How does college musical theater casting work?

Question:Especially in smaller schools? Is there a lot of bias? I've heard a lot of departments have their shows cast even before auditions, is this true?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Especially in smaller schools? Is there a lot of bias? I've heard a lot of departments have their shows cast even before auditions, is this true?

I attend a small community college, and I am actually currently writing an article for the newspaper about the musical auditions that are going on this week. I have talked to a few students who are auditioning, and what I have gathered is that it seems to be the same group of close knit friends who are in chorus, music, ect., that seem to audition and get casted everytime. Plus, the director of the musical is the chorus teacher, so obviously he's going to be bias towards his students, and he knows all them ahead of time and is probably already having an idea in his head about who would be good for what role. So if somebody new were to come audition out of the blue then I do kinda think that they have a harder time getting casted, unless they're like outstanding blow you outa the water. So to answer your question, yes I think it is a little biased, and the director probably does have a good idea of who's going to be the cast before auditions even begin.

Hello,
to answer your question; as far as im concerned NO...I attend a local community college if that counts as a smaller school. Anyway, they usually have people in mind from previous shows, that they think would be great for a certain part but They also love new people so they do two days of auditions and then a call back....and then if they still dont find what they are looking for they pull out their old contact sheets and find who would fit the role, and still ask to them to audition, sometimes they dont even cast them....well thats what goes on my school and hope i answered your question

I think it depends on the size/strength of the musical theatre department (if you have one). The shows are really to help the MT majors and so they will usually be selected based on the talents of those in the program (ex. don't have any dancers in the program? Don't do 42nd st. Don't have a good ethnic mix? Don't do Ragtime. And so on). While the director may have someone in mind for a part, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily be cast if someone better comes along. Auditions are usually open to the whole school and someone who's not in the program can certainly get in.