When I first posted in this thread I had no knowledge of this specific situation other than what Dave wrote in the OP. I just reread my post and I don’t like it.
I know very well what it’s like to enjoy something and work very hard at it, and to be continually passed over. I understand why Sakura is upset and frustrated, and I empathize completely. I didn’t mean to brush that off and write a “that’s the way life is, suck it up” screed, which is how it turned out. I also didn’t mean to insult her talent in any way, because I obviously don’t know anything about it.
I’m sorry if my earlier post came off as callous and unsympathetic. I didn’t mean it that way.
As my first post came off with a little less sympathy than I would have wished let me add:
This really bites. The director was absolutely in the wrong dumping Sakura after casting her. Big big no-no there. My guess is that the teacher’s bluff was called with the other student, and he/she really had not meant to have the other kid walk out in the first place. Whatever the case, the teacher was being an ass.
And, Dave, I do hope that this isn’t the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” as far as your daughter participating in theatre in the future. Please let Sakura know that hard work and dedication do pay off, even in something as arbitrary and biased as casting for shows.
I know many people who have been cast, and have cast many people myself, specifically for their hard work and sincerity. No one really likes to work with divas, and if there’s an option not to, a good director will take it, as it will probably make the whole experience better for everyone.
Some directors are/were divas, so they might not mind as much, but the really good directors are the ones who can see through that and are more concerned with a good and smooth production/rehearsal experience than appeasing some snot who thinks that he or she deserves special treatment.
It might take more time, and even, as has already happened, a bit of time working tech and things like that, but if Sakura keeps auditioning and stays involved, it will happen for her. A good director will spot her and she’ll get an oportunity to show her stuff. And if she is good, as well as having a good attitude, that director’ll want her back again and again and again.
Sakura shows wonderful maturity. Tell her that high school productions are great and a good way to get experience, but in no way does it matter whether or not you have had a lead role in a high school play if / when you audition for later shows. I was involved in theatre from Jr. High through High School, and majored in Theatre in college. I am glad she takes the chances to experience being a stage / production manager, it is a great way to learn about how to put a show together and shows her dedication. I actually moved toward that end, and directing in college because I enjoyed it more than acting (and was better at it.)
Casting shows in high schools is often unfortunate. The director sometimes gets stuck on the same few people for the lead roles, because she has seen them in action and knows they can do it. It’s easier to go with the sure thing than take a chance with someone new. It might be easier for her to get a part in a community theatre, or if she wants to continue in college.
After directing and casting a few shows myself, I realized that what the director is looking for can be very arbitrary. Sometimes it takes a little more time than a 5 minute audition for someone to shine, as I saw actors in bit parts really show their stuff as the play progressed. It’s not always bad to have a small part, directors do notice when you work hard and do your part well. I saw some people with bit parts go on to be great leads. Often it is just a matter of getting her “break.” Once she gets one lead, she’ll get more.
She sounds like someone who a director would love to have in a lead, too often people who get lead roles handed to them get a superiority complex. The ones who have to work for them end up being the better actors, IMO.
Do talk to the director, but also understand that directing a high school play can be, well, a big high school drama! I give the director credit for offering to split the role.
Nothing new or creative to add - just that as a dad I feel for you. But to me it is obvious what a good job you have done raising a good daughter. Unfortunately, she is learning that sometimes people jerk you over. A necessary lesson, but still painful for a parent to see.
Tristan raises some excellent points. My kids often talk about creers as professional performing musicians. I always suggest they may also want to at least think of other positions like teaching music, managing artists, theater booking or management, etc. But damn it, why shouldn’t she get at least one shot at seeing what it is like at center stage.
I’d say major quantities of ice cream are in order.
Yes, the school has an interest in producing quality entertainment - within limits. I think many folk are fooling themselves with respect to the “talent” of many of the kids involved in HS musical and theatrical productions. Yes, there are some exceptional talents - but the vast majority display more enthusiasm and attitude.
The HS certainly missed an opportunity to teach everyone associated with this situation - not only the 2 principals, some very important lessons. That one’s actions have repercussions. And that reliability and effort are deserving of recognition.
I think that this disservice far outweighs any artistic merit this production could possibly have.
This is a brill thread. DAVEW you sound like a great dad with a great daughter. Your daughter seems like a hard worker, and that is so important these days, I’m sure she will do well at whatever she strives for.
I had the EXACT same thing happen to me in high school - not once, but TWICE.
Then I stopped doing school plays.
My high school director had a thing for reliving his high school youth by casting the popular kids - instead of the kids willing to put their heart into the production. The result was he often had leads who didn’t show for rehersal and couldn’t act their way out of a wet paper bag with scissors. And was dependent on me and a few others who had put their heart in to be ready to stand in - which we never got to do in a performance - despite having rehersed the role on occation more often than the lead.
