Cathalena E. Burch It took 10 years of auditions and rejections before Phoenix native Chanel Bragg finally landed a role in Arizona Theatre Company‘s 2018 production of “The Music Man.”
People are also reading… But Bragg, who was named ATC’s associate artistic director in January 2020, is changing that perception when she makes her ATC directorial debut this weekend with Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” When she put out the audition calls for “The Glass Menagerie” last year, she had a number of performers nationwide submit audition tapes. ATC also held live auditions for Arizona performers.
“Broadway is just geography; it’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong … but I believe there is just as strong talent here,” she added. “The purpose of regional theater is to bring Broadway home for the people who can’t afford to make it all the way to New York … That’s our job; that’s our responsibility, and the quality of our performances must meet that objective.
The play takes place in the apartment of the Wingfields, where dad has long abandoned the family and mom Amanda is a faded Southern belle longing for the abundance of her youth. Tom has taken on the role of breadwinner and longs to escape, while painfully shy and withdrawn sister Laura, who has a limp from a childhood illness, is consumed by tending to her collection of glass figurines.
How does one measure acting performance to be able to report who “outperformed” another? of missed lines per performance? Audience applause length? Height of leaps and jumps?