WLU Performance Competition
West Liberty University will host the Second Annual Performance Competition for the students in the state of West Virginia and surrounding counties. Submissions will be accepted until March 11th (but early registration is encouraged) and winners will be selected by professional panel of judges (see below).
COMEPETITON REQUIREMENTS
Students should record two contrasting monologues (or one monologue and one song) of no more than 90 seconds each (for a total of 3 minutes). Students can submit two monologues and a song if they want to be considered for all of the awards.
$125 for Outstanding Musical Performer
Who is eligible?
Any student who is currently a junior or senior in the state of West Virginia or in the surrounding counties in the metro region of West Liberty (complete list available upon request).
How do I register?
Registration and Monologue Submission are two separate things. We invite you to register early so we can send more information not you, as well as allow you time to ask specific questions to us.
Registration Information
Registration is now open. Deadline for registration will be March 11, 2022 (11:59 PM). Click HERE to register (you do not need to upload your performances at the time of registration).
Submitting Your Monologues and Tips for Self-Taping
- Monologues must be submitted no later than Mach 11, 2022 (11:59PM).
- Monologues can be uploaded to the form HERE.
- Slate your monologue with the title of plays and playwrights. DO NOT SLATE YOUR NAME OR SCHOOL AFFILIATION.
- Each monologue submission should be no longer than 90 seconds. Your time does not include slating the piece or ending with a “thank you.”
- Monologues can be submitted in Google Drive, Youtube, or Vimeo.
- Singers can choose to include a 16-32 bars (not a time limit) cut of a musical, or musical adjacent song. Singers should sing a cappella or to a simple piano track.
Recording Suggestions
- You are not being assessed on your video technology or filming techniques. Selectors for the auditions will be instructed to disregard video/audio quality as a determining factor.
- Think about framing. How is best to frame your piece? i.e. Headshot, waist-up, full-body. This will be your choice based off the needs of the performance. AGAIN – no camera moves. All monologue should be filmed from a fixed position with no pans, tilts, movements, or zooming
- Think about lighting. Lighting should be general without lighting changes. Make certain that light reveals your form appropriately. Natural light is often favorable. Back/side light helps to reveal forms. Dramatic lighting choices will not be considered by the selectors. This audition is to focus solely on your acting – not technical elements.
- It is recommended that you limit prop usage and use generic furniture. This is an audition, not a play performance. Again, technical choices will be disregarded.
- Your monologues should be contrasting. Consider contrasting styles (serious, comic, contemporary, classical), but also consider contrasting physicalization that requires contrasting video framing (i.e. full-body movement vs. shoulders/head frame that would restrict movement).
- It is recommended that you place your camera at eye-level of the performer.
Are you ready to submit your monologue?
If you have registered for the Socially Distanced Monologue Slam and you’re ready to submit the materials for your monologue, click here.
Meet the Judges
Orville Mendozza
Orville Mendoza is an award winning actor, singer, and musician who’s appeared on Broadway in PETER AND THE STARCATCHER and PACIFIC OVERTURES. He’s performed on stages all across the US in tours from THE KING AND I starring Shirley Jones to the 2nd National Company of MISS SAIGON where he played “The Engineer.” Orville was an original cast member in the premiere of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical ROAD SHOW at The Public Theater. On TV, Orville has appeared on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Blacklist,” and several commercials. Look out for him on the upcoming seasons of “Billions” (Showtime) and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon). — www.orvillemendoza.com
Sydney Chatman
Sydney Chatman, (Gary, Indiana/Chicago, Illinois) uses theater as her medium to conjure hope, justice, freedom, and joy. Led by ancestral guidance and intergenerational wisdoms; she directs, educates, produces, and writes work that seeks to heal her community. Chatman is the inaugural winner of the Golden & Ruth Harris Commision, 2020 Joyce Foundation Award, an African-American Arts Alliance Award and 3Arts Make a Wave winner. Her theater credits include New York fellowships with Stage Directors and Choreographers Workshop Foundation (SDC), the Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab, and the Goodman Theatre Maggio Directing Fellowship. Chicago theater credits include the Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Congo Square Theatre Company, and eta Creative Arts; Louisville: StageOne Family Theatre; Indiana: Indiana University Northwest. Chatman has created theatrical performances and collaborations with the MCA of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Hyde Park Jazz Festival/Back Alley Jazz, The Reva and David Logan Center, Court Theatre, Prop Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, and WakandaCon. In 2008 she founded The Tofu Chitlin’ Circuit and created innovative programming called the A La Carte and the Tuxedo Junction. She is a featured artist in Black Theater is Black Life: An Oral History of Black Theater in Chicago 1997-2010. Her plays, Black Girls (Can) Fly!, And Words Were Her Weapon: A Tribute to Ida B. Wells-Barnett, The Duty of the Youth, and Violence Just Don’t Understand are a testament to her admiration and respect for young people. She has been a theater teacher for 19 years, where she shares space with young people by providing a foundation of agency and love.
Carlos J. Rodriguez
Carlos J. Rodriguez is a director and producer currently based in Austin, Texas with a passion for education, comedy, and new work. He has worked with Texas State University’s Theatre Camp as a teaching artist and choreographer for over five years. While in undergrad Carlos was on the production teams for shows such as Valhalla (Director), Tales and Tours (Director), Perfect Pie (Asst. Director), Tartuffe (Asst. Director), Lyon’s Den (Asst. Director), and others all while serving as the Assistant Publicity and Recruitment Coordinator at Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance. Carlos holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Texas State University.
For more information or questions, please contact Michael Aulick at maulick@westliberty.edu.