Just over a year ago, while participating in a musical theater workshop in my hometown, the other cast members and I were lucky enough to meet Julie Reiber, a successful, working Broadway actor, and get all sorts of advice and information from her regarding the realities of the theatre business. When asked what, in her opinion, would be the number one piece of advice for a person trying to make it as a professional actor, she said this: "Take every single opportunity that comes your way. Go on every single audition that you possibly can, constantly put yourself out there and force people to see you over and over again. That's the only way to get yourself noticed."
Upon arriving at Oberlin, as I was trying to learn how to get involved with theatre, I got essentially the same advice from the theatre faculty and upperclassmen. So, that is exactly what I did. And this is how I came to be involved in the OSTA and OMTA Fall Showcases.
OSTA and OMTA are the two primary student-run theatre organizations on campus (Oberlin Student Theatre Association and Oberlin Musical Theatre Association) and they put on several shows throughout the year, the first of which are their Fall Showcases. All of the theatre majors and faculty members strongly recommended auditioning for these as a first-year, because it would be the quickest way to get involved with theatre on campus and meet all of the other theatre students. So, being the little go-getter that I am, I decided to just get out there and audition for both.
The OSTA showcase consists of several 10-minute one-acts written and directed by upperclassmen, and....well, let's just say that they are by no means considered high-caliber work. They are definitely intended to be humorous and fun, not to be nominated for any Tonys. Just as an example, at my initial audition, I read a side from piece called "Busty," which tells a story of two women of very conflicting personalities working together in creating a state-of-the-art sex robot (see what I mean?) After auditioning and being called back, I ended up being cast in a one-act called "Reach Across the Aisle," which presents an episode of Jerry Springer-esque talk show all about controversy in the music industry and how all modern musicians are just trying too hard to offend their audiences. I play the role of Thurston Whalehumper, bassist of the goth-rock band "Tears of a Robot" who has also just released his new solo album entitled "No, Seriously You Guys, I Am The Anti-Christ" (known for the hit single, "Your Babies Were Delicious.") It is a hilariously funny piece, and I'm so excited to be participating in it. The performances are actually this coming weekend and it's certainly going to be a very interesting showcase overall. As a little sneak-peek, here's a nice little quote from Thurston Whalehumper, commenting on how hard it is to offend people with music today: "I remember back in the 90s, all it took was a little fake blood and white contact lenses and you had the parent teacher association on your ass like runes on a calculus textbook (sigh) Kids are so jaded these days..."
In addition, I auditioned for the OMTA showcase, which is comprised of several musical theatre numbers and scenes (thankfully, none of which were written by students). And I had the incredible luck to be cast in one of my all-time favorite songs, from one of my all-time favorite shows, written by one of my all-time favorite composers. And now, as I depart for the adventure that is my first college-performance-tech-week, I leave you with a recording of that song, for your morbidly humorous enjoyment. You are welcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnVd3wgTX0
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