Ask an actor how they feel about auditioning for a new show and the answers are fairly consistent: "Stressful," "nerve-racking." But commonly in the same thought they'll utter these words too: "Exciting" and "thrilling."

The basic premise of auditioning is like a job interview. But unlike a job, in small-town theater, actors can't make a living doing it.

So why put themselves through the sometimes tumultuous process?

"If you can't audition well, you can't get through the door," local actor and director Gary Ketzenbarger said.

Josh Blanchard, an actor and director with the Lake Dillon Theatre, said directors will ask for different things from actors depending on the play.

"Sometimes (the director) asks us to come in and do a monologue, like I did for 'The Nerd.' Sometimes we have to memorize 16 bars of music, like for 'Urinetown.' Sometimes you give a cold reading after the initial reading. Sometimes you get a call back."

There's also a lot of prep work involved, according to Frisco resident Ricka Powers who recently tried out for the Lake Dillon Theatre's musical comedy, 'Urinetown.'

"The average person spends at least two hours or more on the musical pieces. It's the most difficult part of the whole process," she said.

But for all the work and butterflies, the rewards of working in Summit County's theater community are usually worth the risk.

Michael Martorano, who trained in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company and worked as a professional actor in New York for 12 years, started coming to Summit County to teach skiing in 1990. After his second winter here, he began attending the local theater productions and was surprised by the quality of actors, scripts and facilities.

"After seeing two or three shows, I said, why not move here and get into doing both the things I love," he said.

Martorano will perform in the Lake Dillon Theatre's "Reckless" and direct the Backstage Theatre's Christmas play, and said the shows here could stack up to any professional production. He said actors with limited or no experience could be doing leads and one-person shows in a short amount of time because the directors will make them the best they can be.

"If you have the willingness to work and want to learn, you have the opportunity to work with some of the best coaches and actors," he said. "Directors here are sensitive to the roles actors play. They want to help them to develop and stretch."

Actors are also driven to the stage by good or challenging material, said Backstage Theatre artistic director Chris Willard. They're attracted to material that they haven't done before, such as comedy or children's theater, to see if they are adept.

Ketzenbarger said his part in the recent production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" was a role he couldn't pass up.

"If there's a really interesting, challenging part that doesn't come around too often, you jump at the chance."

At its core, auditioning is how actors get onto the stage where they love to be.

"People have full-time jobs, so what keeps them coming back is their great passion for it," Willard said. "It's the whole experience of doing a play, putting on a play, working on your craft. The camaraderie and being part of an ensemble. The fellow actors in the show. Just working on your craft and putting it in front of an audience, getting accolades."

"Being in a new show is so exciting," Evergreen actress Leslie Chapman said. "It's always nervous (auditioning), but thrilling at the same time."



Leslie Brefeld can be reached at (970) 668-3998 ext. 13610, or at lbrefeld@summitdaily.com.