Anyone Auditions

Berkshire School's production of Anything Goes is off to a wonderful start. Auditions took place this week and an enthusiastic crowd of kids came out to give it their all. Auditions are a nerve wracking process for all who are involved, but they are also fun and give newcomers to the theater program a chance to show what they can do. Auditioning for the musical is not just a one day event, but something that takes place over a couple of days and has the prospective actors singing, dancing, and, well, acting.

The first day of auditions was filled with excitement which carried on throughout the rest of the audition process. Everybody gave their all on the stage and there were a lot of good surprises. Actors were asked to memorize a monologue and then perform it on stage. After which, Mr. Howard gave each person a direction (usually a pretty wacky one), and the auditionees had to perform their monologue again, but adding in the new direction. These led to some pretty hilarious moments and the students who were auditioning were very supportive of each other the whole way through.

Today the music and dancing auditions were held. Students had been asked to learn a piece of music to sing, and everybody did a great job with their song. It was a very comfortable and supportive atmosphere, and like with the acting auditions, everybody really gave it their all. After that, the auditionees learned a couple of measures from the song "Friendship," from Anything Goes. They were then asked to sing in unison, and then in harmony. There was a short break and then auditions launched head on into the dancing portion. Mrs. Schleunes taught the students her great choreography to the first portion of the song "Anything Goes," and after an hour, everybody knew the moves and were asked to go through them in pairs. It was a hard task to do, and all the students did an amazing job at it.

Auditions are frightening things, but also very rewarding. Even if you go to an audition, but don't get cast, it is a great learning experience and helps you be even better prepared for the next one. Everybody who came out for auditions did an amazing job and it is easy to say that this production is off to a great start!

by Conor Ryan, '15