Twenty acting and music theater seniors will travel with faculty to New York to perform for casting agents and talent agencies.
The New York showcase began rehearsing at the beginning of this semester and will continue until early May when they leave for New York. The students will rehearse in a New York studio May 7 and perform at 2 and 5 p.m. May 9 at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York City.
This year, there also will be an additional informal performance featuring current students and four or five alumni at 11:30 p.m. May 7 at Feinstein’s/54 Below, a cabaret and restaurant in New York City.
Angela Polk, production coordinator for the School of Theater and the Wanda L. Bass School of Music; Lance Marsh, professor of acting and head of performance; Jan McDaniel, professor of music; and Dr. David Herendeen, director of the opera and music theater program, will accompany the students. Marsh and Herendeen will direct the showcase performances, and McDaniel will accompany musical performances.
The showcase serves as more of a series of opportunities than a crucial career choice, Polk said.
“A lot of students have this idea that the showcase is a make-or-break-it for their career and really it’s not,” she said. “It’s just a nice launch pad, if you will.”
Polk also said students may hear back from the present officials that night or years down the line.
“We’ve had students who have received phone calls three months later, saying ‘hey, I saw your showcase, we’d love to see you for this show,’” she said.
Taylor Blackman, acting senior, will perform in the showcase and said he plans to focus on making connections with people in the business.
“I’m really going just to make myself known in the industry and hopefully set a good track record that I can do good work,” Blackman said. “Nobody’s going to go to Broadway, necessarily, from this. I think that’s the beautiful dream of it, but being realistic, just making connections and getting to know people is the biggest thing we can get from this.”
Wes Peddycord, music theater senior, also will perform in the showcase. He said he wants to make his name more known in the area.
“I’m not anticipating getting a job or getting an agent right after this because that’s rare. It’s very lucky if someone is able to book a show from showcase,” Peddycord said. “Mostly, I’m just going to be seen and to jump-start getting my name out there for people to be on the lookout for me.”
Polk said the most significant part of an acting student’s career is the audition process itself, rather than a job.
“People in New York would say that, if a student goes into a showcase thinking they’re going to get something out of it, they won’t,” she said. “They have to get through this idea that, really, your job as an actor is to be an auditioner. That’s what you do. It’s icing on a cake when you get a job out of something.”
There will be an on-campus performance of the New York showcase at 8 p.m. May 3 in the large rehearsal hall in Wanda L. Bass Music Center. Attendance is free.
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