FAQs

GENERAL FAQS

Awesome. More specifically, we do around seven shows per year. There's YAMO, our student written musical sketch comedy show that is performed first. We do two shows exclusively for freshmen and sophomores (one in October and another in February). There are two full-scale productions for all students that happen in December and February, and a gigantic musical that happens in the spring. There's also Writer's Showcase--though technically, that's a production of the English Department. We also try to fit in a spring play, calendar permitting. 

Well, it depends on what you want to do. If you want to be onstage, you need to audition (more on that below). If you want to work on Stage Crew, you should come to the theatre the first day of build/rehearsal as indicated on our calendar. If you are curious about working as an assistant director, or a stage manager, you should reach out to the director indicated. If you want to direct (Showcase or YAMO board), we post applications on this site. It's very rare for a student director to be an underclassman. 

That's true! Every year (except for those particularly COVIDy years), ETHS Theatre gets on a coach bus and drives many hours to bucolic Stratford, Ontario--home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. This trip happens early in the school year, and is open to ALL students involved with ETHS Theatre--whether you take a class, sing in a show, or build a set.  We see five plays in three days and become theatre-going sophisticates. 

Sign ups for the trip are available on this site around March. There are scholarships and fundraising opportunities available. We can only take around forty students, and some years those slots are gone within a couple of weeks. 

AUDITIONS

Look: it’s hard to put yourself in front of strangers and ask them to judge you. We do our best to be mindful of inherent difficulties, and we’ve made changes over the years to open the process to everyone and to mitigate the heartbreak. For example, we no longer post cast lists on the wall (formerly known as the wailing wall) outside of the theatre—just on this website, so that whatever happens, it can be private.

Also, a director casts an actor based on how they fit a particular vision for the show. It helps if that person is nice, for sure. Nobody "earns" a role, not because they're a senior or because they've taken classes. 

I am so sorry. However, there is another show coming up soon. Basic audition information is posted on this site for every mainstage show this season. Students also hear announcements every day, and we try to get our material out that way as well. 

The dates and times of the auditions throughout the year (although these dates are subject to change); a basic summary of the show; the rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Usually at least two weeks before the auditions the director puts out an audition packet, which includes descriptions of roles and audition pieces. Students can print this out and then rehearse their initial audition. Additionally, we try to have copies of each mainstage play for perusal in the office behind the Upstairs Theatre.

This depends on the director, but for the first round of auditions students read a speech from the show. It doesn’t have to be memorized (although certainly that helps). In the case of the musical, students sing a song that showcases their voice. It can be from the musical or just a song they love. Students have five minutes to present their piece. After the completion of the initial round, we post a callback list on the website. Students can be called back for one or more roles reading opposite their fellow potential castmates, or in the case of the musical, trying out major songs to see who might fit each role. Remember that in the case of large shows, students might be cast without being called back. There can be several days of callbacks, and then we post a cast list on the website.

This is a very upsetting thing that happens to virtually everyone. Though this does not often ease the sting of it, we do try to keep perspective: any student can be involved with any show by virtue of stage crew, another show will audition at most six weeks from that day, and every single audition is a learning experience. Faculty members (not student leaders, to be clear) are always available to give feedback on auditions after the fact. 

REHEARSAL/PERFORMANCE

Generally our shows rehearse for somewhere around six weeks. The rehearsal/performance calendar is on the website as well. We rehearse from 4-6:30 most afternoons, and from 10-4 on Saturdays and holidays. Two weeks before the show, we start what we call pretech week and rehearse from 4-8. One week before the show, it is our tech week and we rehearse from 4:00-9:00.

Yes, yes it is. We want our shows to be as close to a professional experience/product as possible, and that takes time. However, keep in mind that the size of the commitment depends on the size of the role. If a student is cast in a lead, certainly they would be expected to attend almost every rehearsal. If a student is in the ensemble, the beginning of the process would be much more sporadic, a couple of times a week. But this is really up to the director. Some call the whole cast to every rehearsal. 

Well, on one hand, they are fed. We rely on parent assistance to ensure that, however. For every night we are here until nine, we have a meal together, cast and crew.

First, we can acknowledge that everyone has conflicts. As long as directors know about these conflicts and make an informed decision about casting a conflicted person, everything is fine. Students are provided with a rehearsal schedule and are expected to turn in this schedule with conflicts specified and signed by a parent/guardian. Of course, kids get sick and things come up, but if students continue to add conflicts over the course of the rehearsal process, we will recast the part.

The major issue that we come up against over and over is tech week. Tech week is the week before the show goes up when students are expected to be here for a substantial amount of time. We cannot negotiate student conflicts during tech week. Students who want to be involved with the show must commit to that week completely, and there cannot be any exceptions. If one person can miss because of an important event, then everyone should have that same opportunity and then it becomes impossible to finish the show.