Producer Reality Check
How to Casta Play or Musical
Auditions: yay or nay? How do callbacks work? And how do you tell someone they didn't get cast?
6 MIN READ
Quick Answer
There isn't one right way to cast a show. Some productions make direct offers to actors they already know. Others hold auditions and callbacks, followed by weeks of deliberation. Most indie productions end up somewhere in the middle.
As a producer, your job isn't just to find talented performers. You're balancing ability, chemistry, availability, reliability, budget, and sometimes even marketing value.
The goal isn't to cast the "best" actors. It's to build the strongest company.
Casting Reality
Casting Is About People, Not Just Performances
Even though casting feels like the beginning of your show coming to life, you've probably already spent weeks (or even months) getting to this point. You've picked a show that feels produceable, built your core team, found a venue, started putting together a realistic production budget, and somehow convinced yourself this whole thing is actually happening.
Now you're really cooking with gas. Character names on the page are about to become real humans in the room for the first time.
The director will usually lead the creative conversation, but on many indie productions everyone is wearing multiple hats. You might also be the writer, director, composer, or all three. Every team divides responsibilities a little differently.
Regardless of who's making the final casting decisions, from a producer's perspective you should be focused on the big picture. It's not just about talent. You're balancing trust, fit, reliability, and who you actually want to be stuck in a room with for six weeks. Sometimes it also means balancing your director's creative priorities with an eye toward marketing.
Setting Yourself Up for Success
Build the Room Before Actors Walk Into It
Good auditions feel calm because somebody made a lot of decisions before anyone walked through the door. Wherever casting lands on your production timeline, before the first actor arrives, make sure the people, materials, and space are actually ready.
People
Who needs to be there? And what is each person responsible for?
On paper, this usually includes your core creative team: director, writer, and stage manager (at minimum).
If there's no stage manager yet, a lot of that work falls to the producer. That can mean running the room, calling actors in, tracking conflicts, taking notes, organizing self tapes, and making sure the day doesn't turn into a beautiful little paperwork bonfire.
- Core team
Director, writer, and stage manager. - Audition reader
A competent reader leads to better performances in the room. - Musicals
Have the composer or music director present, plus a pianist or rehearsal tracks. - Missing collaborators
Set up Zoom or record auditions so key people can weigh in later.
Materials
Audition sides should give actors something useful to play. A good side should capture either a highly emotional moment, the essence of the character, or ideally both. The material should reveal what an actor can bring to the role.
- Sometimes prepared material is the right choice.
- Sometimes improv tells you more.
- Who chooses the sides? Usually the director.
- Who prints or prepares them? Usually the stage manager.
You also need a tracking system before auditions begin. Shared spreadsheets, scoring systems, handwritten notes, or some combination of all three can work. The important thing is deciding how you'll track reactions, conflicts, callbacks, offers, and follow-ups before you're too deep into the process.
Space
Find an audition space that fits the production's needs and limitations. That might be a theatre, rehearsal studio, church, community space, courtyard, or whatever you can afford that gives actors enough room to do the work.
- Make sure actors can find it.
- Make sure someone can check people in and there's a waiting area.
- Make sure the team can hear, see, and take notes.
- Make sure the space matches your budget, not your fantasy version of the budget.
Casting Hacks
A Few Practical Casting Tips
No one can tell you who's right for your version of the show (and you probably wouldn't want me making your casting decisions anyway). Every production is different. But here are a few practical casting tips I've picked up after years of producing indie theatre.
GET CONFLICTS FIRST
Don't get surprised during tech week.
Ask for conflicts on day one and make sure everyone on the creative team sees them. Availability matters just as much as talent if you actually want to open on time.
VERIFY EQUITY STATUS
Fall in love after you've checked.
Whether a role is union or not should already be in the breakdown, but double check anyway. The last thing you want is to find your perfect actor only to realize they legally can't do your production.
AUDITIONS AREN'T THE WHOLE STORY
You never really know until you're in the room.
Working with someone is different than watching them audition. That's why directors and producers rehire people they trust. If you're unsure about someone, asking around never hurts.
CALLBACKS ARE OPTIONAL
Don't manufacture another round.
Callbacks exist to answer questions, not because you're "supposed" to have them. If you already know who you want, trust yourself and keep the process moving.
PLAN YOUR UNDERSTUDIES
Don't wait for someone to get sick.
If you're using understudies, which I recommend for longer runs, decide how you'll cast them before callbacks. Will they come from your runner-ups, or through a separate process?
BE TRANSPARENT
The more you tell actors, the better they'll audition.
Spell out pay, rehearsal dates, expectations, and commitments early. When actors aren't guessing the logistics, they can focus on the work.
PROTECT YOUR SCRIPT
The internet remembers everything.
If you're sending audition sides from your show, watermark them. It's a simple step that helps keep your material from wandering around the internet forever.
RECORD EVERYTHING
Memory is a liar.
Auditions blur together faster than you think. Record them so you can revisit performances instead of relying on whatever your brain happened to remember.
CLOSE THE LOOP
Even if it's a no.
Actors are used to rejection, but auditioning takes real emotional investment. Closing the loop builds your reputation as a communicative producer. Don't be cold, don't over-explain. Just be direct, polite, and let people know where they stand.
Sometimes casting is more complicated than just figuring out who will deliver the strongest performance in a role. You're not just determining who is going to be onstage; you're deciding the optics of your show.
By being inclusive of different ages, races, genders, and accessibility needs when assembling your ensemble, you are telegraphing to prospective audiences that they are welcome at your show regardless of their background. It also allows performers to bring their full selves to work and opens the door for more varied perspectives to be a part of your collaboration.
— Shaina Rosenthal, Director, Kill Shelter
Inside MTDS
Congratulations. You're Halfway There.
If you've made it to casting, you've already done a huge amount of the work. The goal now is to get everything in place (creatively and logistically) so that when actors walk into the room, your team can focus on making great theatre instead of putting out fires. MTDS lays out your roadmaps, so you can spend less time reinventing the process and more time building the right company.
- Intro to agreements and production paperwork
- Audition, rehearsal, and stage management guides
- Budgeting and hire tracking sheets
- Guides, advice, and practical tools built for indie theatre producers
FAQs
A casting breakdown should clearly explain the project, the available roles, rehearsal and performance dates, pay (if any), union status, audition instructions, submission deadline, and any special skills or requirements. The clearer your breakdown is, the better your submissions will be.
Need Help Running Your Show? Here's a Plan That Actually Works.
MTDS combines producing guides, budgeting tools, fundraising frameworks, templates, checklists, and practical workflows built from real indie theatre experience. The goal isn't to give you one "correct" way to produce a show. It's to help you make smarter decisions, avoid common disasters, and build a process that actually works for you, your team, and what you realistically have available.
Who made this?
Make The Damn Show was created by Brian Rosenthal, a writer/producer with over 15 years of experience creating original theatre and comedy.
As a founding member of Tin Can Bros and Team StarKid, he has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, toured internationally, worked Off-Broadway and on the West End, sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe, and produced cult musicals like Spies Are Forever and Solve It Squad.