On Monday, March 6, 16 performers from the School of Theatre + Dance will participate in the 2017 UF Actor Showcase in New York City. Since 2001, the showcase has served as an opportunity for seniors and MFA candidates in their final year to display their talent to agents and managers in the city.
Tim Altmeyer, who coordinates the showcase, worked together with students to find material that would best suit their strengths and highlight their individuality. The entire show, which runs about 35 minutes, includes pieces taken from theatre, film and television. Each student participates in about two acts, with around two minutes of total material. Some chose to work in pairs for duet pieces; others will perform a solo monologue or musical number.
The rapid-fire performance will be held at Laurie Beechman Theatre. Altmeyer sees it as an invaluable opportunity for students.
“It’s really exciting for me when we have our graduates do the showcase, and have their first auditions in front of New York casting directors,” Altmeyer said.
For Michael Ortiz (BFA ’17), Showcase is an opportunity to display his range as an actor.
“Since we pick our own scenes, I wanted to make sure I had something comedic, and something dramatic,” Ortiz explained. In order to achieve this, Ortiz chose scenes from Paul Downs Colaizzo’s play Really, Really, and Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Jesus Hopped the A Train.
Karen Marulanda (BFA ’17) chose two television scenes: One from the show Girls, and one from Broad City. A Colombian-American herself, Marulanda added her own spin on the scene, giving her character a thick accent reminiscent of Sofia Vergara.
“I’m open to doing theatre or film options, and I worked with Tim and my acting teacher Nichole Hamilton (MFA ’11) to pick out scenes,” Marulanda explained. “We had to choose the scenes that would highlight our strengths, and market ourselves best.”
The students attending the event will stay in New York over Spring Break, and hope to make connections that could lead to future employment in show business.
“We’re really excited to prove ourselves,” Ortiz said.
To learn more about the event, click here.
