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FeedTrying out for Shadowbox
Scenes from Shadowbox Live's cattle-call audition at Easton in late October. Photo by Dan Trittschuh.
‘Aaaaaand pop!”
The dancers each land on one foot, leaning forward with their hands out in a curled, pawlike position. “I think of them like horse hooves,” instructs Katy Psenicka of Shadowbox Live. “You’re now like a horse on a merry-go-round.”
It’s a Tuesday evening in late October and the Shadowbox Live cabaret stage deep within the bowels of Easton Town Center is abuzz with potential new talent. About half of the dozen-or-so hopefuls at this cattle-call-style audition are onstage, learning a dance from the sketch comedy group’s Back to the Garden show about Woodstock. The other half can be heard in the dressing room, practicing their vocals with staff member and performer Noelle Grandison, who has them singing the chorus from “Aeroplane” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Before this, the amateurs—mostly in their 20s—each had to sing and act out material they’d prepared (many did monologues from contemporary plays, others from films). They were watched closely and videotaped by the troupe’s brass, including Psenicka, Grandison and Tom Cardinal, the theater group’s personnel and recruiting director.
What they’re searching for is a particular kind of candidate with abilities in multiple disciplines, such as acting, singing and sketch comedy—someone they call a metaperformer. Additionally, Cardinal says, “We are looking for people who we think can play well with other people. We’ve met some people in the past who were really talented, but there’s no way anyone would work with them because they’re divas.”
Florence, Kentucky, native Sarah Knigga, who was familiar with the sketch comedy group’s second location in neighboring Newport, drove two-and-a-half hours through rush-hour traffic to get to Easton to audition. When it came time to give her monologue, though, there was a problem. Cardinal forgot to call her up. “I was like, there’s no way. I drove all the way up here. I have to show what I have,” says Knigga, 24. After the mix-up, Cardinal apologized and Knigga jumped onstage.
The recent University of Cincinnati graduate, who has a background in videography, but no experience acting or performing onstage, says she did a Google search of monologues from plays, found one that suited her and memorized it. “I felt like I did pretty well,” she says. She also sang “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett. “Getting onstage is like public speaking. . . . Your hands get all sweaty. But I’m really good at hiding that, so it comes off like I’m confident. And you have to be, otherwise people can see right through you,” she explains.
The strategy worked well. Knigga got a call back the next day, offering her a full-time position at Shadowbox Live’s Newport location.
Though Cardinal admits he’s seen so many auditions they all run together, he says Knigga’s stood out. “The biggest thing I remember from her audition is she got up onstage and took control of the stage,” he says. “She just made her audition her own. That kind of confidence is fairly rare.”
Now she’s on staff along with the other new hires (two were hired for each of Shadowbox’s two locations, and those in Columbus will be dealing with the recently announced move to the Brewery District this summer). Knigga said in early December she was getting used to 12- and 13-hour days, some of which involved taking naps on a backstage couch and not leaving until well after midnight in preparation for the troupe’s first holiday shows. “We stay as long as we have to, to go through every skit and performance to make sure it’s right,” she said. It’s a grueling gig, but Knigga is right where she wants to be. “I’ve always wanted to be an actor, but I didn’t know how. Now I get to do the best of everything: videography and acting and singing and performing and dancing.”
