Casting Director Tara Rubin Featured On THEATER: ALL THE MOVING PART Premiering This Friday

Have you ever wondered how actors are cast in Broadway shows? What may be some of the fixed elements in a process that can be very arbitrary?

In this episode of "THEATER: All the Moving Parts" premiering Friday, November 19 at 9:30PM, host Patrick Pacheco interviews Tara Rubin, one of the top casting directors on Broadway. With 35 years of experience, she has cast top shows like "Phantom of the Opera," "Jersey Boys," "Dear Evan Hansen," "Ain't Too Proud," and now "Six". The show streams on the CUNY TV website starting November 22.

Tara Rubin brings you into the audition process and describes what traits allows some actors to rise above and how casting directors prepare once they get the call to cast . She says one of the most important talents of any casting director is how best to build consensus in a room in which a producer, a director, choreographer, and songwriters may have different opinions on the person in front of them. Tune in to discover what she says to "crestfallen" actors who are not cast in a show; what's the best way to prepare for an audition; and what an actor should do if he, she or they are talented but just do not audition well. Rubin also talks about today's "hot button" issues, like inclusivity and diversity, and their role in the casting process.

Patrick Pacheco says, "One of my favorite moments is when Tara got worked up after I asked what she might tell a producer or director about an actor who has a reputation for being 'difficult.' She noted that the adjective is most often applied to women. She said, 'I saw that most of those women had never done anything that a man hadn't done. But when women do it, it's 'difficult.' I made up my mind that I was never going to say again that a woman was difficult."

"THEATER: All the Moving Parts" is a CUNY TV show, featuring in-depth interviews with top theater artists including playwright Theresa Rebeck, dramaturg Ken Cerniglia, intimacy director Claire Warden and choreographer Sergio Trujillo. Of Pacheco, Rebeck said, "I felt like I was being interviewed by someone who knows me better than I know myself." Go to THEATER: All the Moving Parts to see these and other episodes.

Patrick Pacheco is an Emmy-winning commentator and journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, and many other periodicals. He wrote the 2009 Disney documentary "Waking Sleeping Beauty," and is the co-writer, with Maria Cassi, of the play, "My Life with Men...and other animals." He is the writer and editor of the Amazon best seller "American Theatre Wing, An Oral History: 100 Years, 100 Voices, 100 Million Miracles."

Tara Rubin Castinga??(Casting). Broadway:a??Ain't Too Proud, King Kong, Dear Evan Hansen, Aladdin, Phantom of the Opera, The Band's Visit, Indecent, Jersey Boys, Summer, Prince of Broadway, A Bronx Tale, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Cats, Falsettos, School of Rock, Billy Elliott. Regional: Yale Rep (16 seasons), The Old Globe, Asolo, La Jolla Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse.

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