Who We Are
We are a group of 16 graduates from Oklahoma City University with degrees in Acting, Dance Performance, and Musical Theatre. Most of us are new to LA and are beginning to develop our careers in film, theatre, and television. We are inviting industry professionals to watch a short showcase of two person scenes, songs and dance in order to gain more exposure and build a strong reputation for the talent that comes out of OCU. Unique to most talent showcases, we will also be filming the showcase in order to reach a wider audience beyond those who cannot attend and to allow guests to see the actors both in person and on camera. Here is our cast list:
Louisa Adams
Lauren Byrd
Kristyn Chalker
Brooke Culbertson
Colleen Daly
Brittany Davis
Nick Drago
Ty Fanning
Eli Gonzalez
Kevin Keeling
Justin McInnis
Jacob Ockwood
Aviva Pressman
Meredith Pyle
Erin Sanzo
Miller Tai
What We Need
Here is where the money is going:
- Casting Panel - our cast participated in an audition for industry professionals. Robert Haas, a talent agent with Innovative Artists, one of the top agencies in LA and NY, and casting director Andy Henry ("The Newsroom", "The Amazing Spiderman") came to watch our auditions. They paired us up and have given us great advice on scene selection, as well as feedback for things to work on for the showcase.
- Director - Casey Stangl is an award winning director of theatre, opera, television and film. She has directed shows for South Coast Repertory, Chalk Repertory, El Portal Theatre, Falcon Theatre and many others regionally and nationally. She was a consulting director for ABC's Talent Showcase and has great insight on the showcase format.
- Theater space - locations in Los Angeles do not come cheap! We have secured the Matrix Theatre in West Hollywood for our performance space. This theater is centrally located, and is accommodating us to all our needs as best as possible.
- Pre- and Post-Showcase Receptions - guests will be invited to attend a reception before and after the show with catered food and drink, allowing the cast to get one on one interaction with the audience.
- Cameras/Camera Operators - We are recording a live feed of the showcase to play on monitors around the stage so guests can see the cast on camera. We will also be recording this in order to send video to industry pros that cannot attend.
- Postcards - For promotion of the event
- Programs - These will show a running order of the show, but most importantly have the contact information for each performer, so that anyone in the industry may contact them if they are interested in doing so.
We hope to raise at least $4500 in order to cover all of these costs. Showcases like these can run upwards of $199 per person in Los Angeles on a much simpler scale, but we're hoping that we can take this showcase to a much grander scale and still keep it affordable for the cast. We need your help in doing this!
We can make the showcase happen regardless of the amount raised, so your donation is money well spent and extremely appreciated whether we reach our target goal or not, but we're crossing our fingers that we do! We have big ideas to make our showcase stand out, but we need to reach our goal in order to make this event the best it can be.
How will this showcase benefit the cast?
The only way to get work is to network. We have already invested a great deal of time and money perfecting what we do once inside the audition room and once on set, but simply getting invited to the audition room is well over half the battle. This showcase will allow many of us to be seen by agents, casting directors and managers that can help launch incredibly successful careers. Showcases have already proven to be successful in the past- casting directors might see an actor they like for an upcoming project and invite them to audition; agents or managers might be inspired by talent they see and want to represent them. These things have actually happened at showcases!
By pooling all of our current connections together, we can help our fellow classmates succeed in our chosen careers by inviting these important people to see our work. We want to make people aware of the talent being developed at OCU. We already have well known working alumni (Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara, to name a few) and we want to build our careers together with the strength of a well known alma mater behind us.
Other Ways You Can Help
Can't contribute? Here are other things you can do to help us out!
- If you live in Los Angeles, attend the showcase on Monday, May 6th at Matrix Theatre in West Hollywood. The showcase is free of charge and open to everyone! Friendly faces will make this showcase feel more like a performance and less like an audition.
- Share this page on Facebook, Twitter, or any social media site you can think of in order to get the word out each and every day of the campaign! Indiegogo provides one click links to share this campaign. We don't have much time!
- Spread the word!!
We value everyone's love and support that we've received throughout our lives. This showcase will be another boost for our careers and any help we can get is greatly appreciated!
