by Laura Bengs
Laura Bengs is a journalist, copywriter, and content creator. Her work has been published in Milwaukee Magazine, Sing at Home Mom, and OnStageBlog.
Whether you’re new to a program or experiencing the dreaded talent drought, growing a program–on top of everything else you’re managing–can feel overwhelming. Being able to produce projects you are interested in can hinge on having enough talented actors to produce them, so any time you invest in recruiting will be time well spent.
While good old-fashioned word-of-mouth will be a reliable way in order to get a steady stream of talent, there are some actions a person can take–some without a lot of work–to make your system more attractive or more inviting to new talent.
If it’s a growing period for your plan, here are some considerations and actions that could be productive in helping you to grow your drama program:
Think about timing. Many programs have shows in similar times of the year because “that’s what we’ve always done. ” Whilst this can be good for steady community support (if people always know the musical is the second week within November, they’ll start looking with regard to tickets around that time), you may be unintentionally excluding groups of students or making it difficult regarding students to be involved.
Our fall play usually fell squarely within the fall sports season with a production mid-November. However , our spring musical took place at the particular end associated with February which opened the small window between the winter sports season and the springtime sports time of year. Depending on their role, college students could sometimes participate in both the drama production plus their sports activities season.
You’ll also want to be mindful of how breaks impact your rehearsal schedule. Based on when we would audition, our spring musical wedding rehearsal schedule would extend over the winter break; however, we never rehearsed over the particular break because many families had plans for travel during that period. Respecting family time over breaks may go a long way in recruiting and retaining participants!
Another consideration to take a look at is usually when you are rehearsing. If a person have the flexibility to hold rehearsals from 5: 00 – 7: 00 p. m. versus right after school, you might be able to include more learners that are involved in sports or other clubs as well.
Focus upon more than just cranking out shows. We recruited so many students from our parent Drama Club because all of us engaged in more than just producing displays. Every year, we all would take students on four in order to five field trips to see professional shows. Students that just enjoyed and appreciated theater might join the club to come along to the shows. In doing so, they would be wooed by the camaraderie on the particular trip and the magic on the stage therefore much so that they would certainly start dipping their toes in how to help with upcoming shows.
Think regarding other fun opportunities like bringing in a comedy group, hosting a day performance of a play an English class is definitely studying, or even bringing in a famous or regionally-famous performer to speak in order to student audiences. A barrier for some students is simply the particular fact that will they haven’t been exposed to theater or considered it because something they might want to do. Simply introducing it to students is sometimes all they need to consider getting involved.
Advertise opportunities outside of performing. Students that love in order to perform flock to displays, yet college students that might possess an artistic interest outside of performing may not always think to seek out theater. Within spreading the word about opportunities, make sure you include some other needs such as graphic design and writing (for publicity), construction plus painting (for set building), and business (for ticket selling and show management).
Prioritizing and appealing to talents outdoors of simply performing often got a lot of our learners in the particular door associated with the theatre, and once they saw the magic upon stage, they were hooked! Shows rely on more performers, and building your system in all areas of production can equally contribute in order to the growth from the plan.
Invite students–individually. I can’t tell you exactly how many students I’ve hired from my English classes. It’s amazing what the difference a personal invitation can create. Drama kids have a certain spark, plus if you spot one that somehow hasn’t yet found the stage–talk to all of them. Personally invite them to become a part of the program. Talk regarding the potential a person see. Get them excited. A personal invitation is hard to say no to, and chances are, these people probably were already thinking about it. Reaching away to them may end up being the push they needed to join.
Select shows that will appeal to college students and big groups. There are many factors that go into selecting shows intended for your high school program, but if you’re looking to grow, you may benefit through thinking a lot more critically about who you’re selecting the shows to get. Selecting popular titles that will students are usually excited about can be a great way to see your season casting numbers go up. Also, selecting the big show with enjoyable ensemble features (think Beauty as well as the Beast) offers a lot of opportunity, so learners could be more inclined to audition if they have the particular option of not being “just another chorus member. ” If you’re seeking to grow numbers, you need to make room for them, so selecting a show that has the space for many participants to have a great experience may be a great prospecting move.
Collaborate with your additional art teachers. The choir director from your college can become a wonderful asset within recruiting students for shows. Whether or not they are involved in directing, they can assist support the show simply by doing things like teaching the sight-reading lesson with the particular audition piece or playing a popular song from the display for a score study. Our choir director even worked with college students in her private session block to learn audition music leading up to auditions, giving all of them more confidence and increasing their likelihood of following through along with auditioning.
The art teacher could be another great resource for collaboration, especially with set style. In collaborating with our arts teachers, we were able to produce beautiful set designs and even think critically about how in order to coordinate gallery efforts along with the content and timing of displays. Not only did this result in piquing interest in set design pertaining to some artists, it actually opened an additional extracurricular opportunity for students that hadn’t regarded as this outlet for their own art.
Our overarching recommendation: expose students to the movie theater in as many ways as you can think associated with. Often , all students need is to get their foot in the door, and they’re hooked.
