Alani Kravitz has never seen her name on the callback list.

‘It’s hard not to get callbacks, I agree with that,’ said Kravitz, a sophomore musical theater major. ‘My experience has been rather frustrating because I haven’t been called back. I just went to the instructor to ask what I have to do to get noticed here in the department and get callbacks.’

Callbacks in the drama department are the next step after auditioning in a process for theater majors to earn a role in a show. Although a callback does not necessarily mean a student will be cast in the show, it means he or she demonstrated signs of being right for the role. Some drama students, like Kravitz, have never gotten a callback for a Syracuse University performance.

But not getting a callback does not necessarily put Kravitz at a disadvantage — or equate to failure by any means.

‘It sucks when you don’t see your name on the list, but it’s not saying you’re not good,’ she said.

Students’ failure to get called back may not be due to their ability, but is caused by the roles not fitting their strengths as actors, students said.

‘It’s not that people are better than you, it’s not that you’re worse than anyone. They went through all the shows and I wasn’t right for any of them,’ Kravitz said. ‘Even if I was right for the role, the people who ultimately got it were more right than me, if that makes sense.’

Geri Clark, an acting and drama professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, cited an example of a former student, Amelia Campbell, who was never cast in an SU Drama Department production during her time in the program.

‘Within six months of leaving, she was playing the lead on Broadway in ‘The Member of the Wedding,” Clark said. ‘And I doubt that we had graduated another student in five years that was right for that role.’

Clark agreed callbacks are not based necessarily on talent, but how actors’ strengths fall in line with the season of shows. Campbell was later nominated in 1991 for a Tony Award for Best Actress (Featured Role – Play).

‘Sometimes, very good students are shut out because there isn’t really a role for them in that season,’ Clark said.

An audition for a show at SU usually lasts around four minutes and consists of monologues and songs. Kravitz described it as a ‘cattle call, in and out,’ but said professors hold the auditions, so they are familiar with the student’s work because they see it in class each day. Auditions are held for the Syracuse Stage shows once a semester. Although students are not required to audition for shows, they are strongly encouraged to.

And Kravitz continually keeps trying.

‘I know I’ll have a shot at some point. I don’t think that it’s never going to happen,’ she said. ‘You have your doubts, but you can never really assume that you’re at the bottom of the food chain because when you do, you really are at the bottom.’

The drama department in VPA is competitive, but this competition has proved to produce many successful alumni. Actors Frank Langella, Vanessa Williams and Taye Diggs did their time at SU before making it big onstage and in movies.

‘It’s like any other drama department — there is a level of competitiveness because we are competing against each other,’ Kravitz said. ‘It’s not to compromise the fact that we’re so incredibly supportive of each other. … Although we do compete for the roles, we are all the same people and want the same thing, so why fight over it?’ 

However, Kravitz does not deny the cutthroat nature of the industry that she and her peers are entering.

‘There are people who don’t get chances. It’s never because they’re not good enough,’ she said. ‘It’s a feeling that we feel a lot — feeling inadequate. It’s just (that) the nature of our work is questioning our talent and drive every day.’

Jordan Rosin, a junior directing major, is a student director for the Black Box Players, a student-run, nonprofit company that produces shows throughout the semester. Rosin is one of the people with the final say in deciding who performs in a show and said students who are driven enough find ways to work around not getting called back.

‘A proactive student will create his or her own opportunities,’ Rosin said.

Clark said professors also help to find other options that allow students to participate in shows. She said that professors are able to cast about 50 students in one-act plays at the culmination of the fall semester.

‘This covers most eligible people, so in our new system, everyone should have a role early in their career with us,’ Clark said. ‘Professors actively look for strategies that make it possible for students to work with a faculty member in a show.’

Clark said if a student is talented, trained and truly wants to be an actor, then not getting a callback won’t stop them. 

‘Experience will not determine who becomes an actor,’ she said. ‘That depends on their own desire.’

knmaciner@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm