The Annandale Theater Company along with The Filament Magazine will be hosting the Coffee House Cabaret. Students auditioned for the show after school, on Dec. 8, with acts that include slam poetry, singing and other solo performances.
Flyers were posted around the school to help promote the auditions for the event.
“We post flyers but word of mouth marketing is most effective,” co-producer Soo Jin Lee said. “Often, the most useful way to encourage students to audition is to invite them to do so personally. Ms. Brunberg teaches theater and I teach Creative Writing and IB Language and Literature. Between us, we know many wonderful students. Other teachers also advertise for us.”
This show has been a yearly tradition at AHS.
“Coffee House is like a talent show like America’s Got Talent except it isn’t a competition and it’s more like a jam where we sip and vibe the talent of fellow students at our school,” senior Nâti Asgedom said. “I’ve done Coffee House in the past. So hearing it is coming back made me happy and excited so I auditioned for it.”
“The Coffee House is an after-school curated open-mic event that the theater department and The Filament Magazine are co-producing this year. It’s a space for students with various talents to share, live in front of an audience,” Lee said.
Students were allowed to curate their act to audition with, which has given them the creative freedom needed to truly express themselves through their arts.
“The reason why I wanted to do it this year is because I want to get a message I have for my friends out through poetry,” senior Tracy Nguyen said. “I sent the poem itself to them, but I didn’t get the chance to read it out loud,”
Even for performers who have prior on-stage experience, auditioning for a show can still be nerve-racking.
“I usually feel pretty confident going into an audition after having auditioned for so many things, but there’s always a little shake in my leg whenever I get in the room,” sophomore Kaya Thomas said. “I think it’s completely natural to get nervous no matter how experienced you are,”
“I honestly feel really nervous as I made my decision at the very last minute. I’m at least hoping I could do well as this is my first time auditioning,” Nguyen said.
The Coffee House involves a lot of preparation to be done by both the producers and the performers.
“Ms. Brunberg and I are advertising, auditioning, rehearsing, and producing Coffee House,” Lee said.
“I’m going through my song and adding movement and acting to make it intriguing to watch! I’ll also be putting together a costume, as well,” Thomas said.
“I’m in theater 2 and often participate in after-school theater, so I figured it would be a lot of fun to participate in the coffee house!” said Thomas. “I haven’t done it before, but I had a good time choosing something to prepare!”
“I haven’t been to a Coffee House since I was the Filament sponsor several years ago but I’ve heard great things and I’m excited to attend and see the amazing talents of our students,” said former sponsor Kathleen Mathis.
Students and staff are excited to see what this event has in store. The rehearsal will be on Jan. 5 and the performance will be on Jan.10, both of which will takCoffee House auditions held