It's just a feeling...

Auditions are over, and as usual, it is a huge relief. Casting is probably one of the hardest parts for me. You are always worried that the parents won’t be happy—or worse— the kids won’t be happy. To be completely honest, the parents are not my major concern. Parents will always be biased towards their kids, and always think that their child is the best at everything. (Even still my mom STILL rarely gives me useful critiques—just the occasional “whatever you think, Will.”)

What we see in auditions and what they know about their kids are two completely different things. They see their kids doing wacky creative things constantly—how many times have I heard “my daughter is such a drama queen, I KNOW she’d make a great actress!” What we see in auditions is all we know about an actor—are they speaking clearly, are they keeping eye contact, can they sing?

Our job is to make the most informed decision we can—and sometimes that backfires—and sometimes it just works! We know that the audition room is a nerve racking place and we try to take that into account. I know that place—that heart-pounding, stomach-twisting place—that place where you want to do good, but you are not sure if you are still standing or even still conscious. It’s scary. There is no other word for it.

So with that in mind, we made our decisions for James. The cast list is up—and I think for the most part people are happy. Aden Strickland almost jumped out of his skin when I told him he would be playing James. It’s a good thing he is short, because if he had jumped any higher, we would have had to replace the roof on Cotton Hall. I know I am satisfied, which is a feeling I’ve never really been confident of after auditions. There is usually that one character that I struggle with. It’s like one half of my brain is fighting the other about which kid should go where, but, like I said, I can only do what I think best.

I can honestly say though, that with James, I am happy. I fully believe that everyone who auditioned deserved a part, and that we’ve put them all in the right place. How do I know? How do you ever know? How can someone say—“Oh, she’ll be a perfect ladybug!” or “I can’t imagine any other man to play that woman!”

I don't know. It’s just a feeling.