I saw a couple of threads similar to mine, but thought I'd throw this out anyway.

Is there any way to get and keep actors?

I wrote a flash drama that was accepted for a festival in Minnesota. Back in June, I lined up 3 good actresses, ones I had worked with before. Performance was to be Sept 9th, so lots of lead time. At the end of July, when rehearsal time came, so did the excuses. They all eventually had to drop out, so I sent out the word and lined up 3 more who said they'd be glad to do it... and then I had to recast again... and finally, last Friday I had to drop out because 2 MORE of my actresses dropped out! In all, I had 11 actresses commit to my 3 parts, and with 2 weeks to go I had done a total of 4 rehearsals with various ones. There simply wasn't enough time anymore to prepare for the festival, so I had to cancel.

Is this just a general problem, or is it that I had to use younger actresses? (the characters were in high school). Does it ever get better?

    -- Daryl

Okay, it always makes it better to know you're not the only one having problems. Thanks!

Is this your first time directing? I can't say I was very thrilled with my first try. It was a small production, and there was STILL too much to do, even without worry about casting (which was about 90% of my efforts).

We have a pretty tight-knit theatre community.  Everyone knows pretty much everyone else amonst the various theatres. Everyone tries to support one another. In other words, we communicate and respect each other.

Originally posted by Tallsor We have them sign an agreement on the audition form - didn't seem to help .