This afternoon marks the beginning of week-long auditions for the fall musical. Titled ‘Anything Goes,’ this production incorporates tap dancing into its tumultuous story set on ocean liner S. S. American.
Students are excited to be a part of the musical, performing arts teacher Mike Pierson said.
“We had 25 to 30 students at the audition meeting tonight. I look for a few additional ones to join,” Pierson said. “I have seen quite a bit of enthusiasm.”
The musical, selected in May, was originally written in the 1930s. Pierson said the show, performed on Broadway in the last 5 years, was selected through many deciding factors.
“The show was chosen in May after looking over several shows while we considered what shows had done here before, what the strengths of the students we thought would be auditioning are, the marketability of the show, et cetera.” Pierson said.
While Pierson describes the tap dancing as an “interesting attraction,” the skill worries sophomore Xander Kent.
“There is a whole lot of tap dancing in it,” Kent says. “I used to take tap dancing for a couple of years when I was younger and I was awful at it. I do not want to make a fool of myself.”
To combat the added pressure of tap dancing, optional workshops were held to familiarize potential cast members. People like senior Madi Castilow found them helpful, especially since she had little experience tap dancing.
“I’ve never done tap dancing before so I struggled at first,” Castilow says. “But I got a slight grasp of what I was expected to do for auditions.”
Dancing isn’t the only challenge students face. With theater sometimes going into late hours, many students worry about balancing the musical with their academic life. Some students, like senior Polina Kopeikin, even chose to alter their class load so they could participate in extracurriculars like the musical.
“I actually specifically made sure not to have too difficult classes this year just so that I could do theater,” Kopeikin says. “It also really helps that practice is later on in the day so right after school I can maybe do clubs or my homework.”
With the high number of expected auditions, competition is high for coveted lead parts, particularly for female roles.
“I am a little worried that there aren’t too many female roles,” Kopeikin says. “But if I’m being completely honest, I would be completely happy in literally almost any role that sings and dances.”
Auditions carry on through September 20 for a show,  Pierson says, involves “some very humorous pairings as well as surprising plot twists.”