Steps To The Stage
Steps To The Stage
Lord of the Flies: Two Casts, One Story
Power is easy to claim and hard to carry—especially when the rules fall away. We take you inside a bold staging of Lord of the Flies led by a first-time director who turns rehearsal into a living workshop on leadership, morality, and what it means to build a tribe. The twist: two full casts, one male and one female, telling the same story from different lived experiences to expose how gender, socialization, and pressure shape our choices when the conch hits the sand.
You’ll hear how the production was designed from the ground up to center actor growth. Blocking rehearsals united both casts, then split into scene studies anchored by written questions that forced clarity: What do I want? What stops me? What breaks inside me when I cross a line? The team’s most intimate exercise—letters written as the characters before the crash and after rescue—unlocked risky, grounded performances. Tears flowed, choices sharpened, and even the youngest cast members found language for grief, responsibility, and change. Around them, a veteran crew—producer, assistant director, stage manager, designers, and fight/movement coach—built an island that feels alive, from the carved light to the hum under the silence.
We also open the door on auditions and casting, where the goal wasn’t to mimic the book but to discover truth. Actors arrived with monologues that revealed who they are; callbacks measured preparation and chemistry rather than speed alone. The message was steady and freeing: you are worthy, and this is about the story we build together. As opening night approaches, the ensembles own their lines, their intentions, and their bond. See both casts and compare how power forms, fractures, and—sometimes—finds its way back to compassion.
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And I have to say, I failed miserably as a host. I should have brought a conch along and we can just move it to whoever there somewhere. Welcome to Steps to the Stage, a 7th Street Community Theater Podcast. Welcome to Steps to the Stage. My name is Kirk Lang, and I'm going to be your host today. We are with the Community Theater Professionals You Know and Love. We're really excited today because we're going to be diving into what is a very, very well-known and popular novel that came out in 1954, I believe, William Golding, if my research serves me well. And it's uh Lord of the Flies. And most of you who are listening, and we want to say hello to all of our listeners, not only across the country, but across both ponds as well. We love that you're involved in community theater, and we want to hear from you. So make sure and you know reach out to us on our social media or send us a message. Uh, we want to hear what's going on in Germany and Sweden and England and all those wonderful places that I know have great community theater alive and well, right? Shakespeare came up from across the pond. That's you know a lot of the reason why we're here. But we're going to talk today about Lord of the Flies. And we have an amazing production team in front of us today. We have Andrew, we have Dylan, and we have Gwen that's here. And earlier today I called her Glenn when we first came up. So just full disclosure. And there's kind of a twist to that that we'll talk about a little bit with this particular production. But these are veterans of our theater that have been here as actors for many, many years. I know I've seen several productions with all of you in there. Um, um, but now you're on the production side. So I'm I'm pretty excited to hear about that. So Lord of the Flies again is something we've all experienced in one way or another. Most of us had to read it in high school at some point, even me, um, when I rode my carriage to school back then and we rolled the rock to get in. I'm making a bad joke about how old I am. But um, so it's something we're familiar with. So I really want to touch on those themes when we bring a production to the stage here, especially if it's something that people are familiar with, how we want to make it our own and how we want to share it with the world. So, right now we're gonna go through and I'd like to hear uh have you each introduce yourself, your role, and then we'll dive into it.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Hi, everyone. Uh, my name is Andrew Landeros, and I am the director of Load of the Flies. Hello, my name is Dylan Johnston, and I am Jack.
SPEAKER_04:Hi, my name is Gwen Calibert. I am playing Ralph.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, wow. So I was totally mistaken. I thought you guys are part of the production team, but you're actually in the cast.
SPEAKER_04:Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Even better. Even better. I love that. So, Andrew, um, welcome. And I have a question. Is this your first time directing? This is my first time directing, yes. This is just absolutely amazing. We we so love the progression of um uh people that get the chance to come and perform on our stage, but then they actually move into the production team and now directing. So let's hear a little bit about that. That that had to be a bit of a leap, or let's hear about your background and what draw drew you to this.
