Acting 'boot camp' announces auditions

Student performers round up their
most dynamic headshots, most thorough
resumes and most well memorized monologues
as the SCC Summer Conservatory
starts taking audition appointments.
The SCC Scottsdale Conservatory Theater
is the only conservatory for students
in Arizona and as focuses on professional
acting development.
It is a highly anticipated event and is
back for another year of shows, events and
performances.
Randy Messersmith, director of SCC’s
theater department, describes the conservatory
as a boot camp for actors.
The description is accurate and meant
to be somewhat intimidating to ensure
that only the most dedicated show up for
an audition.
“The first day of conservatory we were
told that during the next six weeks we
would come to a decision of whether we
wanted to be a performer or not,” Kate
Neinhause said.
Neinhause has been accepted into the
conservatory for the last two summers and
appreciated the rigor of the program.
For six weeks of summer, acting students
are put though intensive courses of
voice and diction, stage movement, script
analysis, career development and scene
study in addition to daily rehearsals for a
production.
Classes are held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon.
through Thurs. with additional evening and
weekend events including rehearsals and
public performances.
It is advised that students do not try to
hold full time jobs or enroll in other classes
while in the six-week conservatory.
Students will be introduced to everything
from classical works of Shakespeare
to the hottest hits on Broadway.
There are 20 slots available for this summer
and Messersmith cautions that they
fill up quickly.
“I can honestly say that in every audition
and every performance since conservatory
I have used the skills I learned in those two
summers,” Nienhauser said.
The SCC Scottsdale Conservatory Theater
runs for six weeks this summer from
June 1 to July 10 and will include a showcase
performance of all the hard work put into
it.
Students will earn 11 credits upon completion
of the conservatory.
Anyone interested in more information
or filling out an application should do so at
www.scottsdalecc.edu/theatre. Auditions
will be held by appointment only on May 1
from 4 to 6 p.m.