Yearlong Audition: Tricia Wiles | Theatre Performance

Since high school, Tricia Wiles has done everything in her power to pursue a career in musical theater.

As her freshman year draws to a close, Wiles said she feels that she was successful in getting as much out of her first year as possible by participating in performance opportunities at VCU, like the improvisation show, No Shame, and getting a job in the theater community.

“I feel happy, in a good place, where I am … in my college career life,” said Wiles. “I’ve done a lot things that I’ve had access to because I’m from
Richmond.”

Over the course of her first year, Wiles has been heavily involved in theater in and outside of school. Through VCU, Wiles participated in the Shafer Laboratory Alliance Theatre’s production of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky.”

Outside of school, Wiles has worked behind the scenes, like “The Little Mermaid” with the School of the Performing Arts in Richmond Community, and also onstage, like when she played Yonah in the Jewish Community Center’s production of “Children of Eden.” She also maintained a work-study job as an intern with SPARC.

During spring break, Wiles attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference, where she attended a variety of workshops and auditioned for summer internships.

Since coming to VCU, Wiles said she has been given an increased number of opportunities to seize in terms of both performance and other theater experience. However, with this upsurge of opportunities, Wiles has also had to face the realities of theater in terms of the things she couldn’t or wasn’t chosen to do.

“There’s been a lot of rejection. And with that, I also realized that I’m still learning,” she said. “I’m not ready for the real world yet. I don’t want to say I’m not talented enough, because that’s a really hard thing to judge yourself by, but … (maybe I’m not) trained enough. That’s why I’m here.”

However, after being turned down for shows like “Sweeney Todd,” Wiles will make her first Theatre VCU Mainstage appearance this coming fall as a female council member in “Hairspray.”

Wiles said that this production will be a similar experience to what life as a performer will be like after graduation and a good indication of how the rest of her undergraduate career will unravel.

“I still love what I do,” she said. “I think I’m really going to really decide about the musical theater part, if that’s something I … really want to do, after Hairspray next year.”

Some of her activities this year have prompted Wiles to consider the possibility that she will not always be performing and what that means in terms of staying established in the theater community regardless.

“Technical theater is not something that I would want to do for a living but it is a possibility in the sense (that) I need to be realistic of my life,” Wiles said. “If I want to work in the theater world, I need to have these skills sets, and I’ve become more OK with that.”

Wiles may have come to terms with that realization in part because of her new financial responsibilities.

“Even though we’re still in college … it’s a serious time,” Wiles said. “I’m starting to have to deal with real things that my parents don’t pay for anymore … (and learning) that if I want something, I have to do it.”

In the past, Wiles was able to participate in theater without pay. Exempting opportunities such as “Hairspray,” Wiles said she will need to reconsider which options she does and doesn’t take, such as her job as a tech this summer.

“As of right now, I’m not performing this summer, which is … not weird, but different,” she said. “I need to make money. I need to have a job. And if I want to do theater … I need to be making money doing it this summer. So as much as I might want to do a show for free, if it conflicts with my work schedule, I can’t.”

Despite her growing sense of responsibility, Wiles remains optimistic about her future career as a performer.

“I’m for sure going to fight,” Wiles said. “I’m going to keep on training.”

-Michael Todd