SPEAKER_01:Uh so I've mostly been an actor my entire life, but uh the last show I did here was Newsies. I did newsies when I was 22 and I aged out of theater. And I was just getting back into theater and I wanted to step into more like directing positions. I wanted to try it out. So I started as a co-director with uh Debbie on uh Puffs, and then I was also helping Andrea out with uh Chi Chi Chi. Chi Chi Bang Bang, yes. But this was the first time that I did a show completely by myself. And it was scary going into it because I've never been a director before, and I was scared, you know, that I wouldn't be as good as the other directors here, or that my approach to it would be too different and that the actors wouldn't appreciate it, or that's it. There's some big shoes to fill here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Some really big big shoes to fill here. But uh and I'm glad that you have those concerns and that you're sharing them with us. But I love to hear that you've actually been with some of the also newer directors as well. So then you have that resource to talk to them when maybe you're struggling one night at rehearsal and you didn't need to bounce something off.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely have been going to Debbie and be like, hey, what do I do in this situation? What do I do in this situation? And it's also like it's scary because you know, I want the show to be good, but I don't want to fail anybody. I don't want to fail my actors, and I take all of their all of the faults and everything on myself. Right. Because I want it to be like I feel like any shortcomings are my fault because I'm the director. So it's been it's been hard and I get very stressed out.
SPEAKER_02:Well, in doing my research, I see that leadership is actually a pretty big theme of Lord of the Flies. So I love that you're taking on that leadership role and that you understand it is important and there is a large weight on your shoulder. And I imagine with the themes that this particular production covers, that you do take those to heart. And and you know, maybe there's the play within the play going on on the production side. Yeah, I get that. I love to hear that. And so um what drew you to Lord of the Flies and why did you submit for that um particular production?
SPEAKER_01:So I went to Ayala High School and uh Shout out to Bulldogs. Exactly. Uh so in the theater department, I was there under Mr. Hulk. Um but uh he had a thing called uh team, I mean class leaders or theater leaders. And for the advanced theater program, the three leaders they had to uh write their own script and direct their own script and cast it within the class. And when I did it in high school, I picked Lord of the Flies. And I did it, but you know, I was going through a really rough time in my life during that point, and I also I wasn't that experienced as an actor, I didn't really know what I was doing. I my only experience was at Ayala itself. Okay. So when I went about pitching this, I've always wanted to teach younger actors because I didn't get that growing up. I had to figure it out myself. Okay. And I've always I always, when I got to college especially, I thought I wish I had someone there. I don't come from that much of a supportive family. Like they didn't put me in theater, they didn't push me that much. Right. And it was all mostly myself doing all that.
SPEAKER_02:Self-motivation is a good thing, and everyone has different situations and experiences.
SPEAKER_01:But you know, I want to give that to the younger actors. So when I pitched the show, I wanted to do a show. First, one to redeem myself from that high school production, but also Lord of the Flies has such complex themes and complex characters that I could really use to teach an actor about how to act differently, how to think about things differently on stage. And I hope I've executed that well with them. Um but yeah, so then it was such such an important story that I would think would be so unique coming from two different castes, especially.
SPEAKER_02:And so you touch on two different casts, and and if our listeners weren't aware of this or haven't been following the socials here at the uh the community theater, the children's community theater, we have both a male and a female cast. So you're gonna be taking that approach from both perspectives. And as we talked about those themes, right? Morality, leadership, civility, and chaos, um you look at the gender placement of those, and and you can go to a couple of different directions. So I love that you're taking this on. And with that, we're gonna jump over to our actors, and we're gonna get a little bit about their history, but also their perspective in this particular situation. So, Dylan, you're gonna go first.
SPEAKER_00:All right. So uh I started at CCT. I started at CCT um doing puffs, actually, which was Andrew's first ever project. And it's kind of poetic because this is probably gonna be my last show here, and it's also gonna be with Andrew, with him doing his very first direct. Don't sell yourself out, man. There's lots of stuff that the adult theater can do.
SPEAKER_02:You may be back, but I I hear what you're saying. Maybe.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but yeah, like through the years here, uh CCT has definitely pushed me to be a better actor for sure through puffs, uh, which is funny. You're wearing a carry shirt. I was supporting leading carry. Yes, I love that. Yeah. And now I'm in college now, which is crazy to think about because I only started my junior year. Yeah. Now I'm in college doing these big shows, but I still love coming here. I love I definitely love educating because I'm the oldest guy in the mailcast. Okay. So now I'm like going from college with all these adults who are like 23 and up, going to like our youngest is 13, I believe. Oh wow. So it's like, I don't know. It's like it's just something beautiful about it. It's like you're never too old or too young to start theater. Right.
