casting announcements were made. But we have also gone through the process of learning that there is much joy to be found, even in the smallest of roles. Though a character may only have two lines, the playwright wrote those two lines for that character for a reason—not just because—but because those two lines were important for that character to say in order to further the idea of the play. It really isn’t how big your part is—it’s what you do with the part you have in order to best serve the play. “There are no small parts, only small actors.” It’s true. You might be absolutely right for a certain part, you may want it more than you’ve ever wanted anything, you may even be sure you are going to get it – your friends may tell you that you are definitely going to get it – and then the part might just go to someone else. And that’s how it goes in casting. As an actor, you must be able to handle those disappointments graciously and to learn to put your disappointment aside when it comes time to begin rehearsals.

At PGT, we have an additional factor which we consider when casting, and that is each child’s journey with us throughout the years. We do not cast each season as if it is our first, or an isolated experience – we cast knowing that each child will sometimes get the role of their dreams, and sometimes not…..each child will sometimes play leading roles and each child will sometimes be cast in the ensemble….each child will, over their years with us, get casting phone calls that make them jump in the air and scream with excitement, as well as casting phone calls that make them feel disappointed, even devastated. It is our hope that, in each child’s journey, those experiences balance one another, for all of those are part of the life of an actor, and the reality of auditioning.

So, to all of the actors, thank you for having the courage to audition. Thank you for wanting to be a part of the theatre and the PGT family. Thank you for all being so right for so many roles in these shows. And thank you for making such an amazing puzzle of a PGT season. The overall picture is beautiful, intriguing, interesting, colorful, new, inspiring. We are all excited to bring the picture to life!

Now we challenge you to breathe and talk and walk and sing and dance for these characters in ways that have never been tried. We offer you these parts...now we wonder, what will you do with them ...

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Advice to Parents About Casting Day

If you read the information above, you know that casting isn’t an easy process. Our goal is to place a large number of students into a smaller number of roles, serve the integrity of all the shows and make everyone happy. We hope this letter helps to give you some context for the phone call you will receive from us regarding casting, as well as some guidance on how to support your child as we head into rehearsals.

When we cast the shows we are looking at the following:

• Numbers. Do we have the right number of actors to fill each show?
• Skills. Who can play these parts? Who has the range to sing it well? Who has the emotional depth – or the comedic timing? Who has the physical qualities that are needed for each part? Who is right for which part?
• Age. Is there an age the role must be—young or old. Can we cast against that stipulation or do we need to adhere to it? Age. Different shows require different ages. Older does not mean a better actor. Some of the younger students here are working at the same skill level as our oldest students. We expect all ages to learn from each other if they are cast in a show with a mixed age group. Some shows are not appropriate for younger kids, in which case they won’t be cast in them.
• Gender. Is there a gender requirement – does the role need to be played by a boy or a girl? Can we mix it up and have a girl play a role that is written for and traditionally played by a male actor? (We do this a lot!) Or have a boy play a role that is written for a traditionally played by a female actor (We have done this too!)
• Who needs to be challenged in a specific way and what challenge is each actor ready for in this moment. Some actors may play two leads in a row. Some actors may often be in the ensemble. We must do what’s best for each individual actor, as well as what is best for the play as a whole. An actor may wish for a bigger role but if the requirements of that role are going to present challenges that the actor, at this point in her process, is not ready to tackle – on a stage, in front of an audience – we will find a role that will challenge, but not defeat that actor. It is our job in casting to always stretch our kids as far as we can - to challenge them as much as we can - without ever crossing the line into casting them in a role in which they will not be successful.
• The ensemble. Do these actors fit together—will they all work well together and will they sound or look right together.
• Type of show. Has an actor been primarily only one type of show – a musical, a large cast, a comedy – and do they need to have the experience of another type?
• Schedules. The schedules of the shows (when they are performed and when they rehearse) and your schedules play a HUGE part in casting. Often, we may want an actor for a part in one show, but he can only rehearse on the nights of another show, thus taking him out of the running for the bigger role.

