Students hope to sing, act, dance their way into a role in spring show, 'Mary Poppins'
Hinsdale Central sophomore Mateo Banda, freshman Jacqueline Pielet and senior Sal Ybarra were among the 45 or so students who auditioned for a part in "Mary Poppins," which has 28 named roles and a large ensemble cast. (Jim Slonoff photos)
The hallway is buzzing outside the choir room at Hinsdale Central Tuesday after school. Teens are singing song lyrics, practicing dance steps, rehearsing monologues and dealing with nerves.
"My tummy hurts," one says.
The students are auditioning for a role in "Mary Poppins," the spring musical at Hinsdale Central.
"Were trying to bring back some bigger cast shows," director and Central English teacher Susie Jaffe said after the auditions. "COVID really made us, and theaters all across the country, rethink the titles you could do.
"It's exciting to do a big Disney show with all the glitz and glam of a big cast," she said.
Since the pandemic, the spring musicals have included "Into the Woods," "Urinetown" and "The Theory of Relativity." In the years prior to 2020, students performed in bigger productions like "The Addams Family" and "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella."
"Our kids don't have any institutional knowledge of that," Jaffe said. "We're excited about putting on a show that's going to be a big spectacle show with a lot of kids involved."
Among those hoping to be part of the cast is sophomore Mateo Banda from Hinsdale. He chose to sing "Put on a Happy Face" from "Bye Bye Birdie" - one of four students could choose to sing - and a monologue by "Mary Poppins" character Bert.
"I think it went fine," he said after his audition. "I'm kind of angry at myself, because I forgot one word and stood there for a bit. Other than that, I thought it was a really good audition."
Everyone gets nervous, Jaffe said, and helping kids learn how to audition is one of the program's goals.
"Teaching them to remain composed and take a second, reset themselves, refocus and get back into character - that's one of our big lessons we can teach kids," she said.
Banda said he prepared for his audition by working with his voice teacher on his solo and reviewing his monologue every day.
"I wrote it in my notes app, so I had it accessible all the time," Banda said.
A veteran of musicals, Banda was in "Into the Woods" last year at Central and "The Lion King" at Clarendon Hills Middle School. He's currently rehearsing for the Stage Door Fine Arts production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," in which he plays Grandpa Joe. He's wanted to play Bert since he saw "Mary Poppins" on stage.
"Ever since I was a kid - I'd seen that scene where he was flying, walking around sweeping the stage - I've always wanted to do that scene," he said.
Nora Eldewek of Oak Brook hopes to have the chance to perform as a senior in the same musical she was in as a freshman at Downers Grove North High School.
"My first ever musical was 'Mary Poppins' my freshman year," the transfer student said. "I've always loved musicals. This is my third one."
Her audition prep looked similar to Banda's, with coaching from a voice teacher and familiarizing herself with her lines.
"For the monologue, what works for me is just repeating something over and over again until I have it memorized," she said.
Sophomore Helen Garcia of Westmont returned to audition this year after not being cast in last spring's musical.
"I think I learned that you have to be willing to take risks when you audition, and everyone's nervous and you can't let it stop you," she said.
She chose the monologue from the title character.
"I would love to be Mary Poppins, but it's not really in my vocal range," she said. "I think it would be fun to be the mom or the bird woman. People who have played the (bird woman) role before said they really enjoyed it."
Senior Sal Ybarra of Willowbrook never made it to the audition for the spring musical her junior year.
"Last year I chickened out of the 'Into the Woods' audition, and I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do a show here," said Ybarra, who was last on stage in "Annie" five years ago. Since then she's been working on crew, running spotlights or serving as assistant director.
"I've definitely done way worse," she said of her audition. "I feel like the anxiety made me not able to remember stuff as well."
Jaffe said her casting approach is the same for a play or a musical.
"I'm looking for storytellers, people what want to find a character, build a world and tell a story with us," she said. "People that are imaginative and playful and willing to take chances and try things.
"My colleague, Jennifer Burkemper, is listening for what they can do vocally and how they'll sound as an ensemble and how they'll sound individually."
Students will participate in a dance audition next Tuesday, and callbacks are slated for Wednesday.
Jaffe said she takes detailed notes during auditions but sometimes she, Burkemper and assistant director Kim Williams need to see or hear a student again.
Auditions are the start of the show for students but the culmination of a long planning process for adults, Jaffe said.
"Until we know who is going to be in the room, until we see the kids in front of us, it feels like a big question," she said.
"It's the first time we get to see the real people that are going to do this adventure with us," she added. "Now that it's happened, I'm thrilled and I can't wait to get started."