SPEAKER_02:And you got to experience it, obviously, doing several productions here. Did you also do productions in high school?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I did. Uh my very first long play was Our Town by Thorne Wildwood. Oh, beautiful. I was Mr. The Web. Okay. Yeah, I just got thrown in there. I I was in a stagecraft class for some reason. And the teacher was like, Hey, can you read some lines? You're really good. You're gonna get the lead. Oh, okay. And then uh did Lion King, and that's when I truly fell in love with theater. And now you're doing it in college as well. Yeah, I want to make this a job.
SPEAKER_02:The big goals Broadway. I love that. And it's achievable. And what's great to hear is there are quite a number of people that have actually performed on this stage that have also performed on Broadway. Yeah. So, Gwen, let's hear your story. I know you've been here for quite a long time and done a number of productions here. And I've seen some, I think, of your productions in high school as well. But love to hear a little bit about the history and where you're at with this cast.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so I've only been doing theater for around four years now, and my first very production, like ever, was Newsies, which was Andrew's last show that he's done here.
SPEAKER_02:I was actually in Newsies as well. I got to pay one of the Roosevelt. So we have a connection there.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and um, I don't know, I just fell in love with theater there. I've always loved the idea of performing since I was little, like just the dancing and singing. Like my the my family was like really revolved around music. And I just fell in love with it and the fact that I could do it all in one thing. It's just such a beautiful art.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It's so real and so live. And it's just it's so crazy how different it is. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Like well, so much emphasis is put on sports and those things that that are all around us, you know. Theater wasn't necessarily had the attention or the focus, right? And then you see productions like Hamilton coming out and having the worldwide, you know, appeal. You're seeing programs like Glee and things of that nature that are coming on TV. And so you're seeing it in our culture, and it's becoming something that's very acceptable. And so I think people are are definitely giving more effort, energy, and credence to it. So I love to hear that story. And that I played sports. You know what? Being in a production is like a season of sports, right? You have your coaches, you have your players, you have your goal, you're gonna go through every production is just like a game. And at the end of it all, you have the same memories and connections that you have. So um it's it's just it's so beautiful. I've I so appreciate that I've had the experience on both sides. But tell us more. So you also did some productions in school as well.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, I was also um in the same production as Dylan in Our Town and Lion King. Love it. And I just uh continued doing theater. Um, I stopped doing theater at my school last year.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:But uh because I wanted to explore other theaters and just see what's uh in store for me, which is a lot, which is exciting.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. So many theaters around, and one of the reasons why we expanded into our IE edition because we have four or five theaters just in the empire, and that doesn't even touch Pasadena, LA, Orange County, and everything else. So there's just so many, just in California. Yeah. I travel a lot for work and I love going to other productions in other states as well. So it's out there and it's definitely something you can can make a career out of it. So what made you decide to audition for Lord of the Flies?
SPEAKER_04:For Lord of the Flies. Um, I was in intern board last year, and so Andrew kind of um picked out a couple people in that group to perform it for the season reveal.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_04:And um so when I was picked to be a part of that, I learned more about his ideas for the show. And I've I've always looked up to Andrew. He he's just like a really amazing person, and I just like he's my idol. It's great, and um so I just fell in love with all his concepts for the show, and I've never read the book and I still haven't. Really?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, which is really funny, but um yeah, not necessarily a bad thing though, because we've talked about that um in some of the productions that have been here, especially the ones that are we'll say more well known or more popular or something. Sometimes I can influence the direction that a production can go because you are so influenced by what you've seen. So there's also beauty in not having seen it, because then you can take the page and the direction and create that character from there as well. So I love that. I'm gonna go back to you, Andrew. From the very beginning, did you know you wanted to do a male and a female cast? Okay. And what was the inspiration behind that?
