A group of performers, called gypsies, sing “I Hope I Get It” during the opening number of the Tony Award-winning musical “A Chorus Line.” There is only room for eight people in the chorus of the show they audition for. Over the course of the play, 17 hopefuls explain (in song) why they think they deserve a part.

While the 129 students who signed up to audition for a role in the Illini Union Board’s production of “West Side Story” last Tuesday did not audition to be in the chorus, some said they felt the same eagerness to land a lead role.

Dealing with nerves

Michael Joseph, sophomore in Business, auditioned for the role of Tony. Joseph said even after performing in more than 30 shows, including one IUB musical, he gets nervous during auditions.

“Even people who say they’re not nervous are always nervous,” Joseph said. “I even found myself shaking a little bit, even though I felt pretty confident.”

He added that the trick to auditioning well is pretending he’s not nervous at all.

When Joseph enters an audition room he has to play two characters, he said. The first act is pretending he isn’t nervous. His second character is the character he is auditioning for.

“It’s not just can you act (or) can you sing,” Joseph said, adding that those conducting the auditions are also looking for people who can work well with the rest of cast and have fun personalities. “You have to show that in subtle ways.”

A handful of IUB board and production staff members sat to watch and judge each audition. They agreed that personality plays an important role in their casting.

Lauren Scranton, senior in LAS and director of the show, said that during auditions she looks for people who have a presence when they enter the audition room. She said she likes when people catch her attention right away.

“If somebody is not catching your attention soon then it’s not quite as good if they get your attention immediately,” Scranton said. “Someone who has a very sure, confident presence is someone who I’d want to see again.”

She also looks for people who keep focus and avoid bad habits like flailing their hands.

There’s no Business like Show Business

The board’s entire audition process for “West Side Story” took a full week. On Sunday, vocal and acting auditions began in a second-floor ballroom at the Illini Union. That is where Joseph, with more than 100 fellow hopefuls, including Molly Sheehan, sophomore in LAS, Clinton Dodds, senior in FAA, and Luisa Gonzalez, sophomore in LAS, auditioned for the musical. They stepped in front the long table of production staff and sang 16 to 32 bars of music they felt would best demonstrate their talent.

The four allowed The Daily Illini to follow them throughout their entire audition process.

Gonzalez said she didn’t expect as many people in the room as there were. “I was like whoa, OK,” Gonzalez said. “It was very intimidating.”

Unlike the other three, Gonzalez has never performed in an IUB musical. For her audition, she sang “All that Jazz” from the musical “Chicago” and performed a monologue from “The Miracle Worker.” She said she couldn’t produce her first note during the vocal audition and felt her acting was better.

Others, like Dodds, didn’t let their nerves get the best of them. He said the only time he gets nervous during auditions is when he is not prepared. “I realized a few years ago that I get energy from being around people,” Dodds said.

“The more people I’m around, the more energetic I become.”

The panel of production staff members said sometimes people who audition can have too much confidence. They look for people who are not only good actors and dancers but will also be able to work with the rest of the cast.

The board members said those people can still be cast as characters and learn to grow from the experience.

“We’ve had problem-children in the past that we’ve had talks with and they’ve come back in the next semester cast and they’re golden,” Scranton said.

I Could Have Danced All Night

During vocal and acting auditions, two or three students pace back and forth in the hall while a fellow performer sings for the production panel. The hall is quiet and the echo of the piano accompanist and the voice of the person auditioning creep from the cracks of the audition room door.

Monday and Tuesday’s dance auditions contrast. Thirty students, all wanting a part in the show, returned to the Union, this time to dance for the panel. They crowded the hall, stretching and preparing for choreographer Sarah Haynes’ dance routine.

Soon the dancers were inside stomping and clapping while the rhythm of Smokey Joe’s Cafe’s “Baby That Is Rock and Roll” echoed from the hall.

The dancers were given 30 minutes to learn the routine and a 10-minute break before their dancing would be judged.

During the break, Sheehan said there were some dance moves that were difficult and that she was not expecting the song to be as fast as it was.

“It’s intense, but it’s intense in a good way,” Sheehan said, adding that it was better than a slow audition. “It keeps you moving.”

Sheehan performed in IUB’s “Jekyll and Hyde” and went through IUB’s audition process before. Gonzalez said she was not familiar with the music or dance and said the dancing was a lot of work. By the end of the instruction, she felt winded.

Before returning to the ballroom, Gonzalez said her strategy was to try to be in front as much as she could.

Haynes said she was not only looking for dance talent, but personality.

“I’m not necessarily looking for people to show off their amazing dance abilities,” Haynes said. “I’m just looking for people who are not afraid of movement.”

A Real Chorus Line

After three days of vocal, acting and dance auditions, a callback list was posted on the musical’s Web site. Those on the list were asked to return for one last audition.

Sheehan said the 48 hours of waiting to see if her name was on the callback list were “nerve-racking.”

Neither Sheehan, Joseph, Dodds or Gonzalez made the list of major parts.

Gonzalez said she is still glad she tried out.

“I feel accomplished,” she said. “I actually had a lot of fun doing it.”

Gonzalez did not make into the final cast. Sheehan and Joseph were selected to serve in the musical’s chorus, while the production staff chose Dodds to play the role of Doc.

Panel members described their selection process as diplomatic.

They discuss the characters and people they feel are best to call back. The group only votes on final cast members and refers to all students by number and not name.

“We have a very wonderful, diplomatic voting system,” Scranton said.

She added that the key to a good audition is bringing confidence and talent to all parts of the tryout process.

“They have to have some kind of ability in everything,” Scranton said.