"God, I hope I get it!"
Anticipation fills Murphy Hall this week as nervous theater students audition for a place in the spotlight.
By Cathleen Siechta
Kansan staff writer
Tom Leininger / KAN8AN
Matt Diel, St. Louis freshman, stretches while Laura Zabel, Manhattan freshman, fills out a card for an audition Tuesday night at Crafton-Preyer Theatre.
He was getting ready to step onto the stage.
As he bounced around and threw punches into the air, Matt Diel looked like he was about to fight. But he wasn't getting ready to step into the ring.
Diel, St. Louis freshman,
was one of many students
nervously waiting to audition Tuesday night at Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. The auditions will decide who will be cast in the five plays scheduled by the University theatre and film department this semester.
"I really try not to get too nervous," Diel said. "I just try to transform my nervous energy into stupidity. I just start bouncing around and goofing off."
forming a two-minute monologue in front of a panel of judges.
"Ive smoked a lot of cigarettes," said Robin Parks, Kansas City, M., sophomore. "It's a first date kind of nervousness, except they have to like you here."
Parks auditioned with a humorous monologue about a girl afflicted with
"I had read a serious script with much tensed before, and I just wanted to get the judges' attention with this one," she said.
"I think that auditions are one of the most exciting moments in a student's life." Dan O'Connell
Dan O'Connell Coordinator of auditions
Paul Halton, Dallas freshman, also wanted to get the judges' attention.
"I just found out that if everyone shows up for our audition, I won't perform until 11:00." Halton said. "Unless I walk in there naked, I don't have a chance. After sitting through four and a half hours of auditions, the judges will all just be thinking, 'Thank God he's the last one.'"
Jack Wright, director of University Theatre, seemed as if he could sit through hundreds of auditions.
"Auditions are really exciting, especially at the beginning of the year," Wright said. "We get to see improvement in veteran students and talent in the new students. It's very satisfying and a lot of fun."
"I think that auditions are one of the most exciting moments in a student's life," O'Connell said. "I see their excitement, their flushed cheeks, the twistingof their rings and the sparks in their eyes.
"All that nervousness is a great thing. It's a very good thing. They're getting ready to perform."
Still, nerves were not a problem for some students.
Pete Slowey, St. Louis graduate student, said he saw no reason to get anxious about an audition.
"To me, the nervousness helps," said Laura Zabel, Manhattan freshman. "It's an adrenaline rush that gets you going at the beginning."
"You just have to look at it objectively," Showey said. "What's the worst the judges can do to you? They can't kill you. Besides, if you don't know what you're doing by the time you get up on stage, you shouldn't be there in the first place."
Robin Parks must have known what she was doing. She came out of her audition all smiles.
Students who were picked by the judges are now being called back for additional
Tom Leininger/KANSAN
Erin Kessler, Palatine, ill., junior, waits inside the doors of Cranston-Preyer Theatre before auditioning for one of five plays scheduled by the department of theatre and film this semester. Students selected by judges are being called back.
auditions. Those students may go through call-backs again or may be given apart in one or more of the five plays. The plays are "The Grapes of Wrath" by Frank Galati, "The Heidi Chronicles" by Wendy Wasserstein and three "Potpourri" productions, which will be directed by students.
O'Connell said he hoped people would come to see the student actors who must endure the grueling audition process at the beginning of each semester.
"We encourage everyone to come to these and all the other productions," he said. "It is really a very enriching experience."
theater
KU play reaches regional level
"The Boys Next Door" may soon win the chance to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
By Kevin Hoffmann
Kansan staff writer
"The Boys Next Door" will compete with other college productions from Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Minnesota.
The production has advanced to the regional level of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming an actor or actress dreams of making it to the big stage.
For the students participating in the University Theatre production of "The Boys Next Door," by Tom Griffin, that dream may be close at hand.
The regional festival will be held from Tuesday to Jan. 22 at Johnson County Community College's Cultural Education Center in Overland Park.
