The John Jay Theatrical Players held auditions for their upcoming Spring production of Footloose on Monday, February 9th and Tuesday, February 10th on the second floor of Haaren Hall.

After a successful performance of In the Heights last Spring semester, the Theatrical Players have chosen Footloose for their next project.

On Tuesday, outside of room 202, roughly 20 students lined the hall practicing their songs and conversing with peers.

Starting at approximately 1:30pm, students excitedly and nervously took turns entering the audition room for a chance to make it to callbacks the following day.

Angela Rodriguez, a sophomore majoring in Law and Society, first became interested in theater after she watched Hamilton for the first time. She loved the American culture expressed in the musical and how different it was to what she had experienced in the Dominican Republic.

Rodriguez auditioned for the roles of Ariel and Rusty. She was used to playing roles that were seen as the good girls or motherly figures, but this time she wanted to explore more extroverted characters that she felt resonated more with her personality.

Daniah Dailey, a senior majoring in Forensic Psychology, decided to audition for Footloose as a way to try something different from what she has been accustomed to during her time at John Jay.

Dailey auditioned with the song A Part of That from the musical The Last Five Years. Since she had been feeling under the weather, Dailey picked a song that she felt would showcase her talents without overexerting herself.

Lynn Esteva, a sophomore majoring in Forensic Psychology and minoring in Digital Media and Journalism, has always enjoyed theater since they were younger because it was an easy form of self expression.

They like the feeling of de-stressing while belting a song on stage.

Esteva explained that they had no preference when it came to what role they wanted. They thought that it was fun to play whatever part you are given and to learn to portray that character in the moment.

Daniella Canning, the Theatrical Players Vice President and a senior receiving her Cuny BA, said that during auditions she looks for singing abilities and how each person carries themselves.

“An ideal performer, seriously, is someone who listens to what we ask of them and stays committed,” said Canning in a text message. “Anything else is a nice bonus.”

Anjali Moti, the Theatrical Players Secretary and a Forensic Psychology student in the BMA program, said she doesn’t look for the ideal performer, she looks for effort and the potential to shine.

“Someone that when I hear them I smile, because I’m like, oh we’ve got someone good here,” Moti said in a voice memo.

Moti explained that confidence is key.

For Alberta Proto, a sophomore studying Humanities and Justice, confidence is exactly what she was striving for.

Proto practiced singing the song I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston whenever she got the chance.

“I practiced singing with the original song that I was gonna do,” said Proto over a zoom call. “Then when I felt comfortable with the notes and everything, I moved on to the instrumental track, which is the karaoke track.”

To shake off any nerves before the auditions, Emily Pozolante, a junior majoring in Forensic Psychology, said she talked with her peers and told herself that she would do her best no matter the outcome.

Pozolante said that she wanted to audition because she loved working on In the Heights last year.

“I wanted that experience again to work with such awesome people and feel like I have a community that isn’t directly involved with my major or minors,” Pozolante said in a text message.

Once auditions have ended, the e-board comes together to discuss their thoughts to determine who they want to return for callbacks. Moti and Canning explained that if people are chosen for callbacks it is either because the e-board knows where they want that person to be, or because they have different opinions and they want to see more from that person.

Moti explained that the e-board wanted to go with a show that they believed was the best fit for the past cast of In the Heights as well as any newcomers that were interested.

“Everyone knows the name Footloose because of how iconic the movie was,” said Moti in a voice memo.

Moti said the messaging of the script from Footloose felt right for the people of John Jay – young people trying to make change within their community.