BFA Performance seniors Chachi Colon, Danny Leonard, and Zack Myers just finished hosting an inaugural three-day audition workshop at Coral Reef High School. The primary aim of this workshop was to prepare the class of juniors and seniors for college and professional auditions/interviews. The students were given advice on picking quality material, acting techniques, and understanding university theatre curricula. The idea for the workshop was born in an Acting 7 class taken by the three in the fall 2014 semester. The trio felt that others could benefit from the useful information they received and wanted to share their knowledge with upcoming theatre students. Day 1 was an information session spent discussing the basics of auditions, different university theatre programs, and answering audience questions. On day 2 and 3, students were invited to perform in front of Danny, Chachi, and Zack, along with their classmates, to have their work critiqued. Out of a group of 60, about 12 students took the opportunity to participate. Overall, the workshop was well received and our BFA Performance seniors are looking forward to doing it again at other high schools in the not too distant future. Chachi shared her views on the workshop, saying “it was a great experience for all of us. If I had to change anything I think I would probably work on making it a little more structured so that we can make optimum use of the time we have. I am definitely excited to bring this knowledge to another school.” According to Danny, “having the students express their appreciation to us for taking the time to share our knowledge was very rewarding.” Zack added, “inquiries about private coaching after the first day was a testament to the fact that our words had an impact on the kids. It was beneficial to us because this is the first time we did this workshop outside of FIU and from the reception we received we are all definitely looking forward to doing it again.”
The Department of Theatre is proud of the students for taking this initiative and showing such interest in their community.
