oh so much...

It's Audition Time at Theatre VCU - which ramps the theatre  department nervous energy up just a bit....


Here's a great paragraph or two or three about the senior's trip to LA last week, as shared by Tommy Callan.

Photos are at the end of the blog

What a week! My fellow seniors and I just got back from sunny and warm Los Angeles, California participating in about 18 workshops with all types of industry professionals working in television and film. Between agents, managers, casting directors for every type of medium, we were inundated with quite the fantastic educational experience. The trip was organized for us by Actor's Connection and our Senior year professor Lorri Lindberg, who was gracious enough to join us for the entire week.

The average day went like this: we'd wake up for our first workshop which would usually begin at 10am. We'd gather as a group and do individual interviews with the guest artist before the official instruction began. Every casting director would, after interviewing us, assign us television scenes (aka "sides") that they felt fit our personalities (often with striking accuracy) and pair us up with a partner. We'd have about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare our scene before going back into the room and presenting them to the group. The casting director would most times give very helpful feedback and often redirect us (to see how well we handled direction) and, after everyone in the group had presented, offer a helpful Q & A.

The Q & A sections were, by far, the most informative. After spending four years training, we were all very able to cold read sides and present them with well-crafted choices so those were often not too terrifying. The Q & A sections, however, would give us all valuable opportunities to tear down the pre-convieived notions about "Hollywood" and what it's really like to live and work as an actor out there. If we did learn anything, it's that to work in LA is, in some ways, easier than it is in New York but in others, much harder. It boiled down to what seems to be a lifestyle choice and, while some of us still prefer the East Coast, just as many are absolutely psyched to possibly call Los Angeles their home in a few months. We're so grateful that TheatreVCU offers us this opportunity and hope that the partnership between Actor's Connection and TheatreVCU only grows over the coming years.

Tommy Callan, Class of 2011

In & Out Burger, Yes!

Darling Donzell!

The usual suspects in front of Universal Studios!