While Broadway performers typically receive much of the praise, it takes a team of creative professionals behind the scenes to make a successful production. Writers and composers create the dialogue and music for productions, while costume designers, set designers, and stage managers, among other crew members, contribute to the overall vision of the director.
Though usually not affiliated with productions, casting directors also play a vital role in helping a production’s creative team find the perfect candidate for each role. The following is a look at six of Broadway’s most well-known casting directors and agencies.
1. Tara Rubin Casting
Since launching Tara Rubin Casting (TRC) in 2001, Tara Rubin has become one of Broadway’s most prominent casting directors. Rubin, a graduate of Boston University and member of the board of the Casting Society of America (CSA), has more than 35 years of experience as a casting director and previously worked at Johnson-Liff Associates. She spent 15 years at the firm, during which time she cast for productions such as Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Sunset Boulevard, as well as the TV series Soul Man and soap opera Another World.
Rubin has been the official casting director for Yale Repertory Theatre for more than a decade. TRC has cast popular Broadway musicals such as School of Rock, Big Fish, Jersey Boys, Aladdin, and Mamma Mia! The company has also cast Dear Evan Hansen and the 10-time Tony-winning The Band’s Visit.
2. The Telsey Office
The name Telsey is almost synonymous with Broadway casting. That’s because of Bernard “Bernie” Telsey, the founder of The Telsey Office. Since founding the firm in 1988, Telsey has cast for mainstream hits Hamilton, Wicked, and Rent. The casting director for Rent‘s original run on Broadway, he was responsible for casting Idina Menzel. An unknown talent at the time, Menzel received a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Maureen Johnson and won the award for Wicked in 2004. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.
More recently, The Telsey Office has cast for Broadway hits such as Mrs. Doubtfire, MJ the Musical, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Waitress. It also has an office in Los Angeles where it casts for film, TV, and commercials.
3. Binder Casting
Founded nearly four decades ago by Jay Binder and part of the RWS Entertainment Group since 2016, Binder Casting has cast more than 150 Broadway and off-Broadway productions as well as several national and international projects. These include Tony-winning productions such as The Lion King, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The King and I, Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy. Binder Casting has won the CSA’s Artios Award for Excellence 12 times.
One of the most prominent casting directors of his generation, Binder himself won 11 Artios Awards and received the 2019 Amas Repertory Theatre’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his work on Broadway, he served five years as the East Coast casting director at Warner Brothers Television and cast the Emmy-winning series I’ll Fly Away. He also cast films such as Hairspray, Dreamgirls, Chicago, and Six by Sondheim.
4. Stewart/Whitley
Founded by partners Duncan Stewart and Benton Whitley, Stewart/Whitley is an award-winning office that has cast for Broadway productions such as Chicago, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, A Clockwork Orange, and Hadestown. The firm has also cast national tours of Hadestown, Hairspray, Waitress, The Sound of Music, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The New Musical.
Stewart has been the official casting director of Chicago for more than 16 years and, before launching Stewart/Whitley, served as the in-house director of casting for National Artists Management Company (NAMCO) for several Broadway and West End productions. Whitley worked in the same position for NAMCO. He was recently included on Art Info’s list of the “Top 25 Under 35 Emerging Broadway Players.”
5. Jim Carnahan
Jim Carnahan has cast more than 200 productions, including 1984, Groundhog Day, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Moulin Rouge! Carnahan oversees casting for Broadway and off-Broadway productions for the Roundabout Theatre Company alongside longtime associates Carrie Gardner and Stephen Copel.
6. Caparelliotis Casting
An experienced casting director, David Caparelliotis recently launched his own office in New York to cast theater, TV, and film. He has also cast at least three shows per year for the Manhattan Theatre Club for the past 13 years. Caparelliotis’ most notable Broadway casting credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, In the Height of the Storm, The Boys in the Band, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and The Violet Hour.