We auditioned close to thirty kids yesterday for CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS and while we sat around the table after figuring out the cast it was such a joy to have TEN ROLES WRITTEN FOR YOUNG WOMEN. Yep. Ten! Ten distinct and complex teenage girls. The cast for CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS is twenty total, which includes seven cheerleaders (all female), five football players (4 male, 1 female), two non-cheerleading students (both female), and six aliens (all gender neutral).
Part of the reason why the cast is so skewed to be female heavy is because when I was in high school and college I was desperate to find better parts for myself, it's also because I'm sick of seeing women and girls always playing girlfriends or wives or grandmas or maids that rarely get adventures to go on of their own, but also, if I'm being totally honest, it's also because girls are who shows up. We had over twenty girls at auditions. And they killed it. And it's not just at a youth theatre that you see those numbers, every time I've sat in an audition ever it's always skewed disproportionately to being way female heavy. That's not all to say that I won't or don't write male parts either, I have my all-dude play LET'S FIX ANDY, which I feel all sorts of urgency about for very different reasons, but most of what I'm drawn to as a writer are stories about women and girls for both the social reasons and practical ones. Because, let's get real, if you're a playwright looking to get work done, I can almost guarantee you there are more hungry female actors ready to jump into your parts than male, and since this is already a very hard job, why not make it easier on yourself?
Also, it felt great. It felt great to have so many varying roles for these young ladies to take on, and I for one am excited as hell to see them do it.
More announcements about our cast, tickets, poster and tons of other great stuff is on the way, so stay tuned!