By Kristin Schneider
On January 17 through 21, seven graduating Fitchburg State theatre students attended the National University/Resident Theatre Auditions (URTA) in New York.
These auditions are held every winter in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, and allow prospective candidates to be seen by recruiters from a number of universities and various other institutions. The auditions, however, are not limited to acting but open to all aspects of theatre, including design and technology, stage management, arts leadership and directing.
After spending winter break preparing themselves, FSU students Lauren Esper, Shani Farrell, Felipe Ferreira, Rachael Miles, Natalie Scott, Nicholas Spatola and Katie Williams, were challenged to showcase their talents by presenting two monologues within a two-minute time frame.
During this brief audition, students must demonstrate the ark of actor emotions, while also showing the range and depth of their abilities. Using their time wisely, they are able to showcase the full extent of what they could do.
Natalie Scott, who will be graduating this Spring, says that the behavior and attitude between everyone stuck out to her, saying that “Everyone there genuinely wanted everyone else there to do well. We were all rooting for each other as well as ourselves.” It seemed to be contradictory to normal behavior in ‘show business.’ Lauren Esper, fellow Theatre major agreed saying, “All day, our peers were kind and everyone in the room wanted an equal sense of success.”
Through the URTA, these students have drawn attention from schools and programs such as the Guildford School of Acting in England, the Cleveland PlayHouse, the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and many other programs.
Theatre coordinator, Professor Kelly Morgan describes all the student’s efforts as “…quite an undertaking.”
This year’s group has been the largest to date, and all the students who attended received callbacks and interest from schools and companies at the auditions. Over the past six years, FSU’s theatre program has had a full record of drawing attention at these auditions, with all the students attending being given offers and inquiries into attending various graduate schools and professional acting programs.
Fitchburg Theatre Students Wow at National Auditions
February 10, 2019
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