TheatreNerds
“Congratulations! You’ve been cast!”… And so it begins. The moment you read those magical words in an email, hear them in a phone call, or see your name in metaphorical lights on that long-awaited cast list. You know that you are about to start your next thrilling theatre adventure!
Before that adventure begins however, every theatre nerd ‘round the world most definitely experiences these 8 things:
Before: The anticipation…
“I don’t even care if I’m cast or not but I WISH THEY WOULD JUST TELL ME ALREADY!” That seemingly eternal wait to find out if you’ve been cast is the worst kind of tedious purgatory an actor could imagine. A day feels like a week, two days– a month, three days– you don’t even know because you’ve gone crazy with anticipation.
2. You get super excited.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been cast as the titular role or you’ve been cast as Background Tree #3– The director saw something they liked and chose you! You’re in a show, and this calls for celebration! Say goodbye to the residual post-show-depression from the last show you were in because you have a new show to get excited about! Some joyful dancing around the room is definitely in order!
3. You tell everyone.
Time to alert the presses! You post that shameless self-promotional “I’m so excited to be cast as *insert role* in *insert show*!” status and you invite everyone you know to the Facebook event.
4. You clear your schedule.
You’re ready to dive head-first into this show! You know “I can’t, I have rehearsal” will become your motto for a while, and you’re totally okay with that.
5. You get a little obsessed with the show.
If you have the script already, you’ve probably already read it at least twice before the show begins. If the show is a musical, you’re definitely playing the Broadway Original Cast Album and any revival album on repeat. There’s a movie? Netflix here you come! And of course you’re all over YouTube looking for inspiration. You have important research to do!
6. You scope out the cast on social media.
Don’t lie, you know we all do it. If you don’t know your fellow cast members already, you are definitely spending more time than you should scrolling through their Facebooks and Instagrams (with nimble fingers so you don’t accidentally like something they posted a year ago).
7. You get a little nervous.
You have such high hopes for this show that you start to wonder if you’re setting your expectations too high. You start to think…“What if the director regrets casting me?”, “What if I don’t get along with the cast?”, “What if this role is my downfall as an actor, everyone hates me and nobody ever wants to cast me again?” You know you’re overreacting, but you can’t help but wonder…
8. But you can’t wait to get working.
The next month or so of your life will be filled with new people, new experiences, and giving everything you’ve got to creating some amazing live theatre– How much better does it get?! You’re counting down the days until your rehearsals begin because you just know that you are in for a great time and a great show! Isn’t theatre the best?
Post by TN Contributor Rachel Brudner
