Wilkes casts alumnus in lead role of Dracula

On Friday, January 22, students of Wilkes University took to the stage to audition for various parts in the school’s upcoming theatre production,

, which will be presented this April.

Junior John Layton had planned on trying out for the lead role and was surprised to find a familiar face reading for the same spot—Daniel Pascoe, a graduate of the Class of 2009.

Having only previously worked with current Wilkes undergraduate students - and occasionally a child or two from the Conservatory - in Wilkes productions, Layton said he questioned the audition policy and was told that auditions for Dracula were open to the public, meaning anyone from the surrounding community could audition for a part.

According to Layton, this was the first he heard of an open audition policy. Of the four productions held this year—The Love of the Nightingale, Brenda Bly: Teen Detective, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Dracula—Layton said that Pascoe was the only community member who auditioned for a role.

The Visual and Performing Arts Department’s page on the Wilkes Web site states that the department “is committed to nurturing a climate in which a community of artists-educators, diverse student population, and the public-at-large engage in art, dance, music, and theatre.”

While this statement mentions that the “public-at-large” are allowed to “engage” in the department’s productions, it does not distinguish between engaging as part of the audience or as a member of the cast.

Several attempts were made to contact members of the Visual and Performing Arts Department to clarify the auditioning policy, but faculty declined to share details of the casting process with The Beacon.

Despite the unclear rules that may be in place regarding casting, current and former theatre majors feel that the casting of alumni or members of the community in a Wilkes production is unfair.

Christopher Lucas, Class of 2007, sent a letter to The Beacon to air his feelings on the situation.

“There are students that are paying over $100,000 over the course of their four-year stint at Wilkes University for a quality education and I feel by casting an alumnus, you are not only cheating them out of their money, but cheating them out of a quality education,” Lucas, a theatre graduate. “It feels as though part of the money that they are putting in as a student is being handed over to the alumnus actor.”

Layton agreed, stating that current students should be given these opportunities to prepare them for their careers. He added that holding open auditions for a student production does not make sense because student productions should be filled by students.

“I’m sure the [Wilkes] football team would love to have Peyton Manning come and play if they were allowed to have open try outs,” said Layton.

Lucas also added in his letter that casting former Wilkes students or members of the community weighs on current students’ confidence levels. He said that Wilkes students may think that the directors may feel that they “do not currently have the talent pool amongst their current students to be able to play a lead role in a main stage production” and must search elsewhere to fulfill these roles.

Layton agreed. “We all go to Wilkes and if we’re not good enough to play this part, are they training us the right way?” he asked.

With an open audition policy, Layton questioned how Wilkes’ theatre productions are any different from those put on by community theatres. Representatives of the department would not provide The Beacon with information that would clarify the differences between these two types of productions.

Upset with the decision to cast a non-Wilkes student in Dracula, Layton said he contacted Joseph Dawson, chair of the Visual and Performing Arts department, for further clarification on the audition policies. But when he didn’t get a direct answer regarding the policy, he told Dawson he would not feel comfortable attending rehearsal for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

“He called me back and gave me the ultimatum-that if I wasn’t at rehearsal, then I wasn’t in the production. And I decided not to go,” said Layton.

Layton not only chose to abandon his part in Putnam County, but also to leave the department entirely. Layton said he has decided to drop theatre and will soon declare an English major. He has also considered transferring to another college or university.

After leaving Putnam County, Layton said he expected that one of the two assistant stage managers would fulfill his empty role. Although there are no formal understudies for Wilkes productions, assistant stage managers act as such and are prepared and willing to fill deserted positions.

“People have told me that [Tony Goreczny] was preparing [to fill Layton’s role] and was rehearsing,” said Layton.

Goreczny, a freshman theatre major and one of the assistant stage managers for Putnam County, was not called upon to play the part, however. Instead, Pascoe picked up where Layton left off.

“I consider the theater department’s choice of replacing John Layton with Daniel Pascoe to be a slap in the face [to Layton], considering the fact that John left his major after the unexpected Dracula event,” said Austin Loukas, a freshman psychology major who tried out for Layton’s empty role in Putnam County before Pascoe was given the role.

Both Goreczny and Pascoe declined to comment on these, or any other, matters.
Numerous attempts were made to contact Teresa Fallon, director of the upcoming Dracula, but phone calls and emails were not returned. Dawson was the director of Putnam County, but declined to comment on the situation.

While Dawson did not wish to comment specifically about casting procedures either, he directed The Beacon to the academic grievances protocol that is listed on page 88 of the Student Handbook.

The handbook states that “students having academic grievances should first confer with the instructor involved. The route of appeal is the department chairperson, the dean of the school, and the Provost.”

“The student in question [Layton] merely informed the instructor [Teresa Fallon] that he was dropping his major,” said Dawson. “As far as I know he has still not addressed the casting issue with her. As a result he has not allowed himself to become educated on the intricacies of casting. He bypassed protocol by emailing me first, and even before I could respond went to the Dean and then The Beacon. Clearly not protocol … If students are encouraged to follow protocol by first bringing grievances to instructors then uncomplicated issues would have a slimmer chance of being sensationalized.”

Dawson would not comment on the “intricacies of casting” he mentioned, stating that if students wished to find answers to their questions regarding casting decisions, they are to speak with the faculty directors who are involved with the theatre productions.