Wednesday, September 12, 2007

I worked hard, tried out for Les Mis, and....

Got in the chorus. As did most of the other people who didn't get a main role. Haha!

But that's ok. I really wasn't expecting to get a main role, and being in the chorus will still be a lot of fun, especially as all of my friends will also be in the chorus with me.
There really aren't too many main roles for Les Mis, so its fine.

However, there are some areas of the casting that I have some issues with. Mr. J, Mr. M, Mr. R and Mrs. H (the teachers in charge of the musical, and the casting) have all said that the priority for roles goes Gr 12, then Gr 11, then Gr 10, then Gr 9. That way, the grade 12s, who will never have another chance again, will have a better chance of getting a main role, and the younger grades, who still have more years ahead of them to be in other musicals will still have fun, but give more of the grade 12s a chance. Well, this is what is supposed to happen.

So imagine everyone's surprise (kind of.. I'll explain in a minute) and disgust, when a grade TEN got the role of Cosette, one of the more major roles in the whole play. Now, this grade 10 is very nice, and does have a good singing voice, but she is also a known favourite of 2 out of 4 of those teachers (the 2 teachers with all the say in this matter- the other 2 are supposed to have a say in it, but everyone knows they don't!).. as were the rest of the people cast as main roles. I'm really not going to mention any names, as its not anything personal against those people.. I'm sure they'll all do a great job. And its certainly not because I didn't get a big part that I'm saying this.. like I said before, I wasn't expecting a main part. Its the fact that the teachers have favourites, and they make it well known to everyone who those favourites are that really gets to me.

I know its bound to happen, that teachers will pick favourites, but when that affects the entire school, I don't think it's right. There were several grade 12s who were excellent in both their auditions and their call backs, worked extremely hard for it, and are well known for being wonderful at both singing and acting, that not only did not get the part they were trying out for, but did not get any part at all.
All this to say.. I really don't think a school should run on favouritism. Having said that, I'm still really excited about doing it! It'll still be a really fun experience, and we'll get to sing the songs, and dance, and get cool costumes!! lol.. the only downside is the amount of rehearsals we have to attend. The first one is tomorrow, and its from 3-9:00! We also have October 4 and 5th off, along with Thanksgiving weekend, and we have Rehearsal ALL day on BOTH those days (not Thanksgiving.. the Pro-D days)! So that part kind of sucks, but oh well. It'll be fun!

And I just want to emphasise again that I was not complaining because I have a personal dislike against the people who were cast.. for the most part I like them, and I think they'll do great. And I was also not complaining for my own sake, because I wanted a role... I hope it didn't come across that way. Sorry if it did! :S


Oh, and on another note.. my brother also tried out, for the part of Gavroche, and I'm pretty sure he made it! They are going to have 5 young Cosettes, and 5 Gavroches (which is stupid, and makes it really hard for rehearsing, in my opinion), but Josh is most likely one of them, which will make it even more fun! They still haven't told them for sure, but all the teachers we've talked to have said that they're sure that Josh has a role, because the "judges" were all talking about how awesome he did! Aww, I'm so proud of him.. especially since I taught him the song (Gavroche's song- Little People), and all his actions, which they said were very well done! Yay for Erin and Josh.. what a team! :P



1 comment:

Nikki said...

I totally know what you mean about the favouritism and have seen it time and time again in high school and elementary school- annoying, isn't it?
However, that is AWESOME that you made the chorus, I'm sure you will have so much fun. In a way, being in the chorus is better (at least in my opinion.... I am very stage shy!) You get to have fun and have a part in everything, but not as much stress of messing up lines, etc. I LOVE Les Mis, I wish my school had done a play like that! We always got stuck with dumb ones.