{"id":41966,"date":"2022-02-26T10:28:11","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T17:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/program-aims-to-prepare-actors-for-theater-productions\/"},"modified":"2022-02-26T17:28:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T17:28:11","slug":"program-aims-to-prepare-actors-for-theater-productions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/program-aims-to-prepare-actors-for-theater-productions\/","title":{"rendered":"Program aims to prepare actors for theater productions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Farmington
Farmington Civic Center supervisor Randy West, second from left, addresses the cast of the show \u201cDisaster!\u201d during rehearsals for the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company show in February 2020. (The Daily Times via AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FARMINGTON (AP) \u2013 Randy West has implemented an ambitious series of changes since taking over as supervisor of the Farmington Civic Center in summer 2019, namely the booking of dozens of musical, theatrical and comedy acts and the launch of a professional musical theater company designed to serve as a regional attraction.<\/p>\n

Those elements have been slowed down, but not sidetracked, by the COVID-19 pandemic, which left the Civic Center shuttered for a year and four months. Last year, as soon as he got the green light from city officials, West began scheduling nationally touring shows again and got his musical theater troupe back on its feet.<\/p>\n

But another important item on West\u2019s agenda \u2013 the cultivation and training of a group of local actors to augment the professionals in the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company \u2013 has had to wait, the Farmington Daily Times <\/em>reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now \u2013 as the company prepares to enter the busiest time in its two-and-a-half-year history this spring and summer, when it will stage four shows in five months \u2013 West is finally ready to begin a program that will address that goal.<\/p>\n

The Four Corners Musical Theatre Company will hold two audition workshops over the next several weeks, one for children, and another for teens and adults, who are interested in appearing in the organization\u2019s productions of \u201cGene Kelly\u2019s Lost Musical,\u201d \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d \u201cThe Pirates of Penzance\u201d and \u201cAnnie.\u201d<\/p>\n

The workshops are the first step in what West envisions as a training program for local actors that will allow them to slide seamlessly into supporting roles for the aforementioned lineup of shows. West envisions developing a crew of local amateur actors so well trained and professional that \u201cnobody will see any separation between the people who do this for a living and those who do it during the summer because they love it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ambitious plan, and West knows it won\u2019t be realized without a lot of hard work. Those who commit to the program will be expected to begin rehearsals for their show or shows months in advance, but he says they\u2019ll be rewarded with a performing experience that likely exceeds anything else they\u2019ve been involved in up to this point.<\/p>\n

He believes the benefits of such an experience extend well beyond the theater world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see younger people find confidence in doing this in the summer,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll discover confidence in themselves that they never knew existed. They may not go on to a career in musical theater, but this might help them get a law degree and have the confidence to plead a case in front of a judge and jury instead of doing contract law.\u201d<\/p>\n

West has used local amateurs in most of the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company productions up until now, but he said their integration into those productions has been limited.<\/p>\n

This spring and summer, he wants to see those local performers emerge as full-fledged cast members who can hold their own next to the professional actors from New York and California who make up the permanent company.<\/p>\n

Much of that training, he said, will consist of teaching them the choreography basics that are such an important part of any musical theater production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t have to be put in the back (of the stage) on a box waving their arms,\u201d he said, describing the modest presence many of those local actors have had in his productions thus far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been planning to do this for two years and couldn\u2019t get it done,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the plan going forward is to do three musicals every summer so that the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company is one of the things that defines what Farmington is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

West said the aspiring actors who audition for the upcoming slate of productions can commit to doing as few shows as they like.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to do three shows,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, most people won\u2019t. I\u2019m assuming most people will do one or two. But I am holding open a lot of slots for locals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The auditions themselves will be as painless as possible, he said. He explained that the traditional, nerve-wracking process of a lone performer reciting lines or singing under a spotlight on a bare stage while a director judges their performance from the back of the darkened theater is not the way he does things.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re pulling them in, putting them in the worst possible situation and seeing if they can survive,\u201d West said, describing how legendary musical theater director Hal Prince once described that approach to him.<\/p>\n

West said he prefers a more relaxed, informal, face-to-face setting in which he chats with the performers and gets to know a little about their personality before he puts them through their audition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way, I have a much better idea of what they would bring to a project,\u201d he said. \u201cThe audition process is not meant to be scary at all. The idea is, we\u2019re going to nurture them through unlocking their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

West said he understands his goal of building a reliable group of seasoned, well-trained local amateurs is something that won\u2019t happen overnight. But he is committed to getting it done over the long haul, and he believes the program will help his company sink its roots into the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not claiming we\u2019re going to get there 100% this summer,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re taking steps. And I guarantee that everybody who comes to these shows will have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farmington Civic Center supervisor Randy West, second from left, addresses the cast of the show \u201cDisaster!\u201d during rehearsals for the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company show in February 2020. (The Daily Times via AP) FARMINGTON (AP) \u2013 Randy West has implemented an ambitious series of changes since taking over as supervisor of the Farmington Civic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1060,138,910],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-new-mexico","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41966"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}