King & I tour children
King & I tour children
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#1King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 3:04pm
Last week, we saw the enchanting King and I tour. As we were walking to our car, we passed a bunch of asian kids and families coming out of the stage door.
I started wondering - Is it likely that most of the children are locals, hired for the engagement and don't tour? It certainly would make a lot of sense (and the blocking would be easy to teach them)
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#2King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 3:19pm
I don't think that's likely.
http://thekinganditour.com/bios/
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#3King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 3:37pm
Are there only 8 Asian children in the cast? Seems pretty light to me.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#4King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 4:08pm
It could be that they have 8 permanent children and then they bring in extra kids at each stop or maybe they just have 8 kids
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
#5King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:13pm
MarkBearSF said: "Last week, we saw the enchanting King and I tour. As we were walking to our car, we passed a bunch of asian kids and families coming out of the stage door.
I started wondering - Is it likely that most of the children are locals, hired for the engagement and don't tour? It certainly would make a lot of sense (and the blocking would be easy to teach them)"
It's a LOT of trouble to cast children locally for a touring show. Les Miz didn't even do it when they'd sit in a city for months, much less a stop as short as The King & I in SF. You'd have a lot of luck finding Asian kids in SF, LA, Seattle, but not a lot of other cities would have many to offer. They re-cast the Tams in Miss Saigon every few months but even then, they would tour.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#6King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:27pm
LizzieCurry said: "It's a LOT of trouble to cast children locally for a touring show. Les Miz didn't even do it when they'd sit in a city for months, much less a stop as short as The King & I in SF. You'd have a lot of luck finding Asian kids in SF, LA, Seattle, but not a lot of other cities would have many to offer. "
That makes a lot of sense. Seeing the families around the kids made me think that they were local. And it's still possible that many WERE local because they were cast here, but will continue with the tour.
Updated On: 12/5/16 at 10:27 PM
#7King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:27pm
LizzieCurry said: "MarkBearSF said: "Last week, we saw the enchanting King and I tour. As we were walking to our car, we passed a bunch of asian kids and families coming out of the stage door.
I started wondering - Is it likely that most of the children are locals, hired for the engagement and don't tour? It certainly would make a lot of sense (and the blocking would be easy to teach them)"
It's a LOT of trouble to cast children locally for a touring show. Les Miz didn't even do it when they'd sit in a city for months, much less a stop as short as The King & I in SF. You'd have a lot of luck finding Asian kids in SF, LA, Seattle, but not a lot of other cities would have many to offer. They re-cast the Tams in Miss Saigon every few months but even then, they would tour.
"
One of the Les Miz tours in San Francisco had a local Gavroche. I don't remember which tour, it wasn't the first sit-down that played the Curran for months and months. I do recall a lot of media coverage about him, a kid from Hayward or Castro Valley. Of course he might have been cast in the tour and just happened to be playing here instead of being hired just for this one stop. I think every family member, classmates from school, people from his church et al were there the night I saw it, based on the thunderous applause he received.
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#8King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:29pm
PatrickDC said: "...One of the Les Miz tours in San Francisco had a local Gavroche. I don't remember which tour, it wasn't the first sit-down that played the Curran for months and months. "
Of course, local talent makes more sense for a sit-down production that will play for a year or more. (I think that Les Miz played about 2 years at the Curran, but I may be wrong)
#9King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:32pm
The first time Les Miz was in SF was in 1989 and two years sounds right. Was it Rider Strong? I think that's the same production that cast Larisa Oleynik as Young Cosette, who's from Santa Clara.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#11King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 10:43pm
LizzieCurry said: "The first time Les Miz was in SF was in 1989 and two years sounds right. Was it Rider Strong? I think that's the same production that cast Larisa Oleynik as Young Cosette, who's from Santa Clara.
"
That name rings a bell. Hmm...maybe it was the first production. I think I saw it three times. It was a hot ticket.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#12King & I tour children
Posted: 12/5/16 at 11:08pm
PThespian said: "I believe that the children's choir was cast locally when Joseph toured. "
Yes, at least for the tour back in the 90s they used local choirs, though they looked for established groups and did not just assemble a random collection of children. For instance, when the show played Cleveland they hired a group called the Singing Angels. Music was sent ahead of time so their choir director could prepare them and staging was fairly minimal (as I recall, from over 20 years ago now, they spent the large majority of the show sitting on the sides of the set basically swaying in time with the music).