When we cast a show, we do NOT pay heed to the following:

• “My child has paid her dues…” If a child is participating in the program, we assume that she is doing her best, working to hone her creative skills so that she will grow as an artist and best serve the play in which she is appearing. They have all paid their dues.
• “My child is graduating, so he/she deserves a lead role.” This is definitely possible. He may deserve one and he may get one. It would depend on the shows being cast and how he fits in. There are no guarantees.
• “My best friend is in a different show” or “I don’t have any friends in that show!” Make them. This is the safest place to make new friends and to develop lasting relationships. Open up to new people and experiences.
• “So-and-So always gets good parts. That’s not fair.” Actors get cast in the roles that will challenge them and in the roles we feel they can accomplish well, to best serve the play. Actors who come in with good, prepared auditions often get cast in good roles. Actors who are work on their acting/dancing/singing skills and striving toward a higher level of artistry may also find themselves in good roles. However, actors who audition well also get cast in the ensemble every single season. Good actors/dancers/singers get cast in the ensemble every single season. There simply aren’t enough “big” parts for those who deserve them. That is the reality of the theatre. The lesson here is: Work for what you want, but you might not always get what you want. Life is not always fair. Make lemonade out of lemons and maybe you’ll find you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
• “The shows that are produced in the bigger theatres, or the shows that have the longer rehearsal process must be the better, more-desirable-to-be-in shows.” This is untrue. We try to choose a well-rounded season of different types of shows that will be interesting individually and as a whole for all involved. They are all important. They are all worth while. Some shows do get more performances than others. This depends on theatre space schedules, cast size, and marketability of the show title. It is our hope that PGT students will continue to broaden their own concept of what makes good theatre, and open their minds to appreciating the different processes that each show allows them to explore.

What to tell your children when they are upset because they didn’t get cast in the role they wanted:

• Talk about what is good about how they were cast…a new challenge, a great director, friends in the cast. Find the “known” positive aspects of the casting and focus on those—the “unknown” positives will reveal themselves throughout the process.
• Discuss some of the information from above—and about the fact that there are many talented actors and fewer great roles. We would love to cast everyone in the roles they want—we really do want every child to be happy—but it just isn’t always possible. The trick is to make each experience an adventure and to find what there is to be learned from each role and each show.
• Remind them that just because they may not have gotten the role they wanted does not mean they weren’t great or right for the role. There are many ways to cast every part…keep in mind that we are casting a whole season of shows that need to succeed with good casting. Holding onto that artistic integrity throughout all of the shows influences the casting.
• Point out that their busy schedules also affect casting. You must be able to rehearse the show, and to be in it.
• Emphasize that we look out for all the actors, no matter how big or small their role may be. Just because they don’t have lines does not mean they won’t have plenty to do or that they won’t have a great time during the process. We truly try to feature everyone in the result, but it is the process that is most important.
• Speak with them about how they felt their auditions went. Talk about possibly preparing better or taking more creative risks the next time. Make sure they also think about what they did well at their audition – about what went well! Remind them that auditioning is a skill, and actors get better at it each time they do it!

Our mission at PGT reaches beyond just putting up shows or creating good actors. We hope that the actors come away having a greater sense of themselves, buoyed by a healthy self-esteem. We hope they feel comfortable expressing themselves, and trust that their ideas are important and worthy of being heard. We hope they feel strong and brave enough to take risks on stage and in the world. We hope they can work well in an ensemble with humility, while retaining their sense of individualism. We hope they can learn from others, regardless of age, and respect them as creative beings. And when they hear the applause, along their life journeys, we hope they can take a moment to revel in their success, and then smile and thank their audience for supporting their efforts.

We hope this helps smooth out any bumps that could arise during casting time. We want everyone to have a great time here at PGT and to know that there is method to this casting madness, as well as the best of intentions behind every decision.