In the performing arts, casting is a vital pre-production process for selecting a cast (a meaning of the word recorded since 1631) of actors, dancers, singers, models and other talent for a live or recorded performance. The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artists own body, face and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... Photograph of the once famous model Dovima A model is a person who poses or displays for purposes of art, fashion, or other products and advertising. ...

Casting process

It typically involves a series of auditions before a casting panel, composed of individuals such as the producer, director and/or choreographer. In the early stages of the process, candidate performers often may present prepared audition pieces such as monologues or songs. Later stages may involve groups of candidates attempting material from the work under consideration in various combinations; the casting panel considers both the talent of the individual actors and the chemistry of their combination. An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist. ... A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatrical production. ... A theatre director is a principal in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a play by unifying various endeavors and aspects of production. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... A monologue, pronounced monolog, is a speech made by one person speaking his or her thoughts aloud or directly addressing a reader, audience, or character. ... A rand is a relatively short musical composition. ...

Depending on the prestige of the role, casting calls may go out to the public at large (typical for community theatre), to professional and semi-professional local actors (for supporting roles in theatre and film) or to specifically selected actors (for leading roles, especially in films). It has been suggested that Amateur theatre be merged into this article or section. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

• In the production of film and television, a similar process is followed.

However, especially for major productions, the process of selecting candidates for sometimes hundreds of parts and possibly thousands of extras may often require specialised staff; while the last word remains with the people in artistic and production charge, a Casting director (and/or Casting Assistant, Casting Associate) may be in charge of most of the daily work involved in this recruiting process during pre-production; in addition the "CD" may also remain as liaison between director, actors and their agents once the parts have been cast. Some of them build an impressive career, e.g. working on numerous ambitious Hollywood productions, such as Mary Jo Slater Rick Pagana and Rick Millikan. The significant organisation of professional screen - and theater casting in the US is the Casting Society of America (CSA), but membership is optional. Pre-production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance. ... Mary Jo Slater is a casting director and producer for film, television and theatre. ...

At least in the early stages and for extras, casting may be decentralized geographically, often in conjunction with actual shooting planned in different states, e.g. in Hollywood or New York (studio) and one or more exotic locations (e.g. Hawai, the Far East) and/or budget locations, e.g. Canada, Ireland. Another reason may be tapping in to each home market in the case of an international co-production. However for the top parts, the choice of one or more celebrities, whose presence is of enormous commercial importance, may rather follow strictly personal channels, e.g. direct contact with the director.

• The resulting list of actors filling the parts is called a cast list.

The industry is contentious, with frequent discontent arising from charges of nepotism, stereotyping and bigotry. The term Casting Couch emerged during the so-called "Golden Age" of Hollwood, when would-be-stars often granted sexual favours to directors and/or producers they wanted to cast them. Celebrated Hollywood and Broadway director Elia Kazan in his autobiography described the Golden Age casting process like this: "when it came to actresses, not Darryl [Zanuck], not Harry Cohn, not Louis Mayer, not Sam Goldwyn needed consultation. They went by a simple rule and a useful one: Do I want to fuck her? I believe this rule of casting is not only inevitable but correct, and quite the best method for the kind of films they made" (p. 229). However wanting to may simply mean recognizing sex appeal, not necessarily acting upon it. Dramatis personae is a Latin phrase (literally the persons of the drama) for the characters in the plot of a play, and is used to refer collectively to the characters represented in a dramatic work (various forms of theater, but also on screen) to be played by the acting cast... For the term used in Computing, see Stereotype (computing). ... Elia Kazan, (Greek: Ηλίας Καζάν, IPA: ), (September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. ... Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891–February 27, 1958), sometimes nicknamed King Cohn, was president and production director of Columbia Pictures. ... Louis Burt Mayer (July 4, 1882[1] – October 29, 1957) was an early film producer, generally cited as the creator of the star system within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in its golden years. ... Samuel Goldwyn (August 17, 1879, Warsaw, Poland – January 31, 1974, Los Angeles, California, United States) was a major producer of motion pictures. ...

See also

• Stunt casting
• Typecasting
• Character actor
• Stock character
• Dramatis personae
• Ethnic stereotypes in popular culture
• Film
• Opera
• Theatre

Stunt casting is a term in casting that refers to hiring well known actors, such as movie stars, to play bit parts on television series and in films. ... For other meanings, see typecasting. ... A character actor is an actor, especially in motion pictures, who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Dramatis personae is a Latin phrase (literally the persons of the drama) for the characters in the plot of a play, and is used to refer collectively to the characters represented in a dramatic work (various forms of theater, but also on screen) to be played by the acting cast... Ethnic stereotypes in popular culture, involve a stereotypical representation of the typical characteristics of a members of an ethnic group in music, literature, print media, film and the performing arts that is often false or over-simplified. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ...

Compare

• Jury research

Jury research is a method of understanding how jurors (usually in a court case) will react with certain information. ...

Sources and external links

• BackStage.com and Casting.BackStage.com: various casting resources from the trade publication Back Stage, including news, production lists, a searchable actor database and an entertainment jobs database with frequently updated casting/audition notices and script sides.
• 4Filmmaking.com's Guide to Casting: a step-by-step article for independent filmmakers on how to find, audition, and cast actors.
• IMDb's definition of "casting"
• Career Guide: The Casting Director video interview with Jim Carnahan at American Theatre Wing, 2002
• The Casting Director Working in the Theatre video at American Theatre Wing, 2007
• ActorsPages.org and ActorsPages.org/Casting: Casting calls from all over the world, actors database and audition sides.