Standing outside of the drama classroom, students nervously talked among themselves as they waited for their turn to audition. It was October 5th, the second day of Casa Grande’s Legally Blonde auditions, and over 30 students had signed up for the musical. Five students were signed up for the first slot of auditions, including Ezra Grehan, Chloe Herdman, Scarlett Peepe, Natalie Bell, and Sammy Castro.
As students walked into the classroom, they saw its transformation into an indoor stage, with plain black walls and a level floor forming a black box theater. Joining the students for their auditions were Mr. Mazer, Mr. Millard, and Arin van der Ree, who were the show’s production director, vocal director, and stage manager respectively. Each student prepared a 45 to 90 second song to sing acapella (meaning without a backing track).
Ezra went first, singing “Home” by Philip Phillips, which was then followed by Scarlett’s rendition of “What You Got” from Freaky Friday. After, there came Chloe with “I’d Rather Be Me” from Mean Girls, Natalie with “Cups” from Pitch Perfect, and lastly, Sammy with “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from Glee. Mr. Millard then asked all the students to match the notes he played on the piano until they couldn’t or their voice cracked.
After all the auditioners had finished singing their prepared songs, Mr. Mazer split them into groups of two and three. They each got a script and had four to five minutes to practice it with each other. Once they had read the scripts over a few times, they went back to perform their scenes. When they all finished performing, it was time for the next slot of hopeful applicants, with the auditions finally concluding at 5:15.
On Friday morning, a call back list was sent out, consisting of 19 students. Call backs are used by directors to see actors again and clarify if they will be casted or determine what role they will play if they are casted.
Seniors Alexander Keach and Antonio Jordan both stated, “singing sucked but everything else was fun!” Junior Roxanne Auerbach said, “I think I did really good honestly. It was a really fun experience. I really liked when Mr. Millard used the piano to test my range after my audition. I also think Mr. Mazer chose good scenes for us to read.”
On October 13th, the cast list was finally sent out, showing everyone’s roles for the show. Mr. Mazer and Mr. Millard took their time deciding the perfect person for each role. After all the students’ hard work and patience, the auditioners were able to find out their roles for the show, which will be debuting in spring.