SPEAKER_01:Or well, I wanted to take the story and make it unique to the actors. Okay. I believe true acting should come from who you are as a person and putting yourself into the boundaries of the character itself. So my whole goal with doing this show is to teach actors to be themselves and to use every single part of themselves to create a grounded and genuine reality. That's not just a play, it's real life for them.
SPEAKER_02:And what a play with so many topics that give you the vehicle to be able to do that. Exactly. So I'm I'm very excited to see both of the casts and see where that takes takes us as the audience goes.
SPEAKER_01:Especially because, you know, male and female, they have two different experiences and way they go about life. So you're gonna see two different experiences, two different realities on stage. And it's it's beautiful because it tells the same story, but so different at the same time.
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Ross Powell Dylan, what was your exposure to Lord of the Flies, or the same you hadn't read it, or had you had you?
SPEAKER_00:So never read the book. Okay. I didn't know of it though. Right. Never seen a production or anything like look up on YouTube, like not much. Um but then I saw that Andrew was directing. I'm like, oh, I like Andrew, I would compost with him. I love that. He's amazing. And uh yeah, like other people were reaching out to me, like, oh my god, you should audition for Load of the Flies. I think you'd be really good. You should audition. I'm like, okay. But same thing, uh, or like another thing going on. I had auditions for another show. Okay, and it was literally like pick or choose. But I told myself, like when I got the call for the role, I told myself, I trust Andrew, I trust his vision, I know it's gonna be a good show.
SPEAKER_02:That's a nice little glowing, uh, glowing endorsement there.
SPEAKER_01:I'm blushing.
SPEAKER_02:And I have to share with our audience as well, you know, this is just an audio podcast. We we don't typically do the video part of it, but to see them celebrate each other and the comments that you guys are making is really special for me as a host. To see the connections, like here you are, what, just a week or so out from opening, and you guys have gone through so much of the process, and then to hear each each of you give your feedback on on the question and to see you celebrate each other is I think really special, and I think that's a testament to the leadership. But it it's also a testament to the effort that you put in, meaning actors, into the roles, especially if it's a role that you're not familiar with, right? What were some of the things that you did? I mean, once you read um, once you read the script, uh where did you go? Gwen, talk to me about that process.
SPEAKER_04:And this role has been so, so incredibly different from any other role that I've ever played. This is my first leading play.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And it's really challenging because my role is a leader, and I am far from that. And it's just weird to interpret.
SPEAKER_02:You'd be surprised.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. It's it's really crazy. It I this role has definitely changed who I am as a person, and it it's I've definitely taken away some things from Ralph uh itself. And um I just think that it's such a challenging.
SPEAKER_02:So you two don't play the same role, correct? Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Yeah. It's just it's such a crazy, like daunting show with like all these different topics. It's just and it the way that you can interpret it different ways with like males and females. And we also did a rehearsal today where we mixed both, and that was insane as well.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I love that. Yeah, it was actually a question I was gonna bring up is that the rehearsal process. Like, how do we and I have to say I failed miserably as a host. I should have brought a conch along and we can just move it to whoever's speaking. So we have it over there somewhere. Um well, let's go into that. Um, you have you have you have two different casts. How do you rehearse that? Because you they're not playing at the same time. And I have to imagine they're given different direction based upon the gender and that the themes, the morality themes, the leadership themes, the civility into chaos. And how does that happen?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so the way it went about the rehearsal process is uh the blocking rehearsals were together. Okay. Both casts were called, and I would just walk them through the blocking. We'd have one cast go up, do one scene, block it, film it, switch casts. All right, then next the next cast does the next scene over. Okay. So we so if you were sitting down watching it being blocked, you had to be taking notes in your script. I love that. And then you switch and then do the same thing. Okay. So that was all blocking rehearsals. And then after that, it was individual cast work when we would do scene studies. So when we actually I would compose a whole bunch of questions per scene for every actor that they have to have answered by the time they got into the scene study, and scene study was talking about those questions and what they mean to our character. So they really got to understand their characters, their motivations, and each other. So then once we we had spent one day talking about it, then the next day would be, okay, now let's run it with blocking. And I would listen to their answers and be like, okay, well, your answers, you said this, but it's not reflecting in your blocking. So how do we take your answers and reflect it in the blocking and build upon those intentions that you guys have created? I love that.
