Theatre VCU seniors audition in New York, Los Angeles

Samantha Foster
Spectrum Editor

Theater performance seniors in Theatre VCU are getting a taste of the world beyond VCU before they even cross the stage at graduation. Roughly 25 seniors traveled to Los Angeles and will be traveling to New York City this week as part of their Senior Showcase.

The Senior Showcase is an opportunity for students in theater performance to demonstrate their skills to agents and casting directors in Los Angeles and New York in hopes that getting their name and headshots in the industry early will aid them in landing an acting job post-graduation.

Theater performance senior Sean Wyland took the trip as way to accomplish his personal goal of breaking into the theater world.

“I think it’s a great way to step out into the world outside of college and get a taste of the industry,” Wyland said.

Earlier in the semester, students traveled to Los Angeles for nine days, during which time they participated in workshops and individual interviews with agents and casting directors from the area. They met with Russell Scott, the casting director for “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,” and Eric Souliere, the casting director for “The Mentalist” and “American Horror Story.”

Byron Wigfall, one of the students on the trip to Los Angeles, enjoyed the feedback that he received from the agents and casting directors.

“It’s interesting how opinions can differ so much from person to person,” Wigfall said. “You get to a point where one minute, one person hates your headshot and the next person loves it.”

During the workshops, students cold read scenes for the casting directors and agents. Upon returning to Richmond from Los Angeles, they received the information for agents and casting directors who were interested in them for post-graduation work.

“They say it takes seeing someone six times before they’ll really bring you in and this is only our first meeting with these people, but it’s still a very big deal and we work had to make a good impression,” Wigfall said of meeting with the agents and casting directors.

During this coming week, from April 21-27, the theater performance seniors involved in the Senior Showcase will be traveling to New York City to perform a set of scenes that they have been rehearsing this semester. They will be performing them once as an open showcase for any agents and casting directors who wish to come, as well as any VCU alumni living in New York City. Their second performance will be for four agents who will then critique the performances on sight.

The performances are each done in pairs, each person getting to perform two pieces. They can choose to act in both pieces or sing for one of them.

Senior Jackie Reynolds believes that working in pairs has been beneficial to the experience.

“Working with someone else does create a sense of support and team work. We all want each other to do well, so working together has been a great experience,” she said.

While the funding for the trips is expensive, around $3,500 for both, Theatre VCU does provide some help funding the trips. Wyland thinks that the trip is important to take for performance theatre majors.

“I took this trip because I (felt) … I needed to accomplish for my own personal goals, but for others it might just not be their cup of tea,” Wyland said. “This is the biggest choice a theater major will make while they are attending Theatre VCU.”