Student Spotlight - Brett Williams

This summer, a handful of our students took advantage of our 2011 TheatreFest season (3 shows in rolling repertory), Southern Comforts. From acting, to working backstage, to filling in as understudies, our students had the opportunity to work together and with professionals from the community to create a wonderful summer of shows!

Today, we'll get the inside scoop about TheatreFest, from auditions to rehearsals,
from Brett Williams, who played Cindy in WMKS: Where Music Kills Sorrow.

Brett is currently a Junior majoring in Zoology.

I auditioned for WMKS: Where Music Kills Sorrow, because quite frankly, I can’t keep away from the theatre! I knew I was going to be on campus in the morning for summer classes and I knew that if I didn’t audition, I’d be missing out. The audition was definitely different from what I was used to. We had to go into the theatre one at a time and perform a monologue and two songs. I accompanied myself on the guitar for both songs, something I had never done before as I had only been playing the guitar for about six months prior to the audition.

The rehearsals were about 4 hours long, though they actually seemed less stressful than most shows I’ve done. Probably because I was only taking one, instead of five, classes at the time. We even got at least one day a week without rehearsal, which we often used to see the other TheatreFest shows. A good portion of the rehearsal process was spent mainly on the music, which is understandable as the show had about 30 songs. This often took up time that would have otherwise been spent on characterization, time that you often have more than enough of in straight plays. Thankfully, most of the actors came into the first rehearsal with a pretty good idea of who their characters really were, and if they didn’t, they figured it out by the end of the first read through. That was immediately one of the benefits I found working with professionals in the business. There was a certain level of ease and confidence that just radiated from the other actors. I’ve always found that dialogue means nothing until the actors start listening and responding. Everyone in the cast seemed to know that, and I didn’t feel like I needed to try to make sense out of what they were saying. Much of the time I found that we were communicating more without saying anything. Acting comes easy when you have such talented people supporting you out there.

We seemed to have professionals from every corner of show business (acting, singing, playing music), except for dancing. I took tap dancing lessons in high school, but I wouldn’t say that that makes me a dancer. Thankfully, clogging isn’t a far cry from tap and I picked it up pretty quickly. I met up with the captain of NC State’s clogging team, Derek Starnes, a few times and he showed me some basic moves. I also got a little help from another University Theatre actor, Jill Varner, who showed me how to Céilidh dance, who had conveniently just learned how for her role in Dancing at Lughnasa.

I would certainly encourage students to audition for TheatreFest if they can, especially if they are thinking about going into the theatre business professionally. I have come out of this experience with a brand new set of skills (clogging and playing the guitar and the dulcimer), and it has allowed me to not only grow as an actor, but as a performer. It has been a truly unique experience for me, and I know that it is something that I will never forget.

Thank you for telling about your experiences with TheatreFest, Brett!
Do you have questions about TheatreFest? Come ask us!