SPEAKER_02:And so now they have separation, yet they also are working in tandem to kind of understand that overall theme. Did you have characters that were in the male cast and the female cast ever interact and go back and forth as far as their role?
SPEAKER_01:So uh we'd also have days where it's uh we uh stumble throughs for each act. The plays divide into three different acts. Okay. And to keep the actors on track of their progress and their lines, we'd have to do stumble throughs where it was like, okay, you're off book, no scripts allowed. Yeah. You just have to run through it. And they had to be they were both called. Our two actors are just visibly reacting to all of this, so I have to share with our audience. So they would have to watch each other, and then afterwards, we'd talk to what we've learned about our cast, but also the other cast. What can we pull from each other's cast to influence ourselves?
SPEAKER_02:I really love that you're making this more than just actors doing a role. Like there's really a deep study into the themes that we've discussed, but the characters and how they get there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And that's gotta be great as an actor to have that type of direction, right? You're given direction, but in the same breath, you're being asked to do the same thing that the characters had to go through, right, when they're on a deserted island. Tell us a little bit about that process and and how you approached it, Dylan.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, I mean, for those who know Lord of the Flies, Jack is a very twisted but beautiful in a way character with how he goes from before the island to after. And we even did that today. Uh Andrew uh made us write letters before we got onto the island, before the plane crashed, and then after leaving the island, being saved, just how our innocents were stripped away and everything we went through on the island. And like like I said, 13-year-olds in the show, we were crying. There was lots of tears being thrown around, just inner circle reading all of our letters, and it's just it's really hard to put into words. Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well and I just have to say that the this is something it really sounds like you guys are remember for the rest of your lives, right? And especially with the approach that Andrew's taken in in that process. Gwen, give us some of your insight into that. Um digging deep.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's definitely different because I always I have always liked the character work and development in every single character that I put like that I play. And um it's just so different because I have more to work with with all the questions that Andrew hands out. And also seeing the way that the male cast develop like interprets it, it also takes a toll. And being asked these questions, it turns into something more personal. And I'm just like, how would I react in this sort of situation? And it just makes me question also myself, and it's just a crazy connection.
SPEAKER_02:And that's what art really should do. Yeah, and it sounds like you're down that path. So I know it takes a village. I want to learn more about the rest of the production team, assistant directors.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Um, give us give us some of insight of the rest of your support staff.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I have a lot, and I'm very grateful for all of them. So, uh, first of all, my producer is Debbie Barbon. Yeah, I love her so much. I don't know what I would do without her. Like when I first pitched the show, I was like, please be my producer. And I was like, and also my mentor, yeah, because I really look up to her and I'm just so grateful to have her there by my side. Uh, my assistant director is Sarah Tassan. Okay. And she's also such I'm so grateful for her. She's there in rehearsal, she's taking notes for me, but also like I have her lead a lot of the discussions with the cast because I can't be with both casts at the same time. Right. So I'll be like, sometimes I'm working with this cast and she'll be working with the other cast, and we'll switch. And I was like, okay, can you run this stuff with them so that when they come to me, like it's smoother and she does a great job. She does a lot of work with them. I don't know what I would do without her. And same thing with my stage manager, Nicole Riggs. I uh was looking for a stage manager, I couldn't find anybody, and luckily my set designer, Peyton Peyton Flowers, he recommended her to me. Wonderful. Oh, she's such a godsend. Uh she she is so on top of things, she's there for us whenever we need anything. I don't know what I would do without her. Uh our customers, we have Ose Juan Huelos and we have Annika Perez helping out, but leading it. At first, it was Kari Setlak. She was getting busy, so she switched it over to Debbie Horner.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Debbie. We love Debbie. She's worked on a number of trucks.
SPEAKER_01:She came in late and she right away on top of things, talking to me, getting everything set up. I don't know what I would do without her, too. That's fantastic. Lighting designer is Doug Rumbaugh. Doug, we know Doug very well. I'm a big fan of his work, so I'm glad to have him. Uh and like I said, uh Peyton Flowers as our set designer. I'm a big fan of his work. He's won awards for his sets. Oh wow. I talked to him like a year ago and he I asked him to be my set designer, and then he gave me such a really cool concept. And I was like, yes, I really like it.
