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When Kelly Kudlik set foot in New York City for Cal State Fullerton’s BFA Musical Theater Showcase, her post-graduation plans were unclear. Within a week, she had connected with an agent, had a call back from Disney, and made plans to move to the Big Apple.
Each year, the College of Art works with the Performing Arts Alliance to help students like Kudlik open the door to future theater careers. They brought a group of senior students from the musical theater program to New York City, where they performed for an audience of talent agents, managers, casting directors, and producers.
For the first time, all 14 students who performed at the iconic entertainment club 54 Below received a call from an agent, manager, casting director or production company after the show.
“It’s an amazing and highly unusual statistic. Normally, if students on a program receive a 20% response rate, you’re lucky. This year it’s absolutely thrilling to see a 100% response rate,” Josh Grisettian assistant professor of theater and dance leading this year’s trip.
getting ready for opening night
Grisetti, who has four years of musical theater training, said students step off the plane equipped with the professional skills and abilities needed to succeed in New York showbiz.
Scheduled for the cusp of graduation season, the trip offered them an opportunity to network, explore the city, learn from industry professionals and chart their path post-graduation.
“BFA program training is very focused on the skills we need to apply in the real world, such as how to audition for roles, how to prepare music, and how to do authentic storytelling,” said Naya Ramsey-Clarke, senior member of the BFA Musical Theater program. “It’s really the culmination of the last four years and all the work we’ve been doing.”
Grisetti said part of what makes the experience different from other showcases is the opportunity it offers each student to shine.
“Each student is given a full song, which allows agents to see them tell a complete story from beginning to end. It’s not just the highest-note part of a song that many university presentations become That’s it,” Grisetti explained. “You’ll see them in action. You’ll see them make the story their own, and I think that’s why it works so well.”
In addition to performing for the talent representatives, the students also participated in the broadway Actors, dancers, choreographers and composers, and with CUHK Alumni.
“It’s the help they need to open doors—and I mean real doors—to casting offices and auditions to their future careers that you simply wouldn’t be able to get into on your own,” Grisetti said. explain.
Together with CSUF President Fram Virjee, art academy Ramsey-Clarke Dean Arnold Holland, who sat front row in the showcase with dedicated professors, said she felt supported at every turn.
“I really appreciate the guidance and organization of our professors and how they arranged this trip,” Ramsey-Clarke said. “They made sure it was a productive experience where we can all learn and grow.”
Build a career after starting
Both Kudlik and Ramsey-Clarke said performing at Showcase in New York was a “surreal experience,” but they were most impressed by what happened off the stage.
Kudrick said she was immediately contacted by an agent about sending her to audition on a Disney cruise ship a few blocks away. A day later, she sat in the waiting room for a return audition from Disney’s casting director.
After returning to China, she found out that she had booked the lead role in a Disney cruise drama.
“This experience not only opened doors for my career. It also helped me figure out what I wanted and where I wanted to go after graduation,” said Kudlik, a senior musical theater major.
The cruise ship will set sail for Australia this summer, and Kudrick will travel with the cast next year. Once her contract ends in March 2024, she plans to move to New York to continue auditioning for roles.
After she performed the song “Changing My Major” from the Broadway show “Fun Home,” Ramsey-Clarke received calls from three agents interested in representing her after graduation.
In addition to preparing for graduation, she’s crammed into meetings with multiple surrogates. She plans to stay in Orange County and explore the film and television industry in Los Angeles, hoping to turn her passion for acting into a career on the big screen.
“Immediately after the show, people contacted me, and I continued to hear from people. It very validated all the work I’d been doing,” Ramsey-Clarke said. “The experience gave me the confidence to feel like I could take the next step.”
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