their names down, I go
through the tests for principals. I will always hear the songs first;
but before you hear them sing they have to put down on paper what they
have ever done before, how much training they have had, and so on.
Then they go over to the piano and sing. But I usually try to be
tactful and let amateur singers tryout for me with no one listening,
to spare them embarrassment. From the piano they come up to the table
and sit down before me. As they are sitting before me, I note their
appearance. I engage them in conversation. I note their teeth,
mannerisms and personalities, incidentally classifying them in my mind
and casting them in my mind's eye. If they are in any way possible and
I feel that they should be given a chance, I make a note of it and the
songs I want them to try.

Then I grade them, number 1, number 2, 3, 4 and so on. All of those
who are trying for the leading parts are graded as they should be, but
always on paper so that I will not forget or overlook anyone.

After I am through with them I go through the solo dancers the same
way and mark them and what they can do. I get them down on paper. As
I see them dance I find out which is the best dancer, with the idea of
placing her or him in the show to good advantage. That's the important
thing in planning your show. They all have to be placed in a certain
sequence in the show. If the best numbers are all in the first act,
you kill the act or acts that follow. The success of any show is in
the way it is laid out. It is the placement of the personalities, and
what they are given to do--when they do it--that makes or mars the
entertainment. One with a great deal of personality can go into your
show, and if not cast properly he or she will kill the rest of the
show. Casting must be done with good judgment and common sense.

After I have my list of singers and dancers worked out, then I pick
the people who are capable of playing the parts. Some of them may have
had previous experience, but never perhaps professional coaching. Now
the reason why these amateur shows are usually so rotten is on account
of the incompetent coaches who put them on. It is always the fault of
the stager if the show doesn't go over. Some of them are terrible.
They don't know anything about the show business. They don't know how
to lay out a show. They don't know how to put on the dancing. They
don't know a comedy scene when they see one. They do not understand
how to r