Casting & Audition Policies

YMTC practices an equitable, diverse, and inclusive cultural- and color-conscious approach to casting. Students of every race, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation, body type, and experience level are welcome to audition and participate in our programs.

YMTC is committed to color-conscious casting. Color-conscious, as opposed to color-blind, is a pedagogy for casting that recognizes the discrimination and racial bias faced by Black and Indigenous performers and performers of color and seeks to cast productions in a way that acknowledges and attempts to repair that harm. Musical theater as an art form is, like most Western performing arts, steeped in a history of racial inequality, especially when it comes to casting practices. The intent of color-blind casting can be noble, as it aims to level the playing field in casting and ask the audience to simply forget that racial differences exist. Color-aware casting, on the other hand,acknowledges that we are not a “post-racial” or “color-blind” society, and that true diversity, equality, and inclusion means elevating and celebrating the voices and talents of BIPOC performers. 

Auditions are hard. We sincerely appreciate the courage it takes put yourself on the line and to risk what feels like rejection when you don’t get the role you want, or even a part in a show. We also know that the casting decisions we make will inevitably disappoint some of you.

Exceptional training is at the heart of what we do, and we want to offer every student an opportunity to learn from their audition experience. One way we do this is by providing all YMTC production auditioners individualized feedback about their audition — something rarely provided in the world of professional theater.

This feedback takes a very specific form, and is crucially distinct from the casting process. The following guidelines clarify this, and are meant to help students and their parents know just what they can expect from us once a cast list has been posted, and what in turn we expect of them.

What we won’t do:

1. Reconsider a casting decision. Once a casting decision has been made, it is final. The casting team will not offer explanations for, entertain complaints about, or discuss in any way the decisions that have been made, with anyone.
   
2. Discuss the casting decision with parents. The casting team will not discuss the casting decision or the student’s audition with the student’s parent(s).

What we will do:

1. Provide written feedback to student inquiries about the audition. If a student wishes to receive written feedback about his/her audition, he/she is welcome to write an email to info@ymtcberkeley.org, and one of the directors on the casting team will respond to him/her with a personal email as soon as they are able after casting is completed (this may take several weeks, so please be patient with us). The response will include kind and constructive criticism regarding a student’s audition, and specific advice about where to most effectively direct efforts for improvement.
2. Help describe what does go into casting a show. Casting is a challenging and complicated process, involving multiple variables. A number of key elements that go into a casting decision are simply out of a student’s control. By the same token, we would like students to know what elements they can control and improve upon. Toward this end, we have enumerated Ten Qualities That Influence Casting.
3. Encourage ongoing training. Finally, we urge students to continue their training through workshops and classes, whenever possible, and will happily point any student toward upcoming opportunities at YMTC (or elsewhere) that require no audition to participate. We believe it is much more productive and effective to work on one’s performance skills when the pressure of auditioning is not looming ahead.

Thank you for auditioning for YMTC!