Stage Ages

Just a few opininions on this one if you would... nothning can be done about it but....

Many auditions in Adelaide are currently reading 18 plus
including Liesel (spelling?)... 19 going on 17?

I'm the father of an experienced 16 year old performer... she has been in many productions, gleaned excellent revies, sung professionally, won scholarships, eisteddfods and talent comps... but the main thing is many stage productions

I understand that stage age is often regarded as different from chronological... but I would have thought experience basically counts

One reason I was given is that 16 year olds can't handle the 'romance ' in sound of music...... well there's not a lot of passionate embraces there is there

What do you think guys???

Isn't there some kind of law or whatnot which prevents a person under 18 to hold a role by themselves, that they have to share it? It's a little vague, but I had a friend who was 15 at the time who performed in West Side Story, and she split her role with another, so she performed every second night, because she had to

I must admit that I am only speaking from a community theatre perspective, but we are a reasonably professional community theatre, but many of our romantic leads in recent shows have been in the 15 -17 age range, including a 16 year old Prince in Cinderella, 16 & 17 year old Gianettas in The Gondoliers, an numerous 15, 16 & 17 year old Fandangos in Paint Your Wagon (which went a bit beyond Romance). Often these young people have played opposite partners a lot older than themselves (on occasions double thier age).

Provided the company and the young people involved are mature enough to see it as acting then I can't see there being any problems (provided there are no laws against it??).

Certainly one thing that helps us is that many of these young people have 'grown up within the society' so the familiarity certainly helps.

cheers
Lance