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Has anyone been in a show that was largely pre-casted? Not because the person could act, sing, knew anything about the show or was the age for it...simply because they kissed up to the director?
We're going to put on a production of the Wizard of Oz in March and one of the girls who was with me in Guys and Dolls was talking to the director and said she wanted to be Dorothy and he told her she could be. eek stressed
The same girl told the director for Peter Pan she wanted to be Wendy. She didn't even audition! The woman never heard her sing, saw her dance, or heard her do any cold reading...she just let her have the part and not only is she not suited for it, she's too old! scream
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Sorry, things like this just aggrivate me and I needed to let it out and see if anyone's had the same experience...like most people I love the Wizard of Oz and had my heart set on getting a part, but this has made me not want to do it at all.

that happens a lot in our musicals. Only one person who has never been in a musical before was casted, and there was amazing talent in the auditions.

At my high school, MANY of the shows we did were pre-cast to a point, but the director only used that as an idea of who they wanted to read for what part to see if they really could so it. And those were entirely chosen on talent everytime. We still had auditions, no one ever just got a role handed to them. And then when the list finally did go up, it's not the same as the director originally thought it would be.

At the camp I went to, I could sense that the director only picked people for leads that she favored personally (because a lot of them she had known since they were young). When I was auditioning for a part in Les Miz I sang On My Own, I think that she purposly played it too quick, then told me to sing more "Disney-like" and I realized that that way was a wrong way to sing, so I sang correctly. When I was casted in the ensemble she told me that I wasn't casted as Eponnine because Eponinne was supposed to sound like a younger girl (even though one of the Eponnines [we double casted] was probably an alto or a mezzo and didn't sound like a younger girl) The two girls she casted as Eponnine also were favorites of hers and I didn't think that one of them could sing THAT well (oh and all the ensemble parts I played were male and I'm a sopranno)

Oh jeez, where to begin. Well, at my former high school the choir director's daughter was in, hmm let me think, every single show with a decent part at least, not to mention that he (the choir teacher)also was the musical director for Frostfire Summer Theater (the closest thing to prof. theater in the area), so guess who got a part in that, despite being the youngest in the cast *cough cough 3 note range*
And I heard a rumor at the other school in town that when they did Pippin, they did it just cause they thought this one guy would be great for the role. He's decent enough, I suppose, but it's still frustrating.
And, IrethAmandil, I know how you feel. we have this program here called SPA (summer performing arts co.) for high school kids in the area, and a lot of the kids who's parents donate money seem to get a lot of the roles. What're you gunna do, though? Not like anyone has the guts to acutally say anything about it..... razz

Now that I have actually BEEN on the other side of the audition table at me school, and can say once and for all what my school does.

The directors come into it knowing pretty much who they want for what, but that doesn't mean that those are gonna be the people that get the parts. Alot of new people show up and blow them away, or older people that show up and bomb. Though some people end up with the roles they were originally considered for, not ALL of them make the final cut.