Drama department presents a new event — dinner, auditions and a show
From the producers of fully mounted productions and Comedy Sportz shows comes a new event — the drama showcase.
Improv team is incorporating a jazz band and auditions for the Andrew Segal Memorial Scholarship into the Feb. 5 event at 6:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theater.
The improv team’s showcase will serve as a replacement for its Comedy Sportz performances of previous years. The team canceled its Comedy Sportz membership this year due to declining audience interest and the expensive membership fee. Nevertheless, many students still harbor a love for improvisational comedy, or improv, and are eager to have an opportunity to perform.
"When you sit and watch the rest of the team while they do a scene… you can’t stop laughing because it’s so hilarious," junior improv team co-captain Anna Crouch said. "It’s so fun to just sit and watch and bust my gut."
Jazz band members, sophomore Nitisha Mehta, juniors Ab Menon, Zee Kazi and senior Kevin Hayes, will perform during intermissions throughout the show.
The night will wrap up with auditions for the recently created Andrew Segal Memorial Scholarship. Organized by drama department advisor Holly Cornelison and the parents of the late alumnus Andrew Segal, the scholarship was created for a graduating FUHSD senior planning on pursuing drama in college.
The night will wrap up with auditions for the recently created Andrew Segal Memorial Scholarship. Organized by drama department advisor Holly Cornelison and the parents of the late alumnus Andrew Segal, graduating FUHSD seniors planning on pursuing drama in college will perform a monologue or song during their audition.
"[Segal] was deeply involved in theater. I mean, [the Black Box] was where he was all the time," Cornelison said. "He was also really funny. That, combined with the fact that he loved theater, he loved this Black Box and this was where he loved to be, we just thought it would be a fitting combo [to hold auditions at this event]."
According to Cornelison, the idea to combine auditions for the scholarship with the improv show sprang from an uncertainty regarding the number of applicants. Designed to aid students sharing Segal’s passion for theater, the scholarship sports particular criteria, drawing a relatively small pool of applicants.
"The criteria is fairly specific because that’s who Andrew was, that’s what he loved," Cornelison said. "We had been talking about the scholarship since [he passed away last March], but now we’re… ready to honor him."
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