I put Austin to work creating what Susan had alluded to as “the paperwork.” In all honesty, I hadn’t thought about that until she’d made it up, but we were going to need to get some stuff in writing. For example, we’d need to gather information on everyone who was cast in the show—addresses, phone numbers, emergency contacts (although I sincerely hoped we wouldn’t need to use those). I’d also need to get a feel for the level of prior theater experience the kids would be bringing to the project. Professional actors and dancers would have a headshot and a résumé to present at a casting call. But I wasn’t likely to see any of those. I told Austin what I was thinking, and he said he’d come up with some kind of questionnaire designed to give us the info we’d need. “I just thought of something,” said Susan. “Are you auditioning kids to see who should have what part in the show, or to see who gets to be in the show at all?” “What do you mean?” “I mean, is everyone who signs up automatically in, like the parks and rec co-ed softball team?
