General Callback Information

Congratulations On Your Callback!

Callbacks are a great opportunity for the Directing team to see more of your talents and abilities. This page will have all the information you need to know to help you prepare.  

Callbacks are "closed." This means that there will not be an audience for callbacks. 

Here are some callback tips:
  • Release yourself of all expectations (yes, ALL. Meaning, you should not have any expectations. Zero. None.). Callbacks are not in your control. Your job is to show up, do your best, and go home. Release yourself from the pressure that you are in control and that you must do everything correctly. There are dozens of factors that go into casting a show. 
  • Be open and prepared for anything. The directing team has been known to change things up in the room at the last minute. It would be in your best interest to be familiar with the entire show. 
  • Arrive at callbacks early. Early is a least 10 minutes before your scheduled time. If you walk in the door "on time", you're already late. Check-in begins 15 minutes before each call time. (See below)
  • Get sleep the night before your callback. It's imperative that you're well-rested. Callbacks are long and high-intense days. 
More Callback Tips

Dance & Callback Schedule

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Dance Auditions | Saturday, December 13
8:30am-10:00am ALL CALL for Dancer/Mover audition
We will do the Dancer audition first. "Dancers" can arrive as early as 8:15am, being ready to dance at 8:30am and "Movers" can arrive as late as 9am. 
There is also a volunteer shift at the Build warehouse during this time to load up the set for our Christmas musical, Everlight. We highly recommend dropping off your student at The Character Factory (CYT main location) and then going over to the sets warehouse (708 Valley Ridge Circle #16.)

Role Callbacks | Saturday, December 13th by invitation/appointment
  • Those called back for roles should remain after dance auditions and bring downtime activities. Those auditioners will be released as we finish with their roles. We anticipate all roles being finished in the early afternoon, but students should be picked up shortly after their personal release. Please have a ride who can get you within a short period of time when you text them. There will be an adult on site (Shannon Bicheno) who can text you if your student does not have a phone. 
  • All callbacks are closed and only those called back for a role will be allowed upstairs. However, there is a BUILD shift happening onstage during callbacks, and we would greatly appreciate all adult volunteers who are able to help.

Location: 907 West Main Street, Lewisville (Same location as Auditions)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Schedule and Material

Do some research- get to know your character. We don't want to see replicas of how other people have played the role, but we do want you to be familiar with the characters and the songs. Check out the Broadway or London cast album in advance to know how the songs go. We will have scripts and sheet music for you at callbacks with the selected cuts we want to hear. We will not spend a lot of time teaching the songs. Singing Characters may also have cold reads of the script. Non-Singing characters will have cold reads of the script. 
More Videos for Dancer/Mover Auditions
Check out the songs from the show below!
Note that in our production, we do not have the song Think Vulgar, instead, the spies sing Act English.
Original London Cast Recording

Questions?

Do you have a question? First, ensure that you've read everything thoroughly. Still can't find your answer? Shoot us an email at contactus@cytdallas.org.
 

What if I wasn't called back?

We understand that you worked hard on your audition. It can be disappointing to not get a callback. But there are a few things we want you to understand.
  •  Auditions are NOT a talent competition. Callbacks and roles are not handed out according to a ranking of talent or the quality of an audition. The directing team already knows some things about each of the characters and how we plan to portray them. You can have the best audition in the world, be the best vocalist, the best actor, but if a role doesn’t seem suited to you or you don’t have the specific vocal range, you will not get a callback for it. This does not mean that a) we don’t like you or b) we don’t recognize your talent.
  • Callback invitations do not determine who will be featured in the show and are not a required step to casting. There are featured moments in almost every show that can be cast by what we see in a general or dance audition. Sometimes those moments are given to those who were also called back for other roles, but being called back for a role does not guarantee you a featured role. Likewise, not getting a callback doesn’t mean you won’t end up with a spotlight moment. There are sometimes big roles that aren't called back because we can already tell from the general audition and no callback is necessary.
  •  Shows may have very specific character identities. We try to honor the intent of age and gender, and we especially pay attention to romantic pairings when indicated by the script.
  • We have enough auditioners that we can be picky about conflicts. The rehearsal process is so condensed, it will be tough to work around too many absences and that may figure into your casting. If you have a lot of absences or partial absences or your schedule is TBD on your audition form, we will probably not be able to consider you for a featured part. 
Callbacks are very specific to each show. You may be a lead in one show and get no callback for the next show. This is most likely not because you flubbed your audition, but more reflective that your talents and characteristics were suited for that previous role and others were more suited for the characters in the next show. 

We encourage you to continue to work at your singing, acting, dancing and stage presence with Colossians 3:23-24 in mind: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
The Lord sees what you do, knows your heart, and values you. Regardless of whether your work in any area lands you the immediate results you hope for, if your desire is to glorify God, He is pleased with you. He is worthy of our trust and He sees the big picture of what is best for us and for His purposes. So all we can do is our best, for Him.

Have You Ever Wanted to Understand the Casting Process?

Check out this video, The Casting Process, where Dr. Heather LaForge discusses the CYT casting process. This is a very small example of how complex a casting process can be. Imagine this video with 30+ students.