{"id":34546,"date":"2024-05-06T16:09:24","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T20:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34546"},"modified":"2024-05-06T16:09:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T20:09:26","slug":"aurora-performing-arts-festival-returns-june-15-and-nows-the-time-to-audition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/aurora-performing-arts-festival-returns-june-15-and-nows-the-time-to-audition\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Performing Arts Festival returns June 15 \u2013 and now\u2019s the time to audition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The countdown is on for the 2024 Aurora Performing Arts Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now going into its third year, the burgeoning festival, at which the Aurora\u2019s Teen Idol is just one component, will take place at Town Park on Saturday, June 15, highlighting local youth talents in the fields of music, dance and drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications for interested young artists are now being accepted through May 20 and applicants must submit a video audition between two and four minutes, all recorded within the last six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divided into categories according to age and discipline, the competition is open to York Region residents between six and 17, with the Aurora Teen Idol crown reserved for youth in the Ages 13 \u2013 17 vocal category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora Performing Arts Festival is a joint venture between the Town of Aurora and Marquee Theatrical Productions. Since its inception in 2022, it has grown significantly year over year, and this year could prove extra-special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis might be our last year in Town Park and we want to go out with style as it will likely move to Aurora Town Square in 2025,\u201d says Shelley Ware, Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Aurora, who describes herself as a \u201cbig champion\u201d of the Senior Vocal Category due to its connection with the grand prize. \u201cAurora Teen Idol has such an important role in our community, which I think youth really look forward to and aspire to. With Marquee bringing forward the idea of the younger age groups, as well as the two additional disciplines, really strengthens and further promotes the importance of the three disciplines but also builds momentum to keep these youth engaged as they age \u2013 and maybe they\u2019ll become the next Broadway star.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As successful as the vocal categories are, Marquee\u2019s Sheryl Thomas says the acting categories have been \u201cunderrepresented\u201d in previous years\u2019 auditions, and in the lead up to the May 20 deadline, she\u2019s really going to be focused on encouraging participation in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe get a great selection of genres represented,\u201d says Thomas, venturing a guess that one of the hurdles is a misunderstanding of what constitutes auditioning with a monologue. \u201cSome people enter with maybe a scene from a movie and they think they\u2019re supposed to do the three different parts, not just speaking from one person\u2019s vantage point. Eventually I would love to grow [the festival to have] duologues or small scenes, but we\u2019re in our infancy and want to establish the monologue portion first and then expand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adds Ware: \u201cTo take the stage takes so much courage. I\u2019ve always been in awe of the contestants because I don\u2019t know if I would have had the courage at that age. I think we\u2019re looking at a very specific trait in these youth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s seeing the innocence behind the stage of the [contestants] cheering each other on, then to see this nervous youth then go on the stage and transform into a performer cheered on by their competitors, it is rewarding to see that they have the empowerment and that emotional intelligence to be able to support each other versus seeing each other as rivals or competitors. It\u2019s that individual network that organically happened last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, when looking back at the first two years of the Aurora Performing Arts Festival, Thomas says what sticks with her are those \u201cjaw-dropping\u201d transformative moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such moment last year involved a young seven-year-old who wowed the crowd with the unlikely selection of a Guns N\u2019 Roses song while playing the guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is those oh-my-gosh moments you see on TV shows where it\u2019s wide-eyed, jaw-on-the-floor \u2013 the unexpected moments that are \u2018wow\u2019 moments. It is so fantastic to be a witness to it and it\u2019s just an honour to watch that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re interested in submitting an application and video audition for this year\u2019s festival, Thomas stresses that it needs to be a recently-recorded showcase with a focus on what you\u2019re hoping to deliver. She advises recording your audition in a distraction-free environment \u2013 sorry, pets! \u2013 and they\u2019re open to hearing any music or dramatic genre you can think of. For more information, including how to submit your application, visit aurora.ca\/ArtsFestival<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The countdown is on for the 2024 Aurora Performing Arts Festival. Now going into its third year, the burgeoning festival, at which the Aurora\u2019s Teen Idol is just one component, will take place at Town Park on Saturday, June 15, highlighting local youth talents in the fields of music, dance and drama. Applications for interested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8Zc","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 12:54:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}