“Please bring my attention to anyone who has a good profile in the 16-25 audience demographic. As a guide, it would mean at least two years as a regular on Home & Away or Neighbours, or a finalist in any of the big talent shows (The Voice, X Factor, etc) or even a reality show profile (though I will draw the line at Biggest Loser!). Another guide is a large Twitter following: at least 10,000. NOTE: As this does not start rehearsal until December, please also consider people who are currently in mid contract but with enough notice to the network can perhaps secure a release to do this.”
That was what Australian casting agents found in their inbox today. The email, sent by the casting department of The Rocky Horror Show, is incredibly direct about the fact that they want to cast people who already have a profile.
But here’s the thing, it’s also a great big bunch of bullshit because I know for a god damn fact that there are people who have already auditioned for The Rocky Horror Show that are currently ‘on hold’ for the roles they are asking for submissions for. (‘On hold’ basically means that the casting directors are deliberating and have told a few actors that they are being considered and shouldn’t lock into contracts around the time of the show.) And I’m not talking people fresh out of drama school who haven’t quite yet made a name for themselves, I’m talking about people who have been in the industry for about a billion years. People who get consistent work in leading roles, have passionate fan bases, and are exceptionally skilled in their craft.
So the only way to construe an email like this — one that has gone out after a good few rounds of casting have already been seen to — is that the production company has seen the fact that the people who they currently have within their reach aren’t quite the right fit for the production simply because they haven’t been a regular on a soap series, slogged their way through the talent show machine, or made a batch of cupcakes on the Great Australian Bake-Off. This email didn’t just ask for further submissions, the casting department didn’t come forward and just say, ‘We’re opening Rocky Horror up for another round of auditions because we didn’t quite find what we were looking for.’They said, ‘We’re opening Rocky Horror up for another round of auditions because the people we have don’t have enough Twitter followers for our liking.’ And that’s a joke.
I want to be very clear: this isn’t an indictment against reality television or people who transition from TV to the stage, this is an indictment against a great big bullshit casting process. I’ve defended reality TV before — you can read the article here – and I stand by what I’ve said previously.
The problem isn’t reality TV, the problem isn’t people who are making the move from television to theatre, the problem is that casting is being done with an email that says, ‘Got a shitload of followers on Twitter? Then you’re perfect for the role of Riff-Raff.’ But whatever, right? It’s their show, they have the prerogative to cast it how they like, don’t they? You bet. But a prerogative is like a bad back, it’s pretty easy to exercise it and hurt what you are trying to strengthen. Actors in the musical theatre industry have always been aware that a stint on Home and Away gives you a better shot at a role in a major production than a stint in the chorus of a show that runs for a year or two. There has always been a bit of resigned melancholy about the difficulty that comes when making the transition from chorus member to leading player.
But it’s never felt like the odds were so heavily stacked you couldn’t make the move if you worked hard and made a few brave choices. Then a email was sent today that said in no uncertain terms that this country casts musical theatre like they’re putting together a god damn telethon. There are people being considered for the parts that aren’t only good enough but are hands down better at what they do than a Masterchef contestant. I’m not saying that there aren’t Masterchef contestants that could well be huge musical theatre talents waiting for a shot, there could be. Really. I one hundred percent believe that. Just like my favourite Ratatouille quote says, ‘Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere.’
But I am saying that people who have been in the industry for over a decade are going to be better at it than people who came off the set of Farmer Wants A Wife. Of course they are, they’ve had more experience. Perhaps that second last sentence was misleading; sure, they’d be better than someone from Farmer Wants A Wife but what about Australia’s Got Talent? Those auditionees who had been on a singing competition or a talent show might be just as good as musical theatre veterans.
Certainly, they might well be but the casting directors didn’t just ask for people from The Voice or Australian Idol — people with, you know, a musical background when casting their musical production — they asked for people from all reality television programs. They used Twitter followers as a yardstick for their casting parameters. And therein lies the problem. I mean, Twitter followers? Really. How is that a benchmark for an ability to do a job? Actually, never mind the fact that 10,000 Twitter followers means jack diddle shit in regards to being able to sing, dance, and act, using the number of Twitter followers to decide who is good enough for an audition doesn’t mean anything because you can buy 10,000 followers for $70 AUD. (True, check it here.) It literally doesn’t even mean what these casting people think it means. Not only isn’t it an indication of talent but it isn’t even an indication of a viable fan base.