If the production wins at the regional level, it will be performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
"The Boys Next Door" was first performed at the University last November.
Only a few productions advance to the regional level, said Jack Wright, director of the play.
Wright downplayed his role in the success of the production, preferring to commend the efforts of the nine actors.
"It's quite an achievement,just to be selected to perform for the region," he said.
"The Boys Next Door" is a comedy drama that revolves around the life of four men who are developmentally disabled. The four men are roommates in an apartment for people with disabilities.
"Judy Pfeirer, a graduate student, did a tremendous job designing the costumes," he said.
Jim Wallert, Omaha, Neb., senior,
said the challenges that the four men
face in everyday life were portrayed
in the play.
"I just try to stress their natural instincts," he said.
Wright also praised the efforts of the people behind the scenes.
While working on "The Boys Next Door," the cast did research with Cottonwood Inc., a community-based organization that provides several services to people with developmental disabilities.
"It looks at everything from going shopping to dating, to just how the four get along together," he said.
"One of the most interesting things was working with the people at Cottonwood and learning a great deal from them," Wallert said. "They helped us about our roles and also taught us about ourselves."
"This is a play that anybody can come into the theater, enjoy themselves for two hours, while at the same time challenge their stereotypes and ideas," he said.
Wallert said he thought people would enjoy the play while also learning from it.
Wallert also said the play reinforced the aspects of acting that he enjoys.
"I like the interaction between the actor and audience," he said. "I also like the rehearsal process and watching something develop from the first reading through to the performance."
Wallert said KU's theater faculty played a big part in the production's success.
"They've got an incredible faculty here," he said.
Cinnamon Schultz, Maryville, Mo., senior, agreed that the faculty encouraged creativity.
p le coaching it would have been much more difficult."
"I really appreciated the help of the director," she said. "Without his sim-
Schultz, who plays the part of Sheilla, a woman who is developmentally disabled, said she thought everyone could relate to her character.
"I think there's a lot of Sheila in everybody," she said.
Three people from the production, Wallert, Schultz and David Prentiss, Geneva, Ill., senior, have been selected to perform for the Irene Ryan Award, which also will be judged at the regional competition.
Another KU production, "Graf Spee," written by Ken Willard, Hays graduate student, will also compete in the regional competition.
"The Boys Next Door" will be performed Jan. 22 at 8:30 p.m. at the Johnson County Community College's Cultural Education Center in Overland Park. Tickets may be purchased through the box office at the Cultural Education Center.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Your guide to Entertainment in the Lawrence Area.
calendar
NIGHTLIFE
Benchwarmer's Bar and Grill
Milhaus Nixons, Saturday
1601 W. 23rd St.
Torquoise Sol, tonight
Monterey Jack, tomorrow
KU/K-State game and Squib Cakes from Manhattan, Monday
Dave Matthews Band from the Hoarde Tour,
Tuesday
The Crossing
12th and Oread
Blue Fuse, 8:30 p.m. tomorrow
Full Moon Cafe
803 Massachusetts St.
Deb Gernius, 8:30 tonight
Walking on Einstein, 9 p.m. tomorrow
Melvin Litton, 9 p.m. Saturday
The Jazzhaus
926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Millhous Nixons, 9:30 tonight
'70s Disco Party, 3:00 p.m. tomorrow
Limbo Cafe, 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Rick's Neighborhood Bar and Grill
623 Vermont St.
Ricky Dean Sinatra,
9:30 p.m. Saturday, $3
The Bottleneck
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
The Cactus Brothers and The Starkweathers,
10 tonight
L.A. Ramblers, 10:30 p.m. tomorrow
Mountain Clyde and Lonesome Hound Dogs,
10 p.m. Saturday
Grenada Theater
Grenada Theater 1020 Massachusetts St. "Whack!",9 tonight Lee McBee and The Passions,9 p.m.Satur day