Casting Calls

The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, which I had to do when I stood up inside the circle of chairs.

“Hi, everyone,” I said. “I’m Feliza, and I’m the writer and director for ‘West Bancroft Side Story.’”

It may sound like a setup for a really bad joke, but take me seriously: I was only the first of about 12 students gathered in that room for casting callbacks.

Saturday’s meeting was one of several casting call meetings held by UTTV, the student broadcasting organization, to find just the right Rockets for the miniseries.

“I was really shocked to see how much talent UT really has,” said Carina Cornieles, vice president of promotions and recruitment for UTTV and a member of the casting panel. “I was totally amazed by it.”

The casting process took about one and a half weeks. The casting panel – made up of UTTV members – welcomed almost 20 students to auditions, which involved singing, acting and even dancing in some cases.

While many of the more professional auditions (read: the theater majors) were able to keep a straight face, some of those auditioning had a harder time – especially during callbacks, when all of the actors were interacting with one another.

“It’s so funny. I love the script,” Cornieles said. “I enjoy reading it, and that’s really important, because if you read it 800 times and you’re still excited, then it’ll be really cool to see it.”

The number and quality of the auditions was impressive and humbling for both of us, especially since I had been the only one to read the script aloud before auditions took place.

“We had people come in and read for [one character], and they had a totally different take on her than I imagined,” Cornieles said. “They totally blew us away.”

The production I mentioned, “West Bancroft Side Story,” is a four-episode parody miniseries based on the classic musical “West Side Story.” The plot revolves around a Romeo-and-Juliet-style pair, Joey DeMarco and Sonia Long, whose star-crossed romance is doomed because Joey lives in Ottawa House and Sonia lives in the Dowd-Nash-White complex, also known as the Quad.

“I think it’s surprisingly funny,” Cornieles said. “A lot of times in musicals, you don’t expect it, and since it’s tailored to UT – especially the first song – it’s really funny. It’s just hilarious because you know what they’re talking about.”

“West Bancroft Side Story,” which began as a small joke between me and a few friends, has become a collaborative project between students — and student organizations.

When I originally pitched the idea for “West Bancroft Side Story” to Cornieles, I suggested collaborating with UT’s student radio station to record the music rather than performing the songs on-camera.

“We’re working with WXUT, and it’s a new experience for me because I’ve never done anything that has to do with music or recording,” Cornieles said. “It’s something new.”

The official cast list has many students, ranging from a freshman majoring in international business to a senior majoring in theater. Other students holding major speaking roles include a junior majoring in psychology and a sophomore majoring in math education.

The cast also includes three featured dancers.

“I think that our cast will be really good because they all contribute their own personalities to it, as well as the characters’ personalities,” Cornieles said.

While we have both had a ton of fun doing casting and developing the musical, both Cornieles and I have had our fair share of frustration, between actually composing the script with music and organizing callbacks.

“When you look at a TV show or a movie, you think ‘oh, that looks like fun,’ but people don’t realize how much work it really is,” Cornieles said. “It’s a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work.”

UTTV is still looking for extras and crew members for the projects and, as Cornieles added, anyone is welcome to help.

“I’m totally excited for this project,” she said. “Once it premieres, it will become apparent how much talent UT has to bring.”