If you’ve ever seen the Staples Players in action, you’ll know that among the many talents they possess, they are skilled at making their performances appear effortless. In reality, “effortless” could not be farther from the truth. Six seemingly endless months of planning, preparation and rehearsals go into perfecting the fall musical. But before production on the show can even begin, Players must spend their summers gearing up for every theater kid’s nightmare: auditions.
“The Prom” was announced as this year’s fall musical in May. Following its announcement, Director David Roth released a list of “audition guidelines” for all current and prospective players, which includes the dates of auditions, song requirements and the scenes that will be used for callbacks, enabling intended auditionees with the tools they need to prepare for the audition during the company’s break for the summer.
“I spend the summer taking voice and dance lessons,” Cat Betit ’26, who was cast as a member of the ensemble and Deedee Allen’s understudy in “The Prom,” said. “Dancing is not my strength, so I like that our choreographer Rachel [Myers] leads these ‘summer boot camps’ to help with some of the dancing in the show.”
In the weeks leading up to audition, Myers runs a two-week annual dance intensive, Betit explains. Participants familiarize themselves with the styles of dance commonly used throughout the show and learn combinations they may be asked to perform in their subsequent dance audition.
“[The boot-camp] is helpful because it gives you an introduction to the show’s dance styles, but mostly, it’s super fun,” Samantha Edwards ’24, Kaylee in “The Prom,” said. “It’s super low-key, you just hang out with your friends and get a feel for the show.”
Auditions for “The Prom” were held from August 31 to September 2, with singing auditions for males in the black-box theater on the first day and dancing auditions for females on the stage. The schedule was reversed on the following day.
Players’ auditions take a traditional and professional approach. Although dance auditions take place as one large group, dancers are asked to perform dances in smaller groups, decided alphabetically, for the director and choreographer. Singing auditions are individual, with each actor occupying their own selected time slot.
“Auditions are nerve-wracking,” Will McCrae ’26, who plays Sheldon and understudies Trent, said. “But I really try to stay in character and focus on the kind of actor I want to portray. If you think about it as ‘I’m singing this song,’ it’s a lot harder to remove yourself from the stress of the situation.”
Callbacks are announced immediately following the second day of auditions; however, actors are given a few days to prepare. During callbacks, actors are asked to read scenes as specific characters so directors can evaluate their portrayal of such characters and note the chemistry between actors as love interests, friends or family members.
Unlike the first round of auditions, callback auditions take place in front of a live audience made up of none other than the competition.
“Callbacks are a very a nervous experience because of how intimate of a process [they are],” McCrae said. “It’s not just you in front of the directors, it’s you and your peers. And your friends become your competition.”
Edwards, on the other hand, finds comfort in the community aspect of callbacks.
“I think having like your peers in the room can be very intimidating because you worry about what they’re going to think about you,” she said. “But it’s honestly sometimes encouraging to have your friends there for you, and we really try to create a supportive environment.”
The audition process culminates in the release of the highly coveted cast list. This year, the cast list for “The Prom” was released via the app, Band, a group communication platform.
“We never really know when the list is going to come out,” Betit said. “This year, when I found out it had been released, I thought to myself ‘take a deep breath, and then check.’ Opening the list is always scary, but everything worked out in the end and I think it’s going to be a great show.”
