Stage school end of year play

[Mrscouldron]

Hi. I’m not sure I am being unreasonable here. Both kids 6 & 8 attend a stage school. A local one for 90 minutes a week. I received an email this afternoon regarding the end of year panto. I assumed all the children would be given a part. Even just a small non speaking part for the younger ones. It turns out we have to pay £120 per child for them to audition and they aren’t guaranteed a part. Is this usual? Each week starting from the autumn term they will be rehearsing. What will happen to the kids who don’t have a part? Aibu to be a bit annoyed about this?

Check to see whether any local theatre has a youth group. Please avoid Stagecoach or any of the big names if you can- they are franchises and are incredibly variable. Some are brilliant but....

You should be able to ask about how parts are allocated-it's a red flag if you feel you can't. My DS runs a youth theatre- they have an end of year showcase where everyone who wants to do something can-but they also have auditioned shows during the year where parts are allocated on merit. And £120 to audition is absolutely outrageous.

So what happens during the weekly sessions for those who don't pay up? If the rehearsal sessions and coaching were separate to the regular classes it might make more sense, fir a one off audition fee not .

No, my dd did loads of drama stuff and we never once paid to audition. Some, like Rare Prodctions, do charge if you choose to take the part offered. I thought this was a bit cheeky but to be fair, the quality of the production was excellent and much better than any of the local stage schools.

The drama school that dd attended did audition kids for the main roles, but everyone ended up with some sort of role.

I'd be inclined to leave and look for something else.

My children go to a stage school. We pay termly fees for the classes then when they do a big scale production we pay £5 per child audition which I think is mainly to cover the hire of the room. However this is just for main roles. All children will get a back ground role if they do not want to audition. Then we pay for costume hire of around £30 per child. The termly fees are really reasonable so I don't mind the extras but I wouldn't be happy with £120 just to audition.

How long do the auditions last? If 4 people watched the auditions, and each child auditioned for 15 minutes, that’s £120 per hour per staff member!!

It’s a husband and wife who run it so it’s only them

That’s a total rip off!! Auditions for 3rd Musical Theatre and Dance colleges around £45! Those are the only audition fees my DD ever had to pay.

I have never heard of a stage school charging audition fees.

£120 per kid to audition is extortionate though and not for the customers/child's benefit.

That sounds ridiculous! It's their job to find a suitable play with the necessary number of parts, and I'm sure such things exist. Are they doing 'Waiting for Godot'?

Primary school nativity plays are always written with this in mind - providing a part for all the children. OK, not everyone can have a leading role, but they all need to be in it.

I agree it sounds sus, I wouldn't pay it.

One of my daughters went to PQA (the Pauline Quirke Academy), they have branches all over the UK. She loved it, and I felt like it was decent value for money. I paid around £95 a month for 3 hours a week on a Saturday morning, but it included all costumes and shows (although we did pay for tickets to see the shows!). They also run a couple of weeks in the summer where you can pay around £120 and one week they'll make a short film or the other week they put on a musical. My daughter only left because she needed to concentrate on exams and felt she had "aged-out" by 16.

How many people will audition OP, and how long will it take?

Each audition is 5 minutes and there are 30 kids in the group. I’m not sure how many of those will actually audition.

OK so 5 minutes per audition, maybe 5 minutes to talk about it afterwards. Assuming all the kids audition, that’s £3600 for 5 hours work isn’t it?! That’s insane.

It is and it seems that some parents are prepared to pay it!

I would ask what further costs there will be if they are in the panto.

I wonder if the audition does get them a spot and it also includes extras like rehearsal, costumes etc. I really hope it does.

Are you sure it's not on top of their normal classes and for a show separate to their end of term performance? This is what DDs group used to do.

£120 is only if they get a part surely? There's no way that £120 is to audition. You must have misunderstood!

I did email to clarify and unfortunately not a misunderstanding. If they don’t audition and get a part they won’t be in any productions at all. Apparently they don’t do any productions where every child gets a chance to participate! Apparently this way it encourages commitment and hard work!

And those with parents with deep pockets. Do they offer subsidised fees for lower incomes or to encourage those with potential?

No nothing like that.

But there is only 30 children do they not have a "chorus" in their panto.

Are the initials of the group PP.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt 🧐.....

Maybe they do it to ensure a commitment to the production? I'm guessing everyone who pays you gets a part, and the parents are financially invested in getting their kids to rehearsals etc.
Also added benefit if not having to find a part for child 38, and the parents moaning they were given 3rd Tree.

Maybe they previously struggled with kids poor commitments or dropping out 2 weeks before the show it whatever?

That's because its a primary school, not a theatre group?

Don't pay it then. It's a free choice, not a tax.

My youngest attends a stage school, fres are about £350 a term for 3 hours a week. I am not stunned by the standard and considering withdrawing her, but she loves doing it.

They do a showcase for autumn and spring terms, and a musical for the summer term. Everyone gets a part (or more than one). There is no fee to audition, they submit a self taped audition which is usually an excerpt of the script plus a song. Parts are allocated, although you don’t necessarily get the part you auditioned for, but this has worked in my daughter’s favour as they have given her bigger parts which were less well known, or parts that played to her strengths (very dry sense of humour and good comic timing).

They have advanced classes which DD has twice auditioned for, and not got into. They don’t charge for the audition, but you have to have paid the deposit for the next term’s fees to audition.