March 19, 2024

Drama hosts auditions for upcoming school year

Greta Nerad

Staff Writer

The Mira Costa Drama Department held auditions in the small theater on Sept. 5, and callbacks on Sept. 6 for roles in its two fall productions, Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Jurors and Jim Leonard, Jr.’s The Diviners.

According to Drama President and senior Noah Geller, approximately 70 students total auditioned for the productions and about half of those who auditioned received callbacks. Thirty-three students combined received roles in both productions.  

“[The turnout for auditions was] pretty normal,” Geller said, “Not as many as for our annual spring musical, but a fair amount for the fall shows.”

The director of the productions, Mira Costa’s Coordinator of Theater Operations and Facility Permits Cary Jordahl, primarily chose the cast. As the director, Jordahl oversees most of what goes into the productions including choosing the plays, cast and tech crew.

“Auditioning is very nerve-wracking because everybody watches you and you don’t see the script before, and usually the upperclassmen have the higher advantage, so I feel like I had to work harder to become known and to prove myself,” sophomore Bailey Borowsky said.

Those who auditioned were called up alphabetically to do a warm-up in a group. After the warm-up, they were assigned a part by the production staff and read directly from the script which was given at the time of the audition.

“[Fall auditions were] definitely nerve-wracking like any audition, but the production team does a really good job of being encouraging and making you feel welcome,” sophomore Mary Clare Powell said.

Students interested in the Tech Department, which works to build sets, design costumes, run operations backstage and serve as ushers, filled out a tech packet. In these packets, they selected their preferred jobs and the students chosen were given positions on the crew.

“I think tech is pretty important because it is all the aspects besides acting,” sophomore and Tech member Tess Fortier said, “Without it, there wouldn’t be any sound or lights, costumes, or set in the shows.”

Jordahl assigned tech positions to thirty-eight students. Thirteen students will work on the tech crew for Twelve Angry Jurors, fourteen will work on the tech crew for The Diviners, and about a third of the crew will help with both productions.

“[In regards to selecting the shows,] I try to give students a well-rounded theatrical experience before they leave here,” Jordahl said. “Both of the plays are serious in nature and there’s some heavy material, so I hope that the students that learned and gained skills by doing Almost Maine a comedy/love story last year are going to acquire some new skills by being involved in a drama.”

Twelve Angry Jurors, which tells the story of a jury forced to unanimously decide whether a young man is guilty or not guilty of killing his father, opens on Oct. 12 with a total of four shows. The play The Diviners, which is set in the fictional town Zion, Indiana during the Great Depression, will open on Nov. 3 with a total of six shows.

“I tried to select shows thinking of variety so that the students are exposed to different types of material, different authors, and many genres,” said Jordahl. “I feel excited about these up-and-coming two productions that we’re doing in the fall.”

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