A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an MT production at "tippy top" program. I have seen many of their performances over the decades (like three). In the last few years, something about the cast members at large has caught my notice: In this particular show, with a cast of 10 -12 female cast members, more than half of them appeared to be of short stature - under 5' 2"-ish to perhaps 4'9" or thereabouts (one woman appeared "tall" to my eye (6'?) and two/three "average"). Amongst the 12 or so men, maybe two were 6' or taller, a couple average, the rest 5'9"-ish or under. This trend(?) has been very noticeable to me in the last three years or so at this program. Has anyone else noticed this at other schools? (I may be an outlier, since my S is north of 6' and I'm always comparing actor heights) Is there something genetic that preconditions shorter-than-average young people to have a passion for MT? (I get the whole, "I was too short to compete in sports" or "Other kids picked on me because I was short and I never fit in" thing) Are shorter actors more "marketable" and therefor give your alumni an edge in getting hired so let's pack 'em in? I do know that S has been rebuffed by a local casting agent (who has many clients in film/video) because he is "too tall" for television. Are these kids partially chosen because they can play "young" or will "fit" in the video realm?
The cast members' credits listed in the program also brought to mind another debate that pops up frequently here on CC: a few of the student cast members - all freshmen to juniors - had previous film/video/TV credits listed and two freshmen already had equity cards and broadway experience. Is this perhaps evidence that "tippy top" programs get freshman classes made up of students who would "shine" no matter what program they were plopped into?
I am in no way disparaging the talent/skill of these students - the ensemble singing was phenomenal! I'm just curious if others are seeing a similar preponderance of a particular "type" at other schools - not talking about "underrepresented populations" (this cast was significantly more ethnically diverse than the kids at my S's program). The students at my S's program seem to have more "character" or "quirky" types than was evident in this cast (to be fair, this particular show would not highlight those particular traits and perhaps "those" students were not cast or those traits were subjugated in this staging).
Just wondering what others out there might be noticing in regards to "types" being accepted to any given school. Is this a reflection of which future graduates are deemed "hirable"? The leads in a recent touring broadway musical that came to my town were not as tall as one might expect - does this make it possible to pack more actors into a single bus, therefor representing a cost-saving measure?;) Have those of you with film/video interests had experience with actor height being an issue? Please don't see this query as an intention to start a firestorm. I'm just a parent trying to peer into the MT "crystal ball". Hah!
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