Santa Clara's 'glee'

By Joanne Santomauro

This past year, several Santa Clara students showed their "true colors" and entered themselves in a chance to audition for a role on the FOX TV Show "Glee."

"Glee" is a TV musical comedy/drama series about students and faculty at the fictional McKinley High School surviving their high school experiences. Each episode features the drama of romance, friendships and competition among the school's faculty and students. The main characters are members of the school's eponymous glee club, who pursue popularity through their success at glee competitions.

Producers of the show offered audition opportunities to the public through an online open casting call. Those who wanted to audition were required to prepare a personal statement along with a video clip of them singing a song from the show.

Over 30,000 videos were submitted to the "Glee" Myspace page. For the audition clips, applicants were required to film themselves singing in a non-descript location either acappella or with one instrument accompaniment.

The personal statements explained why each contestant wants to be on Glee and why they should be chosen. Anyone with a Myspace account could vote on videos by giving a "gold star," indicating a vote for that contestant to be given a spot on the show.

Sophomore Orianna Hilliard received plenty of support from her family and friends.

"My mom and dad made Myspace accounts just for my audition and stayed up all night clicking away, giving me gold stars," she said.

"I auditioned for "Glee" because I really love the show, and this was a great opportunity to do what I love. [Singing and dancing] is what I want to do with my life," she added.

Additionally, Hilliard has a strong fan base on Facebook -- she created an event to promote her video, and currently has over 400 guests who have marked "attending." Despite the hype, Hilliard is maintaining a rational, yet optimistic attitude about the contest.

"The "Glee" casting callâ?¦for lack of a better word, is sort of a crapshoot," Hilliard said. "I've done auditions before...there are so many people who audition and get rejected [in this business], but the ones who succeed don't let the rejections get in the way."

Senior Addi McClure auditioned because she loves "Glee" as well.

"Despite the fact that [the show] generalizes high school, the archetypes of the popular versus the unpopular address important issues," she said. "The past episode [Bad Reputation] was about body image -- every show [about high school] talks about that, but how many of them sing about it?"

McClure's friends don't seem to share her enthusiasm. "My friends aren't very fond of the show, but they have been very supportive about my auditioning."

Senior Jackie Goodall, who will be starring in Santa Clara's spring musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" also auditioned because of her love for "Glee."

"Sue Sylvester [played by Jane Lynch] is the reason I watch Glee," she admitted. "Her character is so multifaceted; her versatility is just awesome. I also saw Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele in Spring Awakening on Broadway--that's why I love watching them on Glee."

Goodall recently performed in the jazz show at the Bronco and has had a variety of experience with music and theater. She appeared in a commercial for The CW promoting auditions for a surprise role in the TV show "Veronica Mars." She has also been singing and dancing for nine years.

"I picked up dancing [so I could be] you know, the triple threat," she laughed.

Freshman Michelle Cabinian said, "I wasn't even going to audition until my friend Kyla told me I should. I didn't think I'd have a chance, but I just thought, 'What the hell, why not?'"

Cabinian has 11 years of musical theater experience. under her belt.

"I've done shows in San Diego before, but I don't usually audition for big things like this. I'm sure the chances are really slim; they're always looking for something very specific," she said.

As far as the selection process goes, the contestants are in the dark. The producers provided little information regarding how performances would be selected, other than the gold star count, or when winners would be notified. All contestants know is that if they win they will need to be ready to fly to Los Angeles in July to meet the producers.

"I think this is a great opportunity for people to audition who wouldn't be able to fly to L.A. for something like this," Goodall said. "It's awesome that out of all the shows (on TV) "Glee" is doing thisâ?¦getting kids showing and finding out who they are."

Contact Joanne Santomauro at jsantomauro@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.