Came very close to having to step into my cast for the final day of our run during this last show.  One actor was out sick, and another didn't show up at school until later.  The first we were able to cover with two actors already in the show, but the second would have had to been me.

Just got me thinking about the idea of adults in a high school production.  I've got three situations in my head, and I don't know how I feel about each of these:

1) A choir director in a neighboring high school decided he wanted to play a main role in his show.  From the auditions forward, he was the lead.  I don't know any other details, but I can't imagine any situation where this would be warranted.

2) Another neighboring high school was doing Bye Bye Birdie several years ago.  Two weeks before the show, the student playing Conrad was caught getting "friendly" with his girlfriend in the green room during rehearsal.  He was kicked out of the show and suspended from school, so the drama director stepped in and played Conrad.  Slightly awkward, but understandable.

3) When I was in high school and in Joseph, the woods teacher was cast as Potiphar.  Although I didn't question it at the time, I do wonder why a student wasn't cast in the role.

What are your thoughts about adults (especially the director) being used in a high school production?

I think having adults in a show with teenagers and/or children is a good idea all around.  Their responsibility should not necessarily be to detract from the kids' performance, but anchor their performance and demonstrate the responsibility and discipline it takes to create a successful performance.  I also don't think that an adult should have a larger role than any of the kids unless absolutely necessary.

Many children's theatre groups have created successful models with this in mind.  It might be a good idea to research them if you're interested to see how different companies handle it.

I'm with peacock on this one.  High school theatre is about high school performers.  It's their space, and it's their place to shine.  Any adult casting, however well intentioned, is going to detract from the students - and that shouldn't happen.

I think I'm more in squti's camp on this.  As I was thinking back (don't know how I forgot about this), when we did Big River in high school, the director used an English teacher as Huck's dad- I suspect a lot of it was so a student didn't have to sing "sorry sons of b****es"- but he was really funny in the role, and it was a huge departure from his normal decorum in class.  It was kind of neat to see him in a different light.

We're doing Seussical next year for our musical, and during the opening of Act II, the Cat is conducting the pit orchestra.  My pragmatic brain always wondered, "Where's the conductor during this?"  Well, since I generally conduct the band and play an instrument in the pit, I figured I'd just be playing, but then I saw a neat version of the gag on YouTube- the orchestra gets to the final strain of the entre act, and the conductor comes bursting through the curtain, bound and with a hood over his head!  The Cat then rushes up onto the stage, hamming it up, and releases the furious conductor.  The conductor (also hamming it up), stomps angrily back to his position and gives the final downbeat before the cat yells, "Seuss!"  Was considering doing that in our show- it would be funny, and it certainly wouldn't be taking away a role from a student, which I really like.

Marty I completely understand your scenario...but what if you had 1000+ (just a random number) students to chose from?  Would you still cast teachers and community members?