SPEAKER_02:I was just out on stage and it was like, I've never seen this before. Oh wow, this is pretty exciting.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, that's that's really that's a challenging set to create. Yeah, and then uh sound designers, I have Elijah Limon and I have Madison Diaz. Wonderful. Um, and then for my movement coordinator, like Fight Core and everything, I have Mitchis and Rojas, my really good friend. How perfect. And then uh make makeup, we have uh Maya, who is our Jack in the female cash. She's helping out and doing that. She took that up on last minute. Love that. And on props, we have Shelby Malo. Okay, yes. And yeah, and then also as a master carpenter, we have Ken Armour.
SPEAKER_02:Wonderful. I recognize a lot of those names, and I'm excited to see the work of some of the ones that I haven't had the pleasure of meeting before. So it definitely takes a village. Definitely does. I'd love to hear more about the rest of the cast.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and then let's before we get into that, let's talk a little bit about the audition process. Yes. And that's something that is always very difficult. And I know we talk about this on the podcast a lot. Um, listen, I've got to give my disclaimer. You're not gonna get every role, everyone. You're not gonna get every role. And just because you don't get certain roles, doesn't mean you're not a great actor. So just understand there's a process, there's a time, there's a place, there's a chemistry. So I just want to make sure and keep that encouragement going for those that are listening. You're not gonna get every role. And it's important to keep doing it. So, with that, your thought process going into that audition, especially knowing that you have a male and a female cast, you have to have some sort of idea of the morality statements of each side. So, tell us a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_01:So, going to the audition process, I originally knew that I want my actors to create not the characters that they know, but create a character of their own. Because the story of Lord of the Flies is their story. Right. And I wanted my actors to create their own story within the same boundaries of the book itself and the play itself. So I asked people who were going for the lead roles of Piggy, Jack, and Ralph to come in with a monologue that best showed who they are as a person. I wanted to see who they are and see how they fit into my show. And then for the other characters, just set up cold reads that I would say. I would look at people and see how they did living certain lines, okay, maybe let's try them over here, let's try them over there and see what energies I liked. And I was like, okay, cool. These are the people I want to call back. And then when it got to the callback process, um, I already pre-selected the scenes and I basically went into it and I sent them I sent them all in yeah, I sent them all an email basically of telling them everything that I look for in these roles. Who I think each character is, and I sent them all their sides so they were all prepared ahead ahead of time. Because some people aren't always like they can act on the spot with a cold read. They need time to prepare and also giving them the time to prepare, they have I want I want to see what they could do with the time that I gave them. And show you can see a w right away how hard a person works if you give them the time ahead.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And I already knew going into this show, especially with two different casts, there wasn't gonna be a lot of time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I need to see actors who were willing to put in the work. And I told all of them in the first email, I said, It's no longer about who is talented. Everybody who was called back that day was talented and deserving of being in my show. And I told him again when we started, I was like, I want you to know all of you deserve to be here. Love it, all of you deserve to be in this show. So even if you do not get casted, it's not because you're not good enough. You're here because you are good enough.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I was like, but there's one vision, and it's no longer about who's good, it's about who works well together.
SPEAKER_02:You deserve that story and how you work with it.
SPEAKER_01:Because now it was about the tribe and how they connect together, how they work off of each other. And going into it, I actually uh I already prepared a whole bunch of people. Okay. So it was right away, because it was three hours to do two different casts, different scenes, different types of chemistry. Yeah. So I prepared a lot of people who I think would work well together based off their auditions and how I and seen how I've seen them before perform before. And then I'd go, okay, you okay, so this is the first thing we're doing. You guys are re reading together, you guys are reading together, you guys are reading together, you guys are reading together. If you're go outside and work with each other, prepare what you want to do when you come in, be ready to play.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And that's how the whole process was. The second I knew it was a who that person was, I would send the other people home because I didn't want to waste their time. I was like, I was like, there's no point in wasting an actor's time if I already know who it is.
