Theater & Music Theater

Try on Theater

Try On Theater Days offer a welcoming introduction to theater making in the Princeton theater and music theater program at the Lewis Center for the Arts (LCA). At scheduled times throughout the year, the program holds community evenings and workshops to encourage students (and other campus community members) to participate in our student-driven season in many capacities. This process replaces traditional solo auditions with group workshops and serves as an opportunity for students to get involved in other aspects of theater, such as stage management, design, sound engineering, production, and more.

Try on Theater Days was highlighted as a feature story and included among 2022’s 10 Most Popular Posts in American Theatre, the national magazine for the American professional not-for-profit theater industry.

Try on Theater Day: January 27, 2025

Come learn, play, and move! Try-on some theater making — and be cast in a show or sign on to participate backstage. No experience needed.

Open to all Princeton students, staff and faculty; priority for casting is given to Princeton students.

Casting for Theater & Music Theater Program Shows

January 27
Casting Session 1: 6-6:45 PM
Casting Session 2: 7-7:45 PM
Cabaret Music Sharing Session: 8-9:30 PM
Drapkin Studio, Wallace Dance Building at Lewis Arts complex

Come and join us for a collaborative workshop if you are interested in performing. No preparation is needed and no participant will be required to perform alone. Casting for late spring 2025 season projects including a new play by Oriana Nelson and a musical Cabaret!

Sign up for Casting

What to Expect at Casting

All students who wish to be considered for casting in any project must attend one of our two 45-minute workshops. We’ll start with a round of introductions and a brief physical warm up. There will then be a collaborative theater making exercise in small groups. The exercise may incorporate participants’ choice of short text excerpts from projects casting during this session. If included, text excerpts will be shared in a packet at the workshop and will not be provided to participants in advance. There is no need to prepare anything before the workshop.

Students who wish to be considered for casting in the spring Cabaret should sign up for a 5-minute music sharing slot in addition to one of the two 45-minute workshops (more info below).

What to Expect at the Cabaret Music Sharing

Students who are not interested in being considered for casting in the Cabaret need not sign up for a music slot.

Unlike pre-scripted plays or musical projects, the content for this Cabaret comes from you! Please be prepared to share between 30 seconds and 1 minute of the music that you propose to perform in the Cabaret. Rather than judging musical or performance ability, we will use these sharings to identify a group of performers whose chosen pieces create a cohesive and dynamic Cabaret.

Below are some (but by no means all!) possibilities for what you might share:

  • Prepare music to sing and bring piano sheet music for an accompanist
  • Share your original music
  • Sing a cappella (i.e., with no instrumental accompaniment—just your voice!)
  • Sing with a pre-recorded backup track (you can connect via YouTube, Spotify, downloaded file, or other method to a Bluetooth speaker in the room or play directly from your device)
  • Sing with your own instrumental accompaniment on any instrument that you can bring or on the piano in the room
  • Share a vocal and/or instrumental improvisation over a song, musical pattern, chord progression, or other musical constraint of your choosing
  • Bring a brief musical exercise for the small group present in the room to do with you
  • Share an interdisciplinary performance involving your musical practice (e.g., a tap dance, vocal selection accompanied by movement, poem recited with musical accompaniment, poem or original spoken word sung a cappella or with accompaniment, etc.)
  • Share up to 1 minute of a musical selection you’ve performed with another ensemble, band, choir, or group (even if you don’t typically perform your part solo!) and/or invite the group to join you in some form (e.g., asking them to sing along, make percussive accompaniment, or engage in some other manner you request!)
    Share up to 1 minute of a musical selection accompanied by a friend or small group you bring in to provide instrumental accompaniment, additional vocals, supplemental movement, vocal harmonies, or more!

Please share your musical practice regardless of style, genre, or tradition! While you can bring any instrument and/or use the piano in the space (yourself or via your own guest or the provided accompanist), we will not have amplifiers available. Solon Snider Sway will be present to play piano for those in need of piano accompaniment. Please email any questions or concerns to Maeli Goren-Wilson, TOT Project Director, at mgorenwilson@gmail.com.

 

 

Design & Production Workshop: Intro to Sound Design and Qlab

January 27
6:30-8:30 PM
Light Lab, Wallace Dance Building at Lewis Arts complex

With LCA Sound Supervisor Kay Richardson, explore the sound design world here at Princeton with an intro to Qlab in this low stakes, drop-in workshop.

 

Questions?

For questions about TOT Days, please contact Carmelita Becnel at cbecnel@princeton.edu or Jane Cox at janecox@princeton.edu.

 

Photos from Try on Theater Days

A large group of people stands in a circle around the perimeter of a theater space.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

One person smiles and speaks into a mic while others smile and watch.

Jane Cox addresses students as they participate in the Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A group of people mingle, some linking arms with others in front of them in a group activity.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A crowd of people stand and look and reach upwards above their heads.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

One person speaks with a mic while another sits playing the piano.

Solon Snider and Shariffa Ali participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A large group of people sit on the ground in a circle around the perimeter of a theater space.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

Two students smile and interact in front of others standing in the background during Try on Theater Community Day.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

A large group of people raising their hands in a dark room with colorful lighting. A woman on the left holds a microphone and a book.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

A large group of students mingle, talk and laugh in the Drapkin Studio during the community portion of Try on Theater Days.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

Two students smile and interact in part of a larger group at Try on Theater Days.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha