Musical theatre students perform senior showcase

Nine senior musical theatre students took the stage at The Varsity this past Friday to perform and raise money for their trip to New York in a senior showcase entitled, “Cabaret.”

The group of seniors performed songs they felt best represented their talent and personality.

“We chose fun stuff that we like to sing,” senior Kit Asfeldt said. “It’s a testing ground for us for things that we may use in our reel.”

Over spring break next semester, the group will be taking a five to six day trip to New York to audition for industry professionals and take workshops with them.

“In all fields you do research,” said Matthew Nesmith, one of the faculty members helping the students prepare. “In theater and the arts, you do creative research and this is an opportunity to present their creative research to a large audience with the potential to get call backs for interviews and get feedback on their work. This is both an academic and professional function for our students.”

This is the sixth showcase group that will be going to New York.

In order to be chosen for the group, students had to go through an audition and interview process with theater faculty. For some, the process was intense.

“It’s a combination of audition/interview,” Asfeldt said. “We come in with prepared pieces that we think is the most of who I am as a performer and you sit down with the entire faculty and do an interview about why you should be coming with and what you can bring to the table. It was terrifying. I cried a little bit after I left the room I was like, ‘Wow, that was intense.’ “

Nesmith said the faculty was looking at more then just students’ talent.

“We look at not only their talent but their academic work as well,” Nesmith said. “We also look at if you work well in a group and with your peers because those are skills that you need especially in an industry like ours. That’s part of our interview process as well. It also forces the students to think about interviewing for jobs after school.”

For some, the chance to travel as a senior class and see the Big Apple are what they are most excited about.

“I’m excited to just travel with just us,” Asfeldt said. “We have been places before but this is the first time that we will travel as just a senior class and I think it’ll be really interesting to see if we hate each other by the end of the week.”

For others, the professional feedback is what excites them most.

“It’ll be cool to see and hear what people think of us after our performance, especially considering that they haven’t seen us grow,” Kelsey Mitteness said.

However, the traveling and feedback are not the only thing students will be taking back from this trip.

“Traveling is part of the bridge process as well,” Nesmith said. “Not only will they be experiencing the city but they will also be learning that the acting community is smaller than the city itself. The community is also very engaging and friendly even at the top end because they want you to do well so that the production goes well.”

The students have been taking a class this semester that will prepare them for the professional world after college. However, many feel their four years at USD have prepared them well enough already.

“The thing about picking USD is that it’s affordable and they have a really good program for being in South Dakota,” Natanial Vogel said. “It’s the only place in South Dakota where you can get a BFA. Our professors have a lot of contacts here, too. We have a very large success rate.”

Nesmith said the group is talented and hungry to get out into the real world.

The group of seniors will be performing a Yankton showcase on Dec. 19 at the Lewis and Clark theater. The showcase will be Christmas themed and donations will be accepted to raise money for the trip.