By Carolyn Mathis
Auditions for the upcoming play presented by The Grand Rapids Community College Players are right around the corner.
“Good Kids,” written by Naomi Iizuka, is a contemporary and ensemble-based play that is “loosely based in 2012 in a small town in Ohio,” said Carrie McNulty, the play’s director. “The real star of this piece is the story itself.”
The show, with a cast of 13, focuses on eight female high school students and four male high school football players at a party where drinking begins to happen. One of the young ladies at the party becomes too intoxicated and is taken away by football players and “things happen,” explained McNulty. The show takes place in present day, a time with zero privacy, and where everything can be displayed on the internet with the click of a button.
There is quite the spectrum of people represented, making the show relatable to the GRCC campus and the players involved.
“You’ve got the nerds, you’ve got the jocks, you’ve got the outside girl from the other school,” McNulty said. “Everything that is relatable… the outcast, the loud-mouth that doesn’t care what anybody thinks of her.”
McNulty believes the show is necessary for a college campus, especially with the “Me Too” movement sweeping the country.
“It’s nice when we choose shows here, sometimes, where you’re not getting so far out of your comfort zone,” McNulty said. “You don’t forget what it was like to be 16. (The show is) called ‘Good Kids’ …you could be a good person, and you make one bad decision, and it could ruin your life.”
Students aren’t required to be a part of the theater program to audition for the play, but McNulty says they should be prepared for the audition. Scripts are available to be checked-out from the theater office for a $5 deposit that will be returned once the script is returned after a few days. Scripts are available until auditions.
In order for students to be prepared for auditions, McNulty says they should read the play a minimum of three times.
”You get the basic story the first time through,” she said. “The second time through, you really start to take a little bit more notes, and by the third time through, you need to focus on one, maybe two, characters that are relatable or that you would be interested in auditioning for.”
Auditions will include cold reads from sides, or cuts from the script.
Before auditions, McNulty would like those auditioning to disclose conflicts during the rehearsal periods on the conflict forms.
Students looking to get involved but don’t want to audition can become crew members. Students who are currently GRCC Players are already assigned a crew member position, but McNulty said she “would rather have more people volunteer, and (the Players) will find something for you.”
To get involved with the GRCC Players, all students need to do is see Michelle Urbane, Carrie McNulty, or Tom on Spectrum Theater’s second floor. McNulty encourages those auditioning to “not be afraid” because the the GRCC Players are filled with “good vibes.”
Auditions for “Good Kids” will take place between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 3-4 on the second floor of Spectrum Theater in room 201. The show will run Dec. 6-8.
The GRCC Players run three shows a year, and more information can be found on their website.
