Christmas Program Special Parts

Each year, I get emails and questions regarding the small amount of solos, narrations and acting parts that are part of our Holiday program.  

If you have ever wondered the process of how a student gets a part, well here it is...  it takes a little talent and a little luck.  

For most parts, students audition during class time. Sometimes if I have simple parts I randomly choose students or choose random class numbers. I also keep a 15 page document of every student who has ever had a Christmas program part from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Whenever possible, I try to give parts to students who have not ever had parts or who have not had parts in the past couple years. Typically, I will have about 75-100 students audition for a single part. I narrow the students down to about 10-25 (after checking my master list of past parts) and put those final names in a hat and draw a lucky winner. Although I would love everyone to have a part, having 600+ students and only a handful of parts each year is very difficult. I discuss this with the students and they realize everyone cannot have a solo part, but that EVERY single person is important to the success of the program. Most songs have special props or motions that involve everyone as well.