Auditioning for a Broadway production can be an exhilarating experience, and students and local residents will have a chance to experience that thrill.
Broadway at Ohio is putting on an event that will feature performers such as Joseph Pindelski, Kelly d’Amboise, Sam Simahk and Luke Frazier in a series of master classes. The programs will take place Thursday through Saturday in Glidden, Putnam and Kantner halls, and the programing is sponsored by the Ohio University School of Music, Arts for OHIO, the College of Fine Arts and the Performing Arts and Concert Series.
“This year I’m excited to say that we have expanded even further than last year,” Frazier, a founder of the Broadway at Ohio program, said.
The Broadway at Ohio program was first started two years ago by Frazier, an OU alumnus who graduated in 2009, and Peter Jarjisian, professor emeritus of choral activities. The event was created with the intent for students to have an opportunity to meet Broadway professionals.
The first event in the series of programming is Heart and Music, a recital by Sam Simahk and Luke Frazier, which will take place Thursday at 8 p.m. in Glidden Recital Hall. The performance will include music from Aladdin, Gypsy and Avenue Q as well as songs by Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell, according to the event schedule.
Not only will students have the opportunity to attend singing performances by Frazier, who is the American Pops Orchestra conductor, and Simahk, a professional actor, but will also for the first time have the opportunity to attend a dance master class with Broadway performer and choreographer d’Amboise.
“Realizing the references that (d’Amboise) has made and just imagining what it’s going to be like for students to have the chance to work with somebody who has been on Broadway with Hugh Jackman … (makes me) so excited,” Jarjisian said.
Following the master classes will be a mock audition on Saturday put on by all the directors aimed to help students get an idea about what it is like to audition for a Broadway show, Kelly Burns, an assistant professor of voice, said.
“The directors made last year’s experience very intense as if you were in New York doing the real deal,” Burns said.
Not only does Broadway at Ohio aim to give students and community members an idea of what a real life audition consists of, but it also strives to help music and theater majors make long lasting connections with the performers, Frazier said.
“It's a great contact when they get out of school and need help figuring out how to audition. ... It's great if they move to an area and already know a director,” Frazier said. “The great thing about everyone coming is they’re all extremely personable, down-to-earth people who really want to get to know the students.”
Frazier said he and Jarjisian wanted to create an experience at Ohio University that was specific to Broadway performance to expand student’s opportunities and connections within their own majors.
“Master class settings are one of the greatest ways to help supplement experiences in any school,” Jarjisian said.
