Auditions for the whimsical play “Aladdin and His Flying Javelinas” were held in early October in anticipation of the annual spring event.
Casting directors and playwrights Dr. Patrick Faherty, Robin Machuca and Kevinah Kaliia Botello were selecting the perfect fit for each of their beloved characters in next semester’s Children’s Show.
“For a children’s show, it’s a cartoon. Can you have fun with it and make them larger than life and stupid and silly so that an 8 year old would be entertained but also the grownups? That’s the goal. Make both audiences like it,” Faherty said.
Multiple students showed up and participated in the auditions to show off their multiple talents and personalities through their dialogues. All of the actors took turns as each character, reading from the script on stage and gave very theatrical performances. The atmosphere was filled with fun and laughter which is the perfect mix for a play whose audience will be children based.
“I hope to inspire them about getting involved in different art and to hopefully remind them how important art is in all of our lives especially because we live in a society where we don’t really pay attention to art,” Machuca said.
“Aladdin and His Flying Javelinas,” originally written by Faherty, puts a “Cinderella” twistto the original “Aladdin” story which includes an evil step-mother, evil step-sisters, an animal sidekick, two genie javelinas, a princess and her father.
“We are actually still in the process of writing and creating. After auditions we’ll have a better idea of what characters we need to add,” Botello said.
A common theme among the students auditioning was their hope to inspire the young children who see this play to enjoy and love theater.“To hear them laugh and smile while they’re watching, hearing little giggles from little children while you’re up on the stage is just an unmatched feeling,” Emile Perez, a biomed science major and an avid theater lover, said.