Questions

Muriel Halloran, Executive Producer, Annie(401) 765-0479
 

Regarding Casting

I am responding to the feedback we received from the Encore web-site, concerning the rumor that we pre-cast our shows. Well it is just that, only a rumor. For all our productions we advertise our auditions on our web-site, in the Providence Journal, The Valley Breeze and The Woonsocket Call, The Board and sometimes in the Phoenix ( it's is expensive) so that we will have a large pool of talent to choose from, and so that our cast will  be the best available for this particular show. Our cast are pretty consistently composed of about half the cast who are new members to Encore Rep, with the other half, folks who have performed with us before. With  our Spring production of "My Fair Lady" 4 of the 5 leads were new to Encore. It was a great show! There are 6 people on the casting committee; the Director, Producer, Assist. Producer, Musical Director, Choreographer and the Stage Manager. We cast immediately after the last night of auditions. We do not take this task lightly. For "The Wizard of Oz" this past Fall over 120 people auditioned, and it took us  until 3:00 a.m. to cast that show. There is always some lively debate among the casting committee with the object, to select the best cast possible. We use a number of criteria in the selection process, vocal quality, ability, projection, experience, stage presence, acting ability, diction, ability to use the correct accent; if necessary and the appropriate appearance for a particular role, etc. Do not be discouraged.  Others have audition a few times before they were cast. Hope to see you next week , if you have any other questions please let me know.
 
Muriel Halloran  Executive Producer - The Encore Repertory Company
Producer- "Annie"

A note from Roger MacDonald - Director of "My Fair Lady"

I can honestly assure you that in the case of the recent production of "My Fair Lady" there was no pre-casting. The roles of Eliza Doolittle, Prof. Higgins, Col. Pickering, and Mrs. Pearce were all played by actors who had never done any performances with Encore Repertory Company and the role of Alfie Doolittle was performed by an individual who has only been in two other performances. Of those two performances one was as a member of the chorus and the other was as the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz. The rest of the cast was a mixture of old and new.

The only other time with Encore Repertory Company that I was involved in casting, as the Stage Manager, was during the production of "A Chorus Line" the Spring 2003 production. During that casting there were several people who had never been cast in Encore Repertory Company productions. The decisions on casting for those roles were even more complex because not only was acting and singing a necessity but dancing is an integral part of "A Chorus Line". Believe me trying to find actors that could act, sing, and dance at the level we were looking for was not easy, in fact there were several actors we cast on a wing and a prayer in hopes that they would pull through in the end.

Casting is never an easy task and there are many considerations that are taken when these decisions are made. Not only is singing and acting a consideration but also what the person writes on the casting sheet. One issue that comes up quite a bit is scheduling conflicts. Though in the past we have billed ourselves as a Community Theatre, which some people think is often second rate theatre, we all take this very seriously. Many of us spend hours and hours outside of rehearsals trying to fine tune our productions which is why I think we get compliments and newspaper reviews comparing our productions to the quality of Providence and Boston. Because of this we also look for people who are of the like mind when it comes to theatre so casting decisions are also made on an actor's ability or inability to commit to the rehearsal schedule. We feel that this commitment gives us the quality of production that many find in us.

Casting is quite often a tortuous process that often times causes the casting crew to make decisions that we know people won't like. In the case of "My Fair Lady" several women were not happy that they didn't get the role of Eliza Doolittle and chose not to be in the performance at all. That is their choice. However there have been plenty of actors who have tried out for roles, not gotten what they had hoped, joined the cast as either the chorus or some other minor role and gone on to be cast as leads. My oldest daughter is an example. She came into Encore Repertory Company as one of four assistants to the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella as well as some other small parts. For the next couple of years she showed commitment, by being in every performance, in whatever role cast, that Encore Repertory Company put on, she showed the want to learn and do more, by teaching herself tap so she could do more dancing in other Encore Repertory Company performance and because of that I believe it gave her a better chance at being cast in bigger and bigger parts. This finally paid off when she was cast as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Did the fact that she had been with the Encore Repertory Company, performing in production after production, for a couple of years play a part in her casting in that role? My gut tells me YES. Would you call this pre-casting? I wouldn't, I would call it a promotion for commitment and hard work and believe me there where members of the casting crew that did not want her cast as Dorothy.

I would encourage you to contact me or Muriel and talk to us about this concern of yours. If there have been auditions in the past that you feel you should have been offered some role I know I would like to know the performance and the specific role or roles you were auditioning for. I would also suggest that in the future that if you are denied a role as a member of an Encore Repertory Company cast that you ask the Director calling you why you have not been given a role. Auditions are nothing more than job interviews and when we don't get a job that we apply for we should know why so that in the next job interview we know how better to perform. Also, speaking as an actor, many times we find ourselves thinking that we are best fit for a role yet the Director is looking for something completely different, another common casting dilemma.

I hope that I have been of some help and that you will continue to audition for Encore Repertory Company productions. The bottom line is that we do this because of our love for the Stadium Theatre, as well as performing, and what the Stadium Theatre has given back to us and the community. In case you were not aware Encore Repertory Company takes no profits from any of the productions that we do at the Stadium Theatre. Every dollar above cost goes right back to the Stadium Theatre, almost $250,000 since 1997.

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Roger MacDonald
Encore Repertory Company