Chloe Beery

Collages made by cast members to help them understand their roles stand on display in Xavier’s black box theater. These were made at an audition workshop, which are ordinarily held before auditions.

“I don’t think I’m afraid to be weird,” Xavier senior Stella Chamoff says. “Getting outside of your comfort zone is what makes acting good.” 

There are a variety of attributes and abilities that attract one to theater and eventually get she or he selected as a cast member.

Xavier fine arts teacher and director Sarah White searches for some of these traits in her students when considering them for roles in the shows she directs. This includes passion, preparedness and confidence. 

“Usually we’re looking for something different for every show, but confidence is the one thing that spans to all of them,” White says. 

One way that White prepares her students for shows is through audition workshops, which are typically held before auditions. She hosts these events to inform students of what she is looking for when filling specific roles. 

“Auditioning is a puzzle. Sometimes you’re just looking for something that fits that piece,” she says. 

It is of the opinion of cast members that these workshops are very informative and especially helpful to freshmen along with those who have never auditioned at Xavier. Freshwoman Nora Smith said that the workshops were extremely helpful and aided in calming her nerves about the audition process. 

However, prior to auditioning, one must first be drawn to performing. For Smith, who performs in Xavier’s production of “Alice in Wonderland” as the mouse, this came at the age of four. “I did summer camp at Phoenix Theater up until covid,” she said.

Chamoff, who acts as Alice in the play, started her journey later in life after being inspired to join a community theater on a field trip in seventh grade. “My mom researched auditions and after my first show I just really enjoyed doing it,” she said. 

This inspiration followed Chamoff all the way to high school. “Theater is the reason I came to Xavier. I saw the stage and knew I was going to come here,” she said. Once admitted to Xavier, she began preparing for auditions to be in Xavier’s, at the time, upcoming musical “Grease.”

Similarly to her students, White, has been involved in theater since her early years, first grade. For her, it has been a lifelong passion. 

“I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater performance,” she said. “After taking a Directing 101 class, I really liked it.” This began her career as a high school theater teacher and director.

White says that one of the things she loves most about theater and tries to bring to Xavier is that, “You can bring yourself to the role, you can bring yourself to the crew and there’s always going to be space for you.”