Saturdays are usually days to sleep in, but not this past
Saturday. I woke up at 6am to get into midtown Manhattan at 7:30 for the School
Of Rock the musical open call. My brother works for the Broadway casting agency
Tara Rubin who was holding this open call to start casting all of the kids in
the show, and they were expecting over 500 children and parents to be lined up
down the blocks in front of the Winter Garden Theater. I was asked to volunteer
to help manage all of the people and escort the kids to the audition spaces.
Also, since this is a new show to enter Broadway it was also a huge press event
with cameras everywhere to film the excited and nervous kids before and after
their auditions. The doors opened at 9am and the theater filled up fast. We
started with a little over 200 kids, and as quickly as they left, their seats
were filled again with a new kid.
After 8
hours of straight auditioning the casting agents, producers, and director had
seen over 700 kids with a variety of talents. Watching the whole process was
amazing and fascinating! Each kid had about 20-30 seconds to sing or play an
instrument, and the decision was made immediately whether or not they deserved
a call back. I can’t imagine how they could make that call in that sort amount
of time, but I guess they know what they are looking for.
It was such a long day dealing with crazy stage parents, kids with 100 questions, limited space, and many tears when someone would not get a call back. My cheeks hurt from smiling all day in front of the kids, but it was awesome to watch so many talented kids perform. I can’t wait to see their final decisions when it comes to Broadway in November.
The open call seems like such a fun (but tiring) experience! It must have been so cool to see the start of something that will become so big. I don't think I could do what your brother does week after week but it sounds like it was interesting to see once. I really like the picture you included also, the theater looks so beautiful and I can only imagine what it looked like with so few people in it, definitely not something you see everyday!
ReplyDeleteWhen I see child stars on Broadway I always wonder how they do it. Its such a tiring profession and to see a child have that much motivation amazes me. Auditioning has to be really hard on their minds if they don't get the part. Its great to have people like you smile for them when they can't.
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