I have a cast I have a cast I have a cast!

And not just any old cast but a brilliant one.

After getting on for three times as many people as I needed auditioned, after a Sunday afternoon audition that rolled on for six and a half hours, after a lot of head scratching, heart searching and invaluable wisdom from the AD and Musical Director Neil ("but Claire, the script says he's a man so maybe cast a man??"), we have a prize list of the chosen 21.

I feel I've never sent so many sorry emails. And I've turned away so many brilliant people whom I love and love to work with. Heartsore is a good word for it. 

And then you get the death by silence emails. And the short sharp "it's fine" emails that you know are sent through gritted teeth (with gritted typing fingers??). And the lovely reasonable kind emails of forgiveness in return and your guilty heart gives another guilty squirm in your chest.

What a weird and wonderful and humbling and horrible process it is.

So we have a cast. 

That means we have a show. 

*eeek*

And I have a monstrous excel spreadsheet to try and start corralling it all into some semblance of a rehearsal schedule.

Meantime, there are other shows afoot. One of my all-time favourites, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is our May production.  Next week. (Tickets here!) I studied this at A'Level. I saw a wondrous wicked production at Dundee Rep a few years back. It's a brilliant script that, like the best scripts, really sing when it's staged. Mr Grimes has assembled a brilliant cast (I suspect we have a slimmer Elizabeth Taylor on our hands.) I have my tickets for the opening night. And I cannot wait.