Student groups gear up for fall season

For Tufts students with a flair for the dramatic, the next two weeks will be filled with auditions and general interest meetings for student-run performing arts organizations. Trying to keep track of when, where and what auditions are for, can be a difficult (and frankly) rather exhausting process.

In the next week and a half, two of Tufts' largest student performance organizations will be having auditions for a total of three full-length productions. Pen Paint and Pretzels (3Ps), which presents straight (non-musical) plays, and Torn Ticket II, which is the organization dedicated to the performance of musical theatre, each stage a major production each semester as well as a series of smaller shows. Both organizations will be hosting auditions for their major production during this week.

Ring Round the Moon, the 3Ps fall major production, examines mystery, intrigue, deception, and perhaps true love all in one tumultuous evening filled with mistaken identity and crazy swing dancing. Auditions will be held tonight and tomorrow. To audition, prepare a two- to three- minute serio-comedic monologue (which does not have to be memorized, though memorization is suggested) and sign up on the callboard next to the Balch Arena Theater.

Is musical theater what you're looking for? In that case, an audition for Torn Ticket II's Little Shop of Horrors may be in your future. Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, the classic tale of a blood-thirsty plant and his owner, the show has left audiences humming for years. Little Shop has great character roles for both men and women as well as contagiously catchy songs that give many actors the chance to shine. Auditions will be held this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. To audition students can sign up on the callboard next to the Balch Arena Theater and prepare a song and monologue.

For freshmen interested in getting to know other members of the class of 2007, the 3Ps freshman show is a phenomenal chance to do so. The show is completely acted, designed, and produced by freshmen. This year, the show is the stage-adaptation of the beloved movie Clue. This play will be great for anyone interested in a highly comedic theatrical experience. Auditions will be held Monday the 15 and Tuesday the 16. To sign-up and for additional information, go to the callboard next to the Arena.

If scripted theater isn't your first choice, Cheap Sox, Tufts improv comedy troupe and Traveling Treasure Trunk, Tufts semi-improvisational children's theater troupe, will be holding auditions as well. Both these troupes perform numerous times throughout the year and for a variety of different audiences both off- and on- campus. No experience is necessary and no preparation is needed to audition -- just sign-up on the callboard. Cheap Sox will be holding auditions this Thursday and Friday. Traveling Treasure Trunk will be holding auditions September 13 and 14.

If you are a dancer, you may have already realized that there is a bevy of student organized dance opportunities at Tufts. Look out for Tufts' audition-only dance company Sarabande, that will be holding auditions soon. Tufts Dance Collective and Spirit of Color, two organizations in which anyone who wants to participate may join, will also be holding their respective general interest meetings within the next two weeks.

If the thought has ever passed your mind that you would like to be on stage, this is the time to take action. The next two weeks are filled with great opportunities to get involved in performing arts organizations on campus.

For more information on both performing and technical involvement in the arts, be sure to 3Ps' meetings, as 3Ps is the umbrella organization for the performing arts at Tufts. 3Ps holds weekly meetings during the open block (11:50 a.m.) every Monday in the Balch Arena Theater.