"Value-added"...something to think about...

Casting a show is such an odd window into ourselves, our community and our organization.  It brings me back to a phrase that I've been thinking a lot about:  "value-added".  Some people have the perception that the "best" people are cast, period.  Others believe that the people that the team knows are cast, period.  (I'd be very curious to know what other perceptions are, especially from those people not cast.)  What casting actually is--now that we are through it--is a way for us to physicalize and choose for this project those people that represent our  highest "value-added" traits.

For the actor, casting means auditioning. Many actors audition with their own idea of what "value-added" means.  I talked about this in my last post:  internal versus external; those who say "Choose Me!  Look what I did!" and those who say "Look what I can offer...".  An actor can only offer himself as the best way to show his or her "added value".  Anything else is a sham. 

Score sheets are telling.  Martin's score sheets were numerically based on 5 or 6 different musical skills. He came up with an average for each auditionee.  He worked on his computer.   Jane used paper, and had a long list of specific movement skills and stylistic criteria.  She hand wrote her comments on individual sheets of paper and used a numerical scoring system.  My score sheets encompassed both vocal and movement skills, and, additionally I looked for "charisma", "storytelling", "it".  I used a check, check plus or check minus system along with copious notes about age, size and an individual's effect on me in their audition.  I often asked myself the question:  "How did this person make me feel?" 

Our team exists under the umbrella of an organization that is in the middle of a 1.4 million dollar capital campaign.  We need to spread the word.  If all else in the audition is truly equal, (and boy, is THAT a debatable concept!!) we love good new people.  Good new people have to work harder, but when we see them-- we want them!  We unashamedly watch good new people in the social mix of auditions...how would they do in this company?  Their "value-add" is high because without good new people, Lyric will die...and we were all new once!

Wading through this combined "value-added" information was a brutal experience, BUT together we assembled an amazing cast of double and triple threat performers with EVERYTHING that we were looking for...individually, none of us could have done that. 

It's been an odd 10 days:  the adrenaline rush of auditions, the nitty-gritty mental and language-based work of choosing a cast, the sheer mental and physical exhaustion of late nights and bad food, the grueling aftermath of talking (or not talking!) to those friends and loved ones NOT cast, the strangeness of meeting a real person for the first time when you've actually been thinking about them for weeks, the unbelievable thrill of hearing our cast sing for the first time, the reality of what the cost has been at our paying jobs, for our families and for our laundry...It's all a bit much.    At the moment, I feel...almost lonely.  We've crossed one mountain range, only to realize that the larger one is still ahead. 

No shit, people.  I am off....
To the Barricades!

Auditions...From the other side of the table.

It is Wednesday, and the last night of auditions.  Tonight we will "weed" and then choose who we would like to see for call-backs on Thursday and Friday. We are aiming for a cast of 50 to 55 people (not including our three littles), and there are easily--already--twice that many talented, double and triple threats that came out to audition.

From a purely creative view, I enjoy the process of puzzling out casting...and by puzzling, I mean that it is like a puzzle:  which human pieces fit together to create the big picture that matches the "vision" I carry in my head?  Each person brings a nuance, a feel, a style of voice, body and performance that is unique. What we see is a combination of so many things.   There are the simple questions that we can answer pretty quickly:  Can you match pitch?  Can you move comfortably and rhythmically? Do you know the show and yourself well enough to choose appropriate audition material?  Are you enjoying yourself?  Are you telling a story?  And then there are the questions that we are asking that may be unique to our audition situation:  Are you generous?  Are you listening?  Are you willing to try?  Did you share something new?  And,  finally, there are the questions and parameters that auditionees have no control over...the completely subjective things our team is looking for and choosing:  Are you right for what we see as necessary to the show?  Are you too tall, short, deep-voiced, high-voiced, elegant, quirky, angry, powerful, beautiful, dark, blonde, brunette, old, young, etc., etc., etc., for us to use in our puzzle? 

I always learn so much during auditions.  From this side of the table, the main difference I've seen this week is between actors who say "Choose Me! Look what I prepared! " and those who say "Here's what I have to offer ....".  (That is an extremely general and subjective statement!!)  But, but, but...it's been very true this week.  It's a subtle and interesting difference...one is externally focused and one is internally focused.  One  guesses at what is "right" and one makes choices based on individual strengths. I'm not sure an actor can know the difference without being on this side of the table OR without a LOT of experience.

Also, this artistic team is only human...Jane and I did, indeed, do butt spins on the floor between audition groups.  Martin got the giggles at the end of the night.  We are eating way too much junk and we are TIRED...but so eager to meet our cast!

Break Legs and Merde, people!

To the Barricades!
Kelly