SDA Students Audition for “Calvin Berger”

Those who tried out for SDA’s production of “Calvin Berger” assembled outside the theater after school Friday to view the cast list, leaving some elated and others emotional.  

The casting decisions were made based off of an audition process that began last Tuesday and culminated in call backs held on Thursday. During the auditions, aspiring cast members sang, danced and acted out scenes from the musical.

“The casting process can definitely get stressful. You’re working with dialogue and songs that you’ve known for a day at maximum, so you really need to focus and and get your head in the game so to speak” said senior Dashiell Gregory, who then added “It can be so much fun to get up on stage and show the director everything you have to offer.”

Sophomore Jacob Morilak agreed that the casting process can be both grueling and enjoyable. “The whole casting process looks really easy and feels like it is, but being judged makes ya shaky” he said.

On audition days, students assembled in the audience portion of the theater, where they waited to audition and changed into shoes that were easy to dance in.

Wednesday, when dance auditions were held, theater teacher Stephanie Siers taught those auditioning roughly 1:10 seconds of choreography. After students learned the dance, they rehearsed in groups of four to music from the show’s number “Security Meltdown,” enabling them to adjust to set tempos and adjust choreography to fit a character they chose to personify.

After being given the opportunity to prepare, they sat back down in the audience to watch their peers audition and await their turn.

“Watching others audition is stressful because you, or maybe only I do this, just sit there and think, ‘Huuuuuuurgh they’re better….,’” Morilak said.  

But, Gregory found the process to be a little bit less daunting. “In this case, the people I’m watching audition are my closest friends, so it’s amazing [to watch them audition.] But, in general, I try as hard as I can to not to focus on how others are auditioning and how they are interpreting lines because it can really mess me up. In theatre, it’s very easy to compare yourself to others, but that must be avoided at all costs in order to show the casting director who you are” he said.

Though demanding, those who were cast are looking forward to the show.

“I’m most looking forward to just being in the show itself, and this is my first lead” Morilak said, after being cast the title role of Calvin Berger.

Looking back at the process, Gregory said “[The audition process] can be pretty scary. All of the work you’ve been putting into the audition and callback process could potentially not pay off. However, if you know that you did the best audition you could’ve done then you should be happy even if you don’t get the role you wanted.”