`MUSIC MAN' AUDITIONS DRAW CROWD

A stage full of seasoned and unseasoned singers/dancers/actors auditioned for "The Music Man" Tuesday night, each one hoping to imprint their names on the brain trust behind Southeast's upcoming production.

A young woman named Nicole raided "Grease" for the lyric "Look at me I'm Sandra Dee, lousy with virginity." A young man named Ryan added customized arm movements to the dance sequence everyone learned. And University Theatre veterans Brooke Hildebrand and Jessica Nelms earned appreciative whoops with bold riffs on almost every female role available.

But the loudest applause was for 7-year-old Chrissy Renick of Cape Girardeau. She sang a ditty that caused an uproar. Then her brother Mike, a freshman at the university, stood at her shoulder pointing out her lines as she began reading the part of Amaryllis, the piano student.

After all, Chrissy just learned to read a year ago. By the third time through she was nailing the inflections.

Auditions for the University Theatre's upcoming production were held Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night this week, with callbacks Wednesday. The musical will be presented Feb. 27, 28, March 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9 at Forrest H. Rose Theatre.

The audition Sunday drew 42 hopefuls and another 23 turned out Monday night. Tuesday's audition for children was attended by ??? prospects.

In the early days of musical theater, singers sang, actors acted and dancers danced. "Performers today need to be able to do all three," Seyer says.

Choreographer Dr. Marc Strauss rated the dancers for accuracy and clarity of steps, rhythmic precision. projection, presence, poise and personality.

"You can be the greatest dancer in the world but if you can't sell it on stage it's going to sink like an anchor," Strauss said.

Drs. Christopher Goeke and Elizabeth James-Gallagher of Southeast's Music Theatre Workshop listened to each person sing a piece they had chosen themselves, and in some cases asked accompanist Tim DePriest to determine their range.

There were some revelations. For instance: Megwyn Sanders, most recently seen as Spirit in "Ghosts Still Speak," also has a sumptuous voice.

Everybody's performance was applauded. In some cases the applause was for courage.

Seyer had the young men and women alternate playing two scenes from the musical itself. Everyone was given a chance, though those with more experience had an obvious advantage: They wanted centerstage.

Together Seyer, Goeke, James-Gallagher and Strauss will decide who will be present for tonight's first reading of the script. Making the choices requires confidence in the performers and in the professors' abilities to work with sometimes-raw talent, Seyer said.

"It's very challenging but that's why we are in the business."

Most of those who came to Monday night's audition were university students from either theater, music or dance programs. Some were students or community members whose last experience may have been a high school musical.

"Once it gets in your blood, it's there," Seyer says.

Claire Syler, a junior at Central High School and the daughter of Judge William and Georgette Syler of Cape Girardeau, appeared in "Oklahoma" last spring at the high school. She played Gertie, the boy-crazy girl who sings "I Can't Say No." She sang it again Tuesday.

While the stage is exciting to her, she says "Auditioning is more nerve-wracking. You don't know what to expect."

Especially when you're vying with university students for the same roles. "I'm such a little kid," she said, admitting she'd be pleased to be part of the chorus.

That auditioning can be a trying experience was disputed by no one.

"It's harder to sing in front of people you know," said Sarah Smead, a sophomore music major from Warrensburg.

Smead wants a career in musical theater and that will mean a career of auditions. "You just make an experience of it, something to put down on your audition sheets," she says.

Chrissy's brother Mike, a confident young man, was shooting for the male lead of Harold Hill but would happily be a member of the men's quartet. He was a baseball player at Notre Dame High School and also appeared in four of the school's famous musicals.

"She would go and watch me perform," he says of Chrissy's early interest in the stage.

Chrissy, the daughter of George and Donna Renick, doesn't have designs on a particular part in "The Music Man." "I just wanted to try out," she said.

It's a bit different from acting out scenes from her favorite movies at home.

"I was a little nervous," she admitted.