“It’s the story of Buddy the Elf!” is the phrase that rings through the choir room as around 30 students sing in unison on September 18 – the first day of ‘Elf’ auditions at Wilsonville High School. Preparations for the winter musical, directed by Jason Katz, have begun, and there is a palpable excitement buzzing through the air.

The new space housing the dramatic arts department seems to have inspired an urge for change within the hearts of the staff in control of the performances this year. A new system for auditioning has been introduced – one that brings students together and hopefully aids the widely felt anxiety auditioning creates.

In previous years, students would prepare a piece of music beforehand and perform solo for a panel of judges. This year, students were given no music to rehearse in advance. Instead, they stood together as a group to learn a small segment of one song from the Elf soundtrack, then were asked to rehearse and perform with a smaller group of students as the official audition.

Ruby Windsheimer, senior and long-time participant of the Wilsonville theatrics, says that this new system eased some of her nerves: “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be because I had people [auditioning] with me that I knew. It’s not as scary because we’re singing together.”

Jason Katz, co-head of the theater program, is very enthused about this round of auditions and is looking forward to being introduced to new talent – “we’ve made the audition process much simpler. [We have made an effort] to encourage students to do their best and feel as comfortable as they can be.”

Along with the hope that nerves are calmed this time around, there is a hope that more students feel encouraged to audition for future productions. After the pandemic, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of students participating in not only the theater department but the arts as a whole. However, now is most certainly the time to get out there and participate.

“Deciding to audition is like [a student] taking a step toward opening a door to a whole new experience that is going to be so exciting!” says Jason Katz, who is looking forward to seeing more students excited to partake in upcoming productions.