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It's the Thespian Festival. Today is day four or five however you are counting it. One of
the awesome things that happen at the Thespian Festival is that there are dozens of colleges
and universities here and they have mass auditions for the kids and we just happened to be next
to Michael Yawney from Florida International University, the whole time here and got to
hear a lot about his program. So, Michael tell us about Florida International University’s
theatre program. Well, Florida International University's program
is really dedicated to nurturing what’s unique and individual about each of our students.
We really try to develop their own individual artistic voices.
And you participated in the auditions here. I did.
And how many people did you see? It’s so many. I think it was at least 300.
So, 300 monologues, songs... Monologues, songs, designs and so much so
that... It gets very hard to stay fresh with it. But we all really do our best.
And so what each school does, when they watch, you sit as a group and watch.
We sit as a group and watch everyone. And then each school individually decides
to call students back for further discussions. So, what was it that made the kids that you
called back stand out? Well, the ones who stand out and really make
you perk up, it’s not always what you think it is. For example a lot students think that
a flashy staging is going to get our attention, we're really looking... we want to find about
you. And the flashy staging tells us that you have a really good drama coach, it doesn’t
tell us about you. A lot of students give us a very long resume. That tells us that
you went to a school that does lots of shows, it doesn’t tell us about you. What tells
us about you is first of all what monologue you pick, what song you pick. It tells us
what you like. Second of all, what really makes a student stand out is that we can tell
what they thought about the monologue, who they are talking to and why they're saying
what they are saying. The way you talk to your little sister, when you want her to keep
quiet about sneaking out night before is different than the way you talk to your English teacher
when you are trying to convince him to change your C to on A. And that different is what
really makes a monologue stand out. That I can tell who you are talking to and what you
want them to do for you. So, you were saying earlier that you are looking
to develop a, you are looking for a relationship, you're not just looking for...
Absolutely. You're bringing a group of people working
together. It’s like matchmaking. The audition is really
the first step. You know, it’s like you see someone and you kind of like them but
you don’t really know if they are the one for you until you talk to them and sometimes,
sometimes even if at first glance you think “Oh, I am not so sure,” after talking
to someone you realize this is the student for our school. It has really nothing to do
with how good you are. It has to do, if you are the right one for us. That’s awesome.
Thank you so much for sharing some of your insight. I am sure people are going to get
a lot out of it.