"School of Rock" opened on Broadway just a few years after "Billy Elliot" closed but, even though the shows have some surface-level similarities, it's hard to think of two more different stories. The earlier show was a rough-and-tumble look at a working class young boy's potential escape from his impoverished life; the latter was about adults who act like children and very posh adolescents learning to shed some of their rich-kid stuffiness.

Both shows were handicapped in their long runs because of their reliance on young actors who are wont to age-out of plum roles relatively quickly, as I talk about with my guest Brian Baez.

Brian has an extensive career as a performer but his vocation over the past decade or so has been in the realm of casting. He has worked casting talent for cruise ships for many years and recently opened his own business in the Netherlands that expands that core mission into different creative directions.

Brian and I talk quite a bit about working in "non-traditional venues" like cruise ships and theme parks. His work related to "School of Rock" was at a theme park during the time when the show was being developed from its movie incarnation to the stage version. He has plenty of fun anecdotes from that time and he provides some interesting background on what's involved in that fascinating corner of the live performance world.

Check out my website at ChasingPhantom.net for more information and be sure and follow Baez Theatrical on Instagram to keep up with what Brian is up to!