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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

staged reading, staged models, academic production

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Theatre and Media Arts

Abstract

Last January at BYU, we had the incredible opportunity to work with one of Broadway’s best composures, Frank Wildhorn. This came about due to a master class that Frank was holding at BYU in October of 2013. He was very impressed with the level of talent the students that he worked with possessed. After the master class he talked to some of the staff including Tim Threlfall and thought that doing a new work at BYU would be a good idea. It allowed him not only to work on his new show, but it gave us students the opportunity to work with a renowned composer on a new work. In March of 2014 I was cast as “Edmond Dantes” or “The Count” in BYU’s production of The Count of Monte Cristo. Frank was in the room for the entire audition process, so it really felt like a Broadway audition. The entire process was very positive and enabled me to learn things in this situation that I wouldn’t have if we had been working on a more well-known production like Les Miserables. We were working directly with Jack Murphy, the playwright as well. He would change the script and we, the actors, would have to learn the new lines immediately and then act the scene. This part of the process is not often experienced at a University level but is experienced at a professional level. Many of the things I experienced in preparation for The Count of Monte Cristo are learned in the professional world of acting, but I was able to gain this knowledge first hand during my time at BYU before ever entering the professional world.

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