A message from your LoftPAC co-presidents Alex Berger and Katherine Spicuzza:

For everyone:

Welcome back returning and prospective thespians!  We kicked off the school year with a fabulous party, and now we’re on our way to Aida auditions!  The first LoftPAC meeting is set for September 6^th in the choir room, right after school, when we’ll be kicking off the new year in theatre with root beer floats.  We officers cannot stress enough how important it is to get to the LoftPAC meetings to keep up to date—we’ve even moved them to an after-school time slot to make it easier for you to attend!  These meetings won’t take much of your time, and they’re always jam-packed with important information about auditions, fundraisers, and opportunities to be involved and go to awesome events as a group.  Remember, too, that it’s just as important to put in time offstage as it is onstage, so as Aida production gets going, make sure you stop by the shop to help out for a few hours.  Every little bit helps!  We can’t wait to have a root beer float with you all at the September 6 meeting.  Which reminds us:  Never pass up an opportunity to eat ice cream.  #TheatreRulesToLiveBy.

For those new to ERHS theatre (or anyone who wants a refresher):

Maybe you aren’t so keen on being on stage, or you don’t make the cast list, but we are equally in need of people behind the scenes in lighting, sound, hair/makeup, costuming, and scene shop/construction.  In lighting and sound, you work with state of the art technology to take the production (in this case, our musical) to the next level.  With hair, makeup, and costuming, you will help the leads create their characters’ appearance and make the costumes cast members will wear onstage.  Scene shop and construction can be as simple as painting sets or sweeping up sawdust, or as complicated as using power tools and lumber to build a giant pyramid from scratch. Every single job in theatre is important.  Every participant is valued and included in parties and traditions.  We LOVE our techies!

We know some of you are a little nervous about auditions.  Fortunately, everything you need to know, from song cuttings to script sections to registration information, is on www.theloftstage.org.  Youtube has the entire Aida soundtrack; maybe you’d like to hear “Gods Love Nubia” (the audition song) to get in the swing of things.  Don’t worry if you’ve never done a musical—lots of upperclassman participated in theatre for the very first time as freshman at ERHS.  We’ll help you through every step and tell you exactly what you need to do.  If you have any questions, PLEASE show up to our September 6th LoftPAC meeting to get them answered.  And if you still have questions, speak to any of your LoftPAC representatives; we’re always happy to help.  Finally, we encourage everyone—experienced and inexperienced alike—to sign up and audition.  Just make sure you complete the audition sheet and conflict calendar BEFORE your audition.  Auditions can be intense, but they are also a blast and a great way to make new friends.  And, hey, it never hurts to try.

What is the show size this year and how many students will audition?

The staging of Aida is a huge undertaking, starting with the assembly of a large, multi-talented ensemble cast.  Here’s the breakdown:

Total cast size:  30-40.

Speaking or soloist parts:  eight principal roles

Chorus:  The number will depend on two things: talent and balance. Ultimately, we can’t have forty-six sopranos and two tenors!

Number of students expected to audition:  100+

How are cast selections made?

Casting the show is the complicated and agonizing job of the show’s director, with multiple variables at play and endless permutations and combinations to consider.  Ultimately, the prime directive of casting is to craft the best show possible and help each student shine.  That said, the biggest determining factor in casting is goodness-of-fit between student and role in service of the overall production.

How much time do cast members put in? 

Students playing Aida, Radames, Mereb, Amneris, and Zoser will rehearse four or five days per week. Chorus members should expect three to four days a week until the last two weeks, when rehearsal time goes up as opening night approaches.

What about schoolwork and grades?

Chorus members WILL have enough downtime to finish schoolwork.  Involvement in theatre is a real balancing act but as a rule does not get in the way of keeping up grades.  Moreover, the ERHS theatre program maintains this philosophy:  School and grades come first.  Period.

How come there’s an activity fee for students participating in crew, tech, and orchestra?

ERHS offers a student-centered comprehensive educational theatre program, a rarity among high school theatre programs.  This means students are integrally involved, from start to finish, in the building and staging of an entire high quality theatrical production.  Acting is just one part of that process.  Students also build the sets.  Sew and repair the costumes.  Apply makeup and create hairstyles.  Work the lighting and sound equipment.  Supply the musical score.  To be successful in each of these specialized areas, students work closely with talented staff members who serve as supervisors, instructors, and mentors.  Hence, every stage of show development, every aspect of production demands significant adult time and attention.  In this way, the ERHS theatre program offers a unique skill-building mentorship experience to its student participants.  Which makes theatre—even for those who are not in the cast—a student enrichment activity like any other offered at ERHS.

Check out this article from Woodbury Magazine’s September edition featuring our LoftPAC Co-President’s passion for the theater arts. Click HERE.

Students who will be participating in the fall musical, AIDA can now register online. Parents and students are asked to take the time to be accurate with all of the requested information. The ability to communicate with parents and students in an accurate and timely way depends on the registration information provided by you. Students do not need to be registered before auditions but all registrations for cast, crew and orchestra will be due by September 27th. REGISTER HERE