Theatre students performing at the Barnes and Noble fundraiser. photo by Olivia Oss
TJ theater brings an old favorite back to life this Spring.
TJ’s theater department held auditions at the end of October and beginning of November for the Spring musical, Hello, Dolly! which is set to take the stage this March. After many impressive auditions, the musical is bound to be a great success.
The rounds of auditions started off with tech crew interviews, which were held from October 20th- 24th. The main process was a question and answer session with the interviewee, and then the production schedule, their commitment, and expectations were discussed. “For tech, it’s a series of questions about different techniques in the shop; how to use the appropriate saw when cutting things,” director and choir teacher Tambyr Reed elaborated.
The auditions for the hair, makeup, and costume crew were conducted from October 26th to November 1st. Interviewees had to complete a demonstration and tutorial with the leaders of the crew: professional makeup artist Gina Shearer, junior Lauren Lillien, and senior Carolyn McCarthy. The process was meant to show the proficiency of certain skills, in addition to practicing on a provided model. Then, regarding the costuming aspect of the crew, auditioners had to do a sewing and mending demonstration and interview with Reed. McCarthy elaborated, “We have a lot of new recruits, and I’m excited to work with them. They seem really interesting.”
Aspiring actors participated in three separate auditions: monologues on November 9th, singing on November 10th, and choreography on November 11th. The monologues had to be no longer than three minutes, and auditioners were encouraged to perform monologues which accentuated their strengths in acting. For the singing auditions, students had to pick a two to three minute song from a musical, either providing sheet music for an accompanist band or an MP3 track. Finally, students went to the dance room to learn the counts and movements for the audition, and then the students returned to the dance room to audition in groups of four to five students. “Auditions went very well, overall. Everybody has done a great monologue, and has done a great solo so far,” Reed said.
The students and crew are very excited to put the musical together. Junior Evan Domagala explained, “I’m looking forward to another great cast and a lot of great music.” This is Domagala’s third year being involved in TJ theater. “I’ve auditioned for every single other play and musical here and I love the program and all the kids in it,” he continued.
Additionally, there was a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble this past Sunday that benefitted the theater program, in which the cast performed monologues and songs from Hello, Dolly!
Make sure to look forward to this production taking place March 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th at 7 p.m. in the TJ auditorium.
The cast of Hello, Dolly! is as follows:
Anja Oss as Mrs. Dolly Levi
Jay Iyema as Ernestina Money
Landon Cramer as Ambrose Kemper
Sam Trout as Horace Vandergelder (March 16, 17)
Beck Moore as Horace Vandergelder (March 18, 19)
Annabel Weizenbeck as Ermengarde Vandergelder (March 16, 17)
Maddi Abram as Ermengarde Vandergelder (March 18, 19)
Evan Domagala as Cornelius Hackle
James Oss as Barnaby Tucker
Olivia Palizzi as Minnie Fay
Jordyn Chappell as Irene Molloy
Molly O’Neil as Mrs. Rose
Sean McNearney as Rudolph Reisenweber
Kieran Cecil as Stanley
Milan Bartelt as Fritz
Nick Wilson as Harry
Jazzmeen Rodriguez as Louise
Malia McDorman as Danny
Caroline Cech as Manny
Juan Schonewise as Hank
Sam Mattei as Judge
Chris Greer as Policeman
Jennifer Anderman as Court Clerk
Chorus: Nick Miller and Olivia Fambrini
