Very young children in theatre productions

[SoloPolox]

My son is only 2 but I don't want to miss the boat. I see very young children in many theatre productions and I just wondered how they go about gaining such places? Stagecoach starts from age 4 I believe, are there any other similar types of classes for younger children? Or are people registering with agencies? I have no idea how this all works. I'm also well aware my son may hate this, have zero interest, or just naturally not be a good fit for such roles. Which I'm fine with.

Lots of those appear on 'not a pushy mom' website. Be aware that you will need to obtain child performance licences, which depending on your local authority can be a fraught process. It is likely that you will hand your child over to a licenced chaperone for the performance.

Kids' amateur theatre in front of an audience of parents will be over in less than 5 minutes for that age group, and then they'll be backstage being looked after by chaperones.

There are rigorous laws about children in the performing arts - what they are and are not allowed to do, and for how long, and endless regulations for chaperones. Children who perform more than a handful of times in a year will need an official performance licence from the council, even if it is only for local amateur stuff. They are very strict about it.

Unless you are talking about child modelling/tv/film acting (can't help you with that) then there is basically nothing for him to do for a few years yet. Unless he does something like baby ballet, there are a load of franchises for that.

Do also bear in mind that for 99.99% of all children who start doing this sort of thing, it will just be a fun hobby for an hour or two a week and that's that.

Why do you want him to start so young? I mean my daughter made me sign her up for theatre school.at 3 and auditioned for her first show at 3.5 but all the push came from her (and still does!). I was very reluctant but she was pushing very hard to do it.

I think it is easier when they are a bit older, I would hang on at least a couple of years.

What do you mean by young? Very few have under 8s due to stringent child licensing rules. They often choose children who can play down. Roles in theatre are often advertised by casting directors Jessica Ronane and Jo Hawes, you can sign up for their email notifications.The kids we've come across who perform professionally early have done amdram or dance workshops, often attached to provincial theatres, then gone on to stage schools like Sylvia Young, Arts Ed or Brit. For West End you usually have to live within an hour of the theatre, or have relocated for training. Two is way too young to consider it seriously though.

Join dance/ theatre schools with a linked agency. He he's good enough they will put him forward for auditions.

The youngest child I’ve known of in a professional theatre production is about aged 5 (Miss Saigon & Madame Butterfly which both require a certain ethnicity.

Amateur companies tend to start at around age 7/8 onwards. If a very young child is needed then productions often contact local dance schools or Stagecoaches but it’s very rare for a child under tThe age of 8.

my daughter’s first professional part was a non speaking dancing role in Aida aged 8. The company took children from Stagecoach and a local ballet school. Aged 9 she was a miniature granny and a chicken in George’s Marvellous Medicine then aged 10 she auditioned for panto (open auditions).

my son wanted to audition for the Priscilla tour but he was too unreliable back then (autistic) though he has since done quite a bit of amateur stuff. He was aged 8 but tiny, looked about 4!

childrens casting are often open auditions and children have to look young.

Yes, 3 year olds are very pushy about auditioning.

How can a 2 year old have missed the boat??

Although yes he's too old to be a baby on stage www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/feb/24/baby-actors-nappies-ferryman-lyra-book-of-dust

Doubt me if you like @Bookshadow but anyone who knows her wouldn't be at all surprised! She's known her own mind on things since she was in nappies. Both mine were very early talkers too so had no difficulty letting me know there thoughts on things. She saw the theatre school happening at the same time as her toddler ballet and asked to try it. And when they told her about the audition for their show she told me about it and was very clear with me that she wanted to do it- I packed spare underwear in case of accidents and she packed her doll!

By the time of the show she was just about to turn 4 and had no difficulty saying her lines or remembering what she needed to do on stage. In between the time on stage the big children would read her stories or do colouring with her

However, having helped chaperone I would say it isn't something I would put a child through unless it is very actively their choice. It's a big time commitment for a small child.

Yeah

As others have said there are very few super young roles in professional theatre. Young cosette/ eponine is about 7 I think?? My DD started at 8 and we have a similar story to others - put forward to audition by her stage school. Also agree that it does have to come from them.

Will add that she'd been at stage school from 4 so a few years of training by then.

They are normally about 9-12 but are cast a little younger and trained.

My panto juveniles started at 8 as the youngest ones. Years ago one of my smallest kids in panto got Young Cosette while she was doing panto and went off to do that soon after. I think she was 8.

A lot of dance schools will do baby classes for 2-3 year olds and then start more formal classes 3-4ish if they are ready, lots of kids aren’t but some are particularly if they’ve seen it and want to join in! They have to want to do it though, there’s no way you will get a 2 year old to cooperate with dancing class if they don’t want to 🤣 dance is a good start to theatre because it puts you in touch with your body and how it moves, helps you learn rhythm and expression which is really important for any kind of performance.

The youngest I currently now of for a musical is the little girl cast as Lulu in Waitress, she is about 5 years old but only comes on at the very end and does very little.

DD has done West End shows - it's one heck of a commitment for both child and parents (and needs to be driven by the child).

For shows like Les Mis, the girls are generally between 7.5 and 10. Other shows tend to be 9 - 13 years. Children in theatre tend to be very tiny and young looking for their age. DD was on the 5th centile and generally smaller than most children in the year below at school.

You will need to have a child who can sing well, move well and who has extreme confidence. The auditions are brutal and they need to be able to take the knocks and not let it define them. They also need stamina and not need an early bedtime (and still be able to go to school the next morning).

The big WE shows you won't need an agent as they are open audition - just keep an eye on Jo Hawes website, or the individual show websites. You've got ages yet - 7 is about the youngest age to start auditioning.