The world of theater is one that feels near impossible to break into. Outside of community theater troupes, aspiring actors often find themselves unable to build their resume, leading to despair. Within the Castle Country Area, however, Utah State University Eastern is opening its door to these actors as the theater department prepares to hold auditions for its Spring production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Assistant Professor of Acting at USUE Chelsea DuVall joined Castle Country Radio to discuss the auditions, as well as USU Eastern’s acceptance of local talent.
“ As a new professor at USU Eastern, one of the things that I like to do is sort of get a temperature on the talent in the community and the talent in the school. And I think one of the great ways to do that is with Shakespeare. Shakespeare is such a great classic that everyone should have on their resume if they’re serious about acting,” explained DuVall of the play selection,” It’s a great way to sort of test your mettle in the classical world of acting and also with the technical skills.”
DuVall then explained what participants in the auditions – which will be held on Monday, Jan. 27 – should expect. “ Students and interested community members can reach out to me. They can select a monologue from a sheet that I have pulled and prepare it and come share their work with me, and then we’ll have callbacks on Tuesday evening. And those will comprise some cold read scenes and monologues. So I usually tend to release that information to the auditioners if I know that I’m going to call them back.”
To contact DuVall for audition material and more information, you can email the professor at chelsea.duvall@usu.edu.
We then asked DuVall to pull back the curtain and give us a glimpse into what she looks for in an audition,” I think sometimes people think when they come and audition, they need to be perfect. But as someone who is sort of a seasoned director, I’m really looking for who this person is. I want to see, yes, of course, some skills and capabilities, but I’m not looking for perfection. I’m looking for what they have that we can grow and develop in this production together. I’m looking for potential. I’m looking for focus. I want people who want to be involved in the project or the production.”
The penultimate topic DuVall covered was the inclusion of community members in the audition process,” Theater is a collaborative art form, right? And we all learn from each other and I think that it is both on stage and off stage. I think bringing in people of different varying experiences and abilities is super beneficial for the students themselves, but also for people to put themselves in this educational environment. I’m hoping that they can also get some enriching learning experiences and additional tools.”
In closing, the professor simply stated,” Just come and audition and have so much fun.”
Auditions for USU Eastern’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be held on Monday, Jan. 27 starting at 6:30 p.m., with callbacks to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 28. For audition materials and to register for an audition time, you can email DuVall at chelsea.duvall@usu.edu.
