Casting for Success: Building Teams for Regional Operatic Productions

This document discusses the most important roles within any operatic production, how these roles are essential to the final product’s success and the best practices for casting agents to utilize when determining hiring choices in order to assemble the most creative, efficient and harmonious production team. The discussion delves into the characteristics and behaviors considered the most valuable when hiring for specific cast and crew positions for full-scale, professional opera productions, and delineates a few of the typical pitfalls that casting agents and/or artistic directors can encounter when building a team for any production. The author addresses “red flags” for casting agents, band-aids for unfortunate situations, as well as provides resources for the work of pursuing the best artists. This document focuses on issues primarily encountered at the regional professional company level