You’d think Casting Directors just find talent, right?  Oh, no.  It goes way beyond that.

I always think of Casting Directors as the mediators during Middle East peace talks.

Because not only do they find the talent, they then sit in the middle of the Director, Authors, Producer, Choreographer, and everyone else who has a say in the casting process.  And getting that group to agree?  Well, it isn’t easy.  And often it involves late night therapy-like calls with many of the parties, listening to their concerns, while at the same time, trying to get a cast before rehearsals start.

It takes quite a diplomat, and there aren’t many better than our guest this week, Tara Rubin of Tara Rubin Casting.  Just in the past few months Tara has been casting Cats, Miss Saigon, Dear Evan Hansen, and all those kids in School of Rock.  Talk about a diverse bunch of actors . . . and creative teams!

That’s why I cast Tara in this week’s podcast.  So listen in and hear Tara talk about . . .

• The most important thing she learned when she worked for a Producer.
• How casting has changed in the past 20 years, and how that helps newcomers.
• Whether agents have more or less power now than they did before.
• The biggest mistake Actors make when walking into the room (and the mistake they make when marketing themselves).
• How are we doing on diversity . . . and what else we should be doing.

Click here to listen.

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