Theatre department hosts rally, auditions

Kathi Walker / The Bulletin

Students stand up and join in to do the swag wave at the Theater Rally Monday August 25 in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre in King Hall. The students were there learning about the upcoming theater season and how to get involved.

“We are always hopeful at the beginning of the year. We have a good number of students here and so far the have been energetic. I think we are going to have a great year.” –Jim Bartruff, director of communications and theatre.

Emporia State’s theatre department hosted their annual rally last Monday. The rally was meant to inform students about upcoming events and to help new students get to know one another.

“We do this every year and it is one of the really fun events of the first week of school,” said Jim Bartruff, director of communications and theatre. “It’s a chance for old friends to come back and renew their friendships.”

To kick off the event, an informational meeting took place in Bruder Hall, followed by a tour of the theatre department for all new students.

“During the meeting we talked about the upcoming auditions and the way auditions would work,” Bartruff said. “We also introduced the members of the staff and talked about the important deadlines of the semester and different opportunities coming up this year.”

The theatre department will put on the musical Something’s Afoot, a British murder mystery comedy written for Broadway in 1976 by James McDonald, David Vos and Robert Gerlach. The show will run during Homecoming week in October.

“(Something’s Afoot) is like Clue,” said Roy Michael Johnson, senior theatre and arts major. “Only it is in a musical format with British accents. It will be a lot of fun.”

The audition process for the musical began Tuesday evening with a dance workshop where students learned a choreographed dance. Open auditions were held Wednesday and students tried out by acting, singing and dancing.

After the business meeting, the group headed into the Lakeview Cafeteria where they were served pizza and soda.

“We have pizza every year after the meeting,” said Katie Schultz, senior secondary communications education major. “It gives us a chance to sit down with the new students and try and get them involved in our theatre.”

The theatre department has several events planned for the upcoming year, such as the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. The KCACTF regional competition will be held in Lawrence January 19-24. Students can submit costumes, set designs and monologues to the competition.

While an important function of the theatre rally is to inform the students about the calendar and upcoming events, its main purpose is to start the year off with an exciting event where students can learn about their peers.

“We are always hopeful at the beginning of the year,” Bartfuff said. “We have a good number of students here and so far the have been energetic. I think we are going to have a great year.”

The theatre department encourages all students to come out and support their work. According to Johnson, the shows include professional grade student theatre that takes a lot of work to produce.

“It is good to come out and support the university, it is good to come out and support the theatre department,” Johnson said. “We usually put on a good show for everyone.”