I’d assumed that, because I wasn’t getting casted, I must be a bad actress. But once I got out of high school, like your daughter, I discovered I wasn’t bad. But I did discover that theatre is filled with Drama Queens and it doesn’t end with high school
Like Boo Boo Foo, I believe there is a certain amount of cosmic karma. You have to be patient and wait for it, but class will pay off.
And like Sven, I ended up majoring in Film Studies - then decided I couldn’t even handle the egos there and moved to IT.
I would also like to say that I hope, if this is something she truly enjoys, that she’ll continue being involved through college. College, at least Indiana University, where I am, is full of opportunities to get involved in plays and things of that nature. If she’s really interested in it, she’ll find her niche. If not, she’ll find something else.
College is, in that way at least, a lot different from highschool.
I sent extra hugs to Sakura through her mom yesterday; I hope she’s feeling better about this awful situation. I can’t believe a teacher would jerk kids around like that. I mean, I can believe it, but it’s ridiculous, harmful, unprofessional and downright mean. Life’s lessons are hard, but that’s no excuse for being the one who delivers them in the worst possible way. I hope Sakura’s not the only one who learns a lesson here. Carry on, and give 'em what five.
It was only the minor flaw of a complete lack of talent and stage presence that kept me from becoming a star on Broadway. I did do high school drama, not because I had delusions of adequacy in my acting ability, but just for fun and the experience.
Never a starring role. I took what I could get.
And if I had been offered the chance to split the performances, I would have jumped on it with both feet. Why didn’t she go for it?
As others have said, this is high school drama, for heavens’s sake. It is not going to make much difference one way or the other who does the role of Elizabeth. Why not grab the chance to have the experience?
Not that she was not treated shabbily. But why not get what you can out of it?
Dave I am concerned about your daughter. HS is full of enough Drama but the people who join the Drama Club in HS are pros at creating it.
My concern is that you daughter not turn into a doormat and she needs to learn how to sieze oppurtunites. This is useful not only in the theatre but in any sort of job she might have in the future. I really think the giving the role completly back was the absoulte wrong choice for her to make. I understand her doing it. If I had was in the situation in HS I would have probably done the same thing. But then again in HS I was a doormat. You see actors I think intrisically want to please people. That is what your daughter is doing. She pleases the director by being the reliable person. She pleases the director and cast by doing all the PA work. She even pleases the prima donna by backing down and given her the spotlight. She needs to start pleasing herself.
And then…
The director should never have taken the other girl back. How can she exercise any sort of authority over her or any other student after that?
If your daughter were my kid I would tell her not to audition or offer to be involved in any way in the last production. Surely the teacher will ask her why she doesn’t want to be in the last play. You daughter should tell her that she really doesn’t feel the need to be used by the teacher any more. (my bet would be that she gets a decent part) Any way you daughter should continue the community theatre stuff and I hope she has fun with it.
Yes, this is the point I was trying to make too. My experiences revolved around art instead of high school, but I think these two are somewhat similar (at least in high school!). Things improved greatly after high school. Not that everything always make sense, but made sense more often.
Your daughter and you sound like you have a firm and realistic grasp on what her talents and abilities are: not an over-inflated idea, but a real idea. And it sounds like she’s more than capable. I believe that being “more than capable” and also having a good attitude (and a grasp of what talents and strengths she does and does not have) will carry her far. Probably farther than the drama queens and prima donnas who have an “entitlement” attittude.
For those who say Sakura should take note of the fact that she’d never been cast in a major role because it may mean something for the future in the field: maybe so, but maybe not.
Some schools are viciously competitive in theater, and the same few kids get picked for everything all the time. I went to one of those; John Cusack graduated a couple of years ahead of me. Plus the school was bloody huge, but even with an enrollment of 3500, if a play only has a cast of ten, you still have a huge number of people competing for those roles.
There were plenty of kids auditioning who would have done fine in theater at a normal high school, who simply couldn’t even make the chorus of the annual musical because the competition was too stiff, and the theater teachers always picked the same few kids. (Some of them were picked for their looks more than for their talent IMHO, which is really sad at the high school level, but what can I say, we live in a screwed-up society.) The same was true in athletics, and dance, and anything else at my high school where there were tryouts or auditions; a few people will win, and the rest will be disappointed. That doesn’t mean that the ones who missed out are significantly less talented or skilled; sometimes, it just means they got the raw end of the deal.
High school is supposed to be a time where people can try their hand at new things. It’s sad when it becomes so political.
I hope I’m not too late in saying this, but DAVEW00, I think there’s something you should keep in mind.
There have been several Pit threads lambasting parents such as the father of the boy who didn’t get MVP for his hockey team, and the parents of the girl who almost didn’t graduate on time, and like that. I am NOT comparing you to those people, and I am aware that those cases were about lawsuits, not conferences. But I wanted to remind you that you could be making Sakura vulnerable to the same kind of criticism.
It’s a good freakin lesson for a kid to learn … that life ain’t fair. You don’t always get what ya want. You won’t always have your parents there to fight your battles.
this is all a blessing really.
And for those who think it’s just horrible… I once heard about a child getting cancer.