This is lengthy but I want to get all the details out there. I'm counting on my fellow actors/singers/dancers to help me out on this one!!
Here's the story... I auditioned for a musical comedy called "Crazy For You" last week. On the audition sheet I put two characters I'd like to be considered for: Lank, a comedic role with no singing, or Zangler, a comedic role with very little singing. Leading up to the audition, the director emphatically insisted that there was absolutely NO PRE- CASTING at all.
At the audition, I sang a comedic song and did a little choreography. Hell I even used a prop. I go all out for auditions because I want to stand out from the rest. It worked, because I had the whole panel laughing their heads off (the director, choreographer, vocal director, producer, stage manager, etc.) including the other actors in the in the room. I only did okay during the dance part of the audition; I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. They did not have anybody read sides, which I thought was odd. Still, I got a call back for the next day.
I stuck around for the remainder of the audition to support my friends who were also auditioning. One guy, let's call him Billy, auditioned with a dramatic song and sort-of just stood there and sang, with no character at all. Billy did not participate in the dance audition because of a muscle injury. At a certain point they had a mini callback for a female character that played opposite the Lank character that I had auditioned for. The vocal director, a male, btw, read opposite three different girls. I thought this was a little odd because there was a whole lot of people that auditioned who didn't get to read sides at all. I assumed that we would read sides at the callbacks.
A couple hours after the audition was over, I got a call from the stage manager. She said that there would be no callbacks after all and that they were offering me the part of Fodor, a considerably smaller role than what I'd auditioned for. I accepted the part because I like the show and want to be a part of it. The Stage manager then told me to check the cast list posted online. So I went online and saw the cast list and to my surprise, I was beaten out for the part of Lank, the non-dancing, non-singing role by the vocal director guy, who never officially auditioned. I was beaten out for the role of Zangler, the little-singing role by Billy, the guy who sang a dramatic song for a comedic role and who literally couldn't dance. I couldn't believe it.
I'm no stranger to losing parts. I had assumed that other people had auditioned at other times and had done better than me. Not the case. I really feel that if I'd been given the chance to read for either role that I would have again had the audition panel laughing their heads off. I was never given the chance. I wasn't even given a chance to even read for a non-singing role. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't a director give someone a chance to read for a part before determining who gets the part? And doesn't it stand to reason that I had a "better" audition than Billy did, seeing that he literally couldn't move during the audition and sang a dramatic song for a physically comedic role? It is well known in the community that myself and Billy are both good comedic actors, and we are of equal singing ability, but my audition was just plain better than his in this case.
So do you think these roles were pre-cast? I don't know about the Lank role, but I know nobody got to read for that part other than the vocal director guy. Sounds like pre-casting to me. Nobody read for the Zangler character at all, but Billy got it. Here's the kicker: Billy just happens to be the choreographers' husband who also happens to be the female lead in the show. Sounds like pre-casting or favoritism to me. I generally do not have a problem with pre-casting as long as it's made known to everyone auditioning. Something like "the role of xxxxxx has been cast" or something like that. But this director went out of her way to deny that any pre-casting had taken place.
So finally, my question is... how do I handle this? I want to talk to the director about how I feel that myself and other auditioners have been shafted. I'm not saying that I deserved this part over that guy, etc. I'm not demanding that I be given someone else's part. But I do feel that myself, along with others, deserved a fair chance. What do I say to the director? I mean, I'm not about to quit the show or anything over this because A) That is amateur unprofessional behavior, and B) It is a great show that I'm glad to be a part of. I just want to make my feelings known to the director. How can I do this? What should I say? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Here's the story... I auditioned for a musical comedy called "Crazy For You" last week. On the audition sheet I put two characters I'd like to be considered for: Lank, a comedic role with no singing, or Zangler, a comedic role with very little singing. Leading up to the audition, the director emphatically insisted that there was absolutely NO PRE- CASTING at all.
At the audition, I sang a comedic song and did a little choreography. Hell I even used a prop. I go all out for auditions because I want to stand out from the rest. It worked, because I had the whole panel laughing their heads off (the director, choreographer, vocal director, producer, stage manager, etc.) including the other actors in the in the room. I only did okay during the dance part of the audition; I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. They did not have anybody read sides, which I thought was odd. Still, I got a call back for the next day.
I stuck around for the remainder of the audition to support my friends who were also auditioning. One guy, let's call him Billy, auditioned with a dramatic song and sort-of just stood there and sang, with no character at all. Billy did not participate in the dance audition because of a muscle injury. At a certain point they had a mini callback for a female character that played opposite the Lank character that I had auditioned for. The vocal director, a male, btw, read opposite three different girls. I thought this was a little odd because there was a whole lot of people that auditioned who didn't get to read sides at all. I assumed that we would read sides at the callbacks.
A couple hours after the audition was over, I got a call from the stage manager. She said that there would be no callbacks after all and that they were offering me the part of Fodor, a considerably smaller role than what I'd auditioned for. I accepted the part because I like the show and want to be a part of it. The Stage manager then told me to check the cast list posted online. So I went online and saw the cast list and to my surprise, I was beaten out for the part of Lank, the non-dancing, non-singing role by the vocal director guy, who never officially auditioned. I was beaten out for the role of Zangler, the little-singing role by Billy, the guy who sang a dramatic song for a comedic role and who literally couldn't dance. I couldn't believe it.
I'm no stranger to losing parts. I had assumed that other people had auditioned at other times and had done better than me. Not the case. I really feel that if I'd been given the chance to read for either role that I would have again had the audition panel laughing their heads off. I was never given the chance. I wasn't even given a chance to even read for a non-singing role. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't a director give someone a chance to read for a part before determining who gets the part? And doesn't it stand to reason that I had a "better" audition than Billy did, seeing that he literally couldn't move during the audition and sang a dramatic song for a physically comedic role? It is well known in the community that myself and Billy are both good comedic actors, and we are of equal singing ability, but my audition was just plain better than his in this case.
So do you think these roles were pre-cast? I don't know about the Lank role, but I know nobody got to read for that part other than the vocal director guy. Sounds like pre-casting to me. Nobody read for the Zangler character at all, but Billy got it. Here's the kicker: Billy just happens to be the choreographers' husband who also happens to be the female lead in the show. Sounds like pre-casting or favoritism to me. I generally do not have a problem with pre-casting as long as it's made known to everyone auditioning. Something like "the role of xxxxxx has been cast" or something like that. But this director went out of her way to deny that any pre-casting had taken place.
So finally, my question is... how do I handle this? I want to talk to the director about how I feel that myself and other auditioners have been shafted. I'm not saying that I deserved this part over that guy, etc. I'm not demanding that I be given someone else's part. But I do feel that myself, along with others, deserved a fair chance. What do I say to the director? I mean, I'm not about to quit the show or anything over this because A) That is amateur unprofessional behavior, and B) It is a great show that I'm glad to be a part of. I just want to make my feelings known to the director. How can I do this? What should I say? Any help is greatly appreciated!