I’m looking for as much feedback on this as possible.

I have been faced with a dilemma. Despite our best efforts, we are having a difficult time casting a play. There are only twelve people in the cast.

Part of the dilemma is that of those I would like to cast, there is the problem of trying to get twelve people in the same place to rehearse. I’m sure you all know what I mean.

I have made an offer to the board to change the show before it gets too late. I have found an appropriate show that only has three people, and a much easier set. I’ve also found two of the three cast members needed.

Recently, this company was unable to do a show because they couldn’t cast it. They ended up doing a variety show. They also had to change a show because the rights were pulled at the last minute.

I’m now getting the feeling that they don’t want to change this current show because of their recent track record. Some might feel it reflects badly on the organization.

My feeling at this point is, if you can do a different show better, than do it. I would much rather change the show mid-stream than continue to pursue a show that is plagued with casting problems.

Has your theater been faced with this problem? Would you care to share your success or horror story here? I’ll be going before the board this Friday to present my case.

I think you should change plays and as soon as possible. I've had trouble with this before, but I don't want to ruin your experience or something like that. Anyway. The sooner the better because you know where this is going to end up. If you know the ship is sinking, JUMP! As for the company, I think this is a bit of their problem. They have had trouble with this before, right? I believe that you should start with plays that have smaller casts ('Fool For Love' is a good one, or so I think) until you reach a bigger audience or something like that. Well, I hope this high school teenager's ramblings have helped some what. I wish you the best.

The thing that we as artists often forget is that our sometimes "heroic" efforts to get a production underway are completely unknown to the viewing audience. The ticket buyers don't know you had to re-cast the female lead three times, or that the butler broke his leg practicing his "Crouching Tiger" moves on the edge of the stage. (Both from personal experiences.) All they see is the show in front of them. I think doing a poor show (under-rehearsed) is far more damaging than switching shows before the press releases have even gone out! I would think 80% or more of your audience will have no idea that you had to switch shows; probably only those in the group and the auditioners would have any idea.
Finally, I don't see how this board has any choice. You can't for example, do "12 Angry Men" with four people (and probably 3 of those are women)! Choose a different show, keep it within your range and do a fantastic job of it. That is more valuable than anything I can think of.
On another note, seriously consider how you want to go forward with this group. If they insist upon sticking to the plan and muddling through with the original show, do you want to be associated with it? While pulling out may endanger your future with the group how much worse is being associated with a bad show?
Remember you are not alone, we sympathize, break a leg!

Thank you all so much for your support. Since all the dust has settled, here is what happened. I’ve been busy the last seven days.

We had auditions for “Bad Seed” on a Friday and Saturday evening. Friday I had one man show up, and on Saturday I had one child, a teen, two women and another man show up. Of those that showed up for auditions I could only cast five of them, that left seven parts in the show still open.

Coincidentally, we had a board meeting that Sunday. I was hoping to report that all went well at auditions and we were ready to get underway with a fantastic cast. Needless to say I had to report the show was suffering a cardiac arrest and bleeding itself out fast (sorry, I’m an E.R. fan). I immediately got names and phone numbers of people who had worked with the company in the past. Several individuals from the board stepped into parts. We also agreed on moving the show dates back two weeks to accommodate for the holidays. I also presented them with the option of doing another show. Though they didn’t seem to like changing the show, I was given Friday as my “drop dead” date and we would see where we would go from there.

Over the next several days I was in contact with about fifteen other individuals, looking at availability and interests. I was doing well; I was getting the show cast. Then things took another turn for the worse. I started looking at people’s availability for rehearsals and was quickly finding that I couldn’t get all twelve of these people to rehearse at the same time. I tried to talk myself into making it work:

“That’s ok; we can rehearse for 45 minutes on Monday. I’ll meet with the little girl and her parent on Tuesday. No one can work Wednesday, that’s ok; I’ll give them that day off. We can rehearse every other Thursday with half the cast and the other have on alternate Thursdays. Friday’s are bad for most so I’ll just schedule one-on-one scene work. Maybe we could have a longer rehearsal on the weekends? Hmm. Nope, looks like there are too many conflicts on Saturday with jobs and people needing a social life. Sundays are looking good. We can rehearse an hour and a half in the mid-morning and then come back in the evening for about an hour.” I’ve sure several of you have had that internal conversation.

I plugged everyone’s schedule into my Excel spreadsheet, blacking out conflicts and three major holidays. We could have squeezed in about twenty rehearsals before we opened. We would have rehearsed just over 40 hours total, not including two days for a spotty tech. Then it hit me: “Oh my God! What am I thinking? No one can rehearse a show like this and have it be good.”

Then, on Thursday, I got the phone call that changed everything. I spoke with the mother of the little girl who would be playing Rhoda. At the end, we mutually agreed it would not be healthy for her daughter to deal with such subject matter at this time. Her mother was gracious and understood my situation as the director. But I sided with her, understanding that she had her daughter’s best intentions at heart.

I hung up and freaking out. I started thinking about a show that I could cast from those who auditioned. I thought we should keep the same general genre of “Bad Seed.” Well, there aren’t many shows with eight year old murderesses. Then the perfect show just popped into my head, “Agnes of God.” We’ll do “Agnes of God!” I had propped the show before and been its unofficial “blood master.” I always said if I ever had the chance to direct that show I would.

I called Samuel French the next morning, it was available. I made a few phone calls to the people I had been talking with all week. I tentatively cast the show that Friday afternoon. Later that evening the board approved my decision to change the show to “Agnes.” And we are having our first read through this Sunday.

Once again, thank you all!