SPEAKER_02:So, Dylan, I want to hear about the experience for you and then also interacting with the your your fellow actors and the rest of the cast. Oh, like auditions? Auditions. I want to hear a little bit about that. But then I now you have the role, I want to hear a little bit about that rest of the cast and what your approach is to sharing the story with the audience.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, during callbacks, he uh I got dismissed before we even did Jack's monologue. So I'm like, oh, oh no. Well, that's that. Um working with this cast has honestly it's been so much fun. But with all that fun, it comes with so much learning as well. Yeah. Because it's so many different characters, like most in an age gap. Yeah. A lot of the guys in the guy cast are usually gonna be typecasts as like comedics, like comedic relief, stuff like that. And so now doing this show, which is like really like rock solid, like there's barely any comedy. And it's like it's not just seeing me grow, it's like it. I'm so happy to see everyone else grow. It's like because they are they're they're my littles, you know?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's like yeah, and you have that responsibility, right? Because you do have younger actors, and so all of you have to just like as a parent would have to, you have to lead by example. So, but that's got to be interesting because you're all going for a goal, and how do we get there with varying levels of experience? Gwen, talk a little bit about your experience with the auditions and the whole audition process.
SPEAKER_04:Um, basically, I just the freedom of everything, just picking out our monologues and because I'm not a monologue person, I always find it so hard to find. Um, but thank goodness this is a serious show, so it's a lot more easier to find serious monologues.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I did something from Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I don't think is a normal pick, but it was something that I really connected to. And through the callback process, it was different because we were able to bring each other aside and think like, okay, what are we gonna do for this scene? And what is our intention? Like, what's going through our minds right now? And it it's so nice to connect with other people, even people that you've never met before. It's just creating this sort of community even before we become like a cast and start a show. And which is funny because me and Haley are uh Simon in the girl cast. Um, we were both um waiting, the last two there waiting for our rides. And Andrew and Sarah came out and they were just like, oh, should we just tell them? And then that's when they broke the news to us.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, how special.
SPEAKER_04:Look at that.
SPEAKER_02:That's got I I I have been in the household waiting for the uh cast list to come out before when my family is uh when e one of my children has auditioned for something, and that could be a very stressful, stressful evening.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we were definitely stressed out.
SPEAKER_02:So that's nice that you got that information ahead of time. So um our production actually opens up next week. Yes, right? The female cast is going to be performing on um October 17th, 19th, 25th, and 30th. And the male cast is going to be performing on the 18th, 24th, 26th, and November 1st. Did I get all that correct? So you're a week out. Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01:Uh yes and no. They can talk to you guys and more about that.
SPEAKER_02:Are you ready?
SPEAKER_04:Well, we have our ups and downs. It's definitely a big show with a bunch of lines, which is our biggest struggle. With our connection, it's different because when it comes to lines, it's hard to know your intention if you don't know your lines and just keeping the energy constantly like on point. It's just we definitely have our intentions and our energy is always there, but we just have to keep on reminding ourselves like what is going on, what is our line, why are we saying it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, this this next week's really gonna, I think, um, help you guys get there.
SPEAKER_04:It definitely gets better every day. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And it sounds like the preparation going into it. It's it wasn't just a matter of memorizing lines. It sounds like Andrew definitely made you work and and have more of a commitment to understand what was going on. So listen, everyone, we're so excited to see both of the casts perform. We want everyone out there that's listening to go ahead and get your tickets. We gave you the dates. If you want to get tickets, you can go to chinochildren's theater.org or you can call the office at 909-590-1149. Again, the female cast performances are on October 17th, 19th, 25th, and 30th. Male cast performances October 18th, 24th, 26th, and November 1st. Tickets are available now. Get them. Come and see both casts so that you can really appreciate the amount of work that's gone into this. Gwen, Dylan, Andrew, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for sharing with me. I know that's again there's some there's some pretty heady topics that you have to cover with this particular production. So I appreciate your honesty and I appreciate your insights into that. So thank you so much, and we really look forward to seeing your production.
SPEAKER_04:Of course, thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, a 7th Street Community Theater podcast. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review and a five-star rating. It really helps. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Special thanks to Chino Community Theater and Chino Community Children's Theater for their generous support. And very special thank you to the listeners. Steps to the stage was created by Joey Rice and Kirk Klain. Logo created by Marley Lane. Original music by Joey Rice. Your host, Kirk Klain. Engineer and producer Joey Rice. Engineer and executive producer Kirk Lane.
