As the hallways of St. Clair become full of kids leaving after that final mod bell, some students know it’s time to spend a long night of preparation for their musical audition. This year the theater will be performing Hello Dolly, an 1969 romantic comedy that has been a popular performance for the high school over the years. With fifteen main roles and only eleven leads, there was a lot of competition for the role.

All students who want to try out for a role or participate in the ensemble must fill out an application and audition, including paying a fee of $250. Besides this, preparing for the audition itself is stressful. I interviewed Rebecca Sweich, 12, who was auditioning for the role of Dolly what the process was like.

“First, you were supposed to sign up for a time slot, then wait for a email to get a song list,” Sweich said. Each of the songs on the audition list were from both Hello Dolly and other musicals, with the list of songs closely relating to the vocal range of the character being auditioned for. However for the first set of auditions, there was no “acting” audition.
For the dancers, the audition was required as well, but dancers were to learn different combinations and perform it with accuracy and skill. Some of the roles had to audition through dancing once called back, expanding the students abilities even more.

Either way, the audition process is made to be as helpful for students as can be,  but is still pretty stressful. Even during the school day, I witnessed various musical students constantly practicing, senior Kiera James included. “I’m glad I did fall play, it really helps me have a chance to work with the people I will be auditioning and the staff, James says while taking a second to pause from her singing.
The results will be released during the coming week, and be sure to catch Hello Dolly in March!