This week Theatre Northwest held auditions for Educating Rita, our next production. The play has two actors: Frank, a disillusioned English tutor in his 50’s, and Rita, a 30-ish hairdresser, hungry for education. The part of Frank was offered to our resident actor Steve Manning, but the part of Rita was up for grabs. So it was on Sunday afternoon that another Theatre Northwest resident actor, Casi Wilkerson, showed up for auditions, head shots in hand and butterflies in stomach.

Auditions are not easy. Not even if you know everybody, or are part of the company, or have done this for years. Nobody loves a job interview, and auditions must be some of the most nerve-wracking interviews ever. I was not in the room for first auditions because I was busy greeting actors, handing out pencils and clipboards, and collecting headshots. I did, however, have the opportunity to sit in during call-back auditions, in which the director got a second look at some actors to help her make the final casting decision. I was impressed with the quality and ability of actors auditioning for this part. I entertained thoughts of changing the script a bit and producing Educating Ritas, in which and entire class of 30-ish hairdressers named Rita, all eager for an education, descend upon poor disillusioned Frank. (This is but one of the reasons I paint sets rather than direct plays.) My point is that they were all so good, and I wished we could use every one of them. In the end, the director did choose our own Casi Wilkerson to be Rita, but we will be keeping the resumes of the others who auditioned in our files. We intend to produce many more plays, and I hope to see some of the talented women I met this week on our stage in the future.

Pictures and bios of Casi and Steve can be found in About Us in this blog.