The actor dropdown shows cast members assigned to this show. To assign someone:

First add them to the People directory
Assign them to the show as Cast or Student in the Cast & Crew tab
They'll then appear in the Played By dropdown

Roles are specific to each production. Someone can be a director or crew member on another show and still appear here when their assignment on this show is Cast or Student.

The same actor can be chosen for any number of characters — pick them on each part they play. Their role in the Cast & Crew tab lists every character, and the Cast & Crew edit dialog lets you tick all of an actor's parts in one place.

It also works the other way round: one character can be played by several people. The Played By control is a multi-select, so an ensemble part, a shared track, or a double-cast lead is one character with everyone who plays it attached to it — rather than a duplicate character per performer.

Everyone attached to the part gets it on their Cast & Crew role, sees it in their own assignments, and is called when a rehearsal schedule names that character
Costumes, props and hair & makeup attached to the part belong to all of its performers
The Character Look report gives every performer their own page, listing the shared part on each
Picking a character someone else already plays from the Cast & Crew edit dialog adds that person to the part rather than taking it over — the dialog says who else is on it
The first performer listed is the primary. Reorder by removing and re-adding if you need a different one shown where only a single name fits

More in Characters Tab

Characters Tab: Creating Characters — Click "Add Character" to create a new character entry.
Characters Tab: Ensemble Tracks — For ensemble-heavy shows, use the Track field to organize:
Characters Tab: Assigning Inventory to Characters — Assign costumes, props, and other inventory items directly to characters:
Characters Tab: Mic Assignments — View which wireless microphone is assigned to each character. The Mic column in the Characters table shows:
Characters Tab: Exporting Character Information — Export character and costume information as PDF documents:

Related features

Characters & Ensemble Tracks — A character list with actor assignment, ensemble tracks, per-character inventory and mic assignments, plus exports.

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