Our Summer Conservatory production of Crazy for You basically cast itself. How? Well, when you pick a tap show requiring incredible triple threat high school performers for all roles, the casting options are understandably limited. The Pineda Four (me, Juan, Val and Trish) plus the always cheery Señor Chris and Mr. Dan held our last round of auditions and callbacks this past weekend in a marathon two-day session.
I was actually surprised at the number of girls with serious dance training and not just eight years of jazz from Miss Nancy’s School of Dance* and Pageant Training (totally fictional, of course). I say that now, after auditioning almost a decade’s worth of summer and community theatre shows where some girls list 5 years of jazz, 7 years of ballet and 6 years of tap training on their resume only to stare in horror when I ask them to chaine across the floor. But that is a rant for another time.
As always, there was no shortage of girls at the audition and we ended up with multiple choices for each role. The boys? - not so much. For those lucky enough to possess a penis, a role was virtually guaranteed due to the sheer number of male roles in the show.
Unfortunately, Val’s plan to throw some gal’s into the ensemble in the Western scenes hit a slight snafu when she realized the script kept mentioning Polly as the only woman in the whole town. Surely not a self-esteem builder for any young lady she might have chosen to add to these scenes. And yes, Trish and I were aware of this fact when Val first brought the idea up, but knowing her mental state before the auditions (she’s currently also rehearsing two other shows), I thought it best she experience her own personal epiphany. Besides, she was just so gung-ho about the idea, I couldn’t bear to be the one to burst her bubble. My favorite, and coincidentally most uncomfortable, audition moment occurred during the callbacks for Irene, the snobby socialite who eventually finds her inner Marilyn Monroe. Señor Chris taught the girls a “sexy” chair dance to “Naughty Baby.” Suffice it to say, I foresee some very lucrative careers ahead for some of these ladies at Flashdancers.
The offers have all gone out and we are now eagerly awaiting the inevitable angry, disappointed and/or tear-filled facebook statuses to follow. It’s tough shattering the dreams of dozens of New Jersey
*Disclaimer: Can you believe there is an actual Nancy ’s School of Dance
**Per my lawyer. J
1 comment:
forget facebook statuses--this year it's phone calls and in-person experiences. next year we're taking this week off!
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