“Make an entrance, leave an impression,” is surely what was running through the minds of RCHS students auditioning for “Young Frankenstein,” a 1974 American comedy horror musical directed by Mel Brooks. On Monday, Nov. 17, students busied themselves with rehearsing lines and chasing away pre-audition jitters in hopes of making callbacks the next day, Tuesday, Nov. 18. 

To audition, students had to have 16 bars of a song from a chosen musical rehearsed and prepared to perform in front of Mr. James Loudermilk, the drama director, and Dr. Joel Wilson, the choir director. During auditions, students acted, sang, and danced to impress the two judges and in hopes of being selected for the spring cast.

After the cast list was released, a few of the students who landed roles in the musical described how they felt seeing their name on both the callback and cast list. 

“I was really happy because this is my fourth musical,” senior Khloe Wales said. “I just feel like it’s a full circle moment. I feel like I’ve really grown as an actor and I’ve seen that over the years, so I was really happy to see what I got.”

Junior Matthew Jimenez also described how he felt seeing his name on the list.

“I was coming home from somewhere with my mom; I saw it on my phone, and I was like ‘oh my God, I got cast,’ and she didn’t process it, but I was really happy,” Jimenez said. “I was smiling ear to ear, and she was like ‘are you serious?’ and it was just really nice to see my name on the list, especially since it was the role I auditioned for.”

Jimenez continued to elaborate on how he felt going into auditions.

“I felt really nervous because it’s a musical,” Jimenez said. “I think I can act because I was cast in Dracula in the fall, but I’m not too confident in my ability to sing. So I was really nervous in auditions, but I guess it all worked out, because now I’m in the musical.”

Senior Brooklyn Helper shared how she felt when auditioning. 

“I was very nervous and scared, especially because I was coming from ASB stuff like CADA,” Helper said. “I was confident because I feel like I prepared enough, but I was also very nervous.”

Though for many, auditions were slightly nerve-racking and scary, the students auditioning also found certain parts of the two days to be exciting and fun.

“I really loved doing the sides or the cold reads auditions, they were super fun,” junior Lyric Kelly said. “We were able to just interact with our castmates, our friends, and just do like the most silly, ridiculous things, and make different choices, which I feel like, as an actor and as a performer, is always such a fulfilling experience when you’re able to make a choice and to show it to your audience. I would also say the dance portion was one of my favorite parts. I really love dancing. I do have a dance background, so being able to showcase that was really awesome, and ultimately it ended up in me getting the role, so it was amazing.” 

Among the students, cold reads were a popular favorite during auditions. 

“My favorite part about auditions was probably the callbacks,” Helper said. “I really liked the singing portion just because I loved singing, but also the cold reads were very fun because we could play around with our characters.”

Although many who auditioned have acted in numerous shows at Rancho, there were a few who have just begun getting into the show business, yet still received lead roles. 

“This is literally my first time being in any show,” junior Matthew Layne, who landed the role of Dr. Frankenstein, said. “I acted in elementary school, but I don’t count that because it was, like, years back. But about it being my first time, I just feel like I got stuff to prove. I gotta match up with all these people who’ve been there for, like three years.”

Jimenez, who landed the role of Igor, is also fairly new to the drama program, expressing the fact that his first show was “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” which premiered in the fall. 

Overall, according to some of the cast members, auditions went well despite many feeling nervous, this being due to the “chillness” of the drama program, according to Layne.

“I was pretty nervous going into auditions at first, but it’s a very chill place, I can’t even lie,” Layne said. “Mistakes aren’t usually shunned, you’re just supposed to go out and showcase what you can do, that’s really it.”