Currently I am the Technical Director for the high school program in my area, and have  been for a number of years.

However, this fall the musical director has asked me to sit in on auditions for the up coming show. 

As I have ALWAYS been backstage I am just looking for some pointers on what to look for, listen for and so on.

These are high school students, some with no experience acting at all, but can sing. As well as those who can act but can not sing. I know I have been asked to help keep the balance between the musical director and the director.  I'd like to be able to offer some intellgent opinions. I do plan on sitting with him (musical director) before hand as well.

any advice, do's and don't's?

Thanks!

Aimee

First things first:  read the scripts of the plays you'll be casting.

You might think this is obvious, but I actually had to work for an Artistic Director who never read the complete scripts and pre-cast entire shows based only on the character DESCRIPTIONS!?!  Needless to say, this created some very strange casting decisions.

Secondly, break the characters down into what their primary functions are.   Some roles require strong singers.  Other roles require strong actors or comedians.  Believe me, there's a world of difference between an Actor who can Sing and a Singer who can Act.  

If you need help from the other directors, don't be shy about asking.  Sometimes it's helpful for them to verbalize or write down exactly what they're looking for as well.

Good luck!

Great advice, Top. Aimee, listen to the man... look at the characters and figure out how much acting versus how much singing they have to do. Some roles can get by with a mediocre singer (look at Robert Preston in The Music Man) provided the performer can take over the stage (or has comedic timing, can sell the songs and whatever else may be needed) while other roles require someone who can actually sing. It isn't all that common to find someone with both great singing and great acting talent (I've run across one in the 20-mumble years I've been doing this).

Also, seeing as you say you're sitting between the music director and the stage director, you'd better get the ground rules laid out in advance... what do they want from you? Why are you there? Who had final say? Are you the referee or what? Always good to know up front before heading into the lion's den.

Great great advice from both Topper & Mike.   Since any casting decisions are almost always a subjective process (no matter how objective we try to be) don't discount what your gut tells you.   Maybe your role could be almost as an advocate for the audience in advising them who you think might be more appealing or entertaining to the audience.

As a director I like to have the opinions and disccusion of my casting committee.   I won't say that I've always agreed with with them but the input has always been valuable.

Great advice so far.  If they actually value your opinion and don't want you just to referee between the adults, I would also suggest:

Look who interracts well with other people onstage--at least in a callback they should be reading a scene with someone else or singing a duet.

Look at how they move.

If dancing is involved (and it usually is in musicals), judged that ability too.  Some shows are heavy dancing (42nd Street, Chicago, Cabaret, Singin' in the Rain), while others are heavy singing (Calamity Jane, Sound of Music).

Enjoy!