There are people from TV talent shows and soap operas who have made — or are currently making — a name for themselves in musical theatre. Hugh Sheridan and Rob Mills are the two that immediately come to mind. But here’s the thing: Hugh Sheridan started out as a singer and a dancer well before he hit the big time with Packed to the Rafters. Hugh Sheridan studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts and studied dance at The Australian Ballet School. He sang with State Opera Australia well before he ever went to NIDA and about a hundred million years before anybody asked him for his autograph at the opening night of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. He has the skill set to do what needs to be done in a major musical better than most people who have been a regular on Australian TV.
And Rob Mills — who cops copious amounts of shit for the fact he got a kickstart on reality TV — absolutely worked his arse off to earn the role of Fiyero in Wicked. I don’t know him but I will defend him, and I’ll probably cop some flack for it in the process. But here’s why I’m defending him anyway: he travelled to New York to study dance in anticipation of an audition for Wicked because he wanted to be considered for the role of Fiyero and he also trained with a vocal coach during that time and continues to do so. Sure, he got his start on Australian Idol but he’s working hard and I respect that.
So, did the profiles of Hugh Sheridan and Rob Mills help them secure auditions for musical theatre roles? Absolutely. And were they wrong to exploit that avenue of self-promotion to get a foot in the door? Absolutely not. The issue here isn’t that individuals are using TV as avenues to further their career, the issue is that production companies are using TV as a first point of call for talent to the exclusion of others. They’ve stopped saying, “Our Frank-N-Furter needs to be on the dry-wit-comedy ball and ooze sexuality,’ and now they are saying, ‘Our Frank-N-Furter needs to be on Home & Away and ooze Twitter followers.’
That shouldn’t be the criteria that producers use to procure auditionees because they are overlooking literally thousands of people who have done nothing but get good enough at what they do so they can carry a show like Rocky Horror eight shows a week for a year and a half. Of course we shouldn’t exclude people from being part of the musical theatre industry because they were on Home & Away or The Voice or Big Brother. I’m not going to pigeon hole someone as unable to sing, dance, and act because they got ten out of ten at last week’s room reveal on The Block: Sky High, my love of Ratatouille would never allow it. But producers shouldn’t use these things to decide who walks into the room and who doesn’t and you certainly shouldn’t put people ‘on hold’ while you find someone who has more retweets or has spent more time on TV than they have.
Because what you have said to these people is, “You are good enough and, failing our ability to find someone who has been on TV or got a thousand retweets last week, you might have the job.” I understand it’s important to have a variety of people in the cast in order to get bums on seats. And a good way to make sure people buy tickets to the show is by casting people with a profile. I’m not saying don’t do that, I’m saying don’t put people ‘on hold’ in lieu of a TV personality and don’t turn people away for not having the right number of people on social media.
Should these factors — social media, TV, and public profile — be a consideration in the casting room? Yes, absolutely. But should they be the reason people are turned away from auditioning in the first place, and should people who can do the job be put ‘on hold’ while producers find someone else with a large social media profile? No way.
Never mind the fact that it is cheap and yuck and is no reflection of someone’s ability to do a job, the most pertinent point is that you are fucking with people and ensuring that you aren’t giving your show the opportunity to be as good as it could be.
And if we aren’t working to create work that both turns a profit and isn’t a great big pile of shit then what the hell are we doing in this country? We deserve better than that and I firmly believe the casting process for musical theatre is part of the reason why the Australian public doesn’t get up and go to anything other than Annie, Wicked, and the 551st return season of The Lion King. They generally see musical theatre as nonsense and fluff — or the stuff that grandmothers love — but it has the capacity to be something truly exceptional. Scratch that, it is truly exceptional but there are producers here that are selling the whole thing short.
Australian musical theatre’s got talent and we should stop acting like that talent isn’t enough to carry a show in this country, especially when that show is one of the most well loved musicals of all time.
