McCallum Theatre Open Call Talent Project celebrates 25th anniversary with 'authenticity'
Movie premieres, music festivals, golf and tennis tournaments — the Coachella Valley is home to dozens of huge events every year that bring household names to the desert.
But what about the undiscovered talent in our own backyard? If the valley can help produce stars like Jenna Ortega from "Wednesday," for example, there's surely other up-and-comers just waiting for the right stage to make their debut.
More: La Quinta's Jenna Ortega nabs first Golden Globe nomination for 'Wednesday'
That's where the McCallum Theatre comes in.
Celebrating 25 years
In 1999, the theater had recently hired a new executive director, and its education department, which was still in its infancy, was looking for ways to serve the community beyond staging high-quality touring productions. The venue's staff was looking for something new to offer locals who didn't just want to be in the audience, they wanted to be on stage.
That's how the McCallum Open Call Talent Project was born.
"We launched this talent project and from the very get-go, it was just one show and it quickly became very popular," said Kajsa Thuresson-Frary, vice president of education for the McCallum. "It proved to be a really great way to engage the community ... and for the past 10 or so years, we have been more or less selling out."
The concept is simple: residents age 8 and up and who make less than 50% of their income off performing are eligible to audition any skill that can be demonstrated onstage. The Open Call has seen all sorts of acts over the course of its 25 years, and this year features another wide array of performers — from a brother-sister cello duo to a senior marching band — as well as a variety of skill levels.
This year's participants range in age from 10 to 84, and Thuresson-Frary said the event has remained open to talent of varying ages and development because the show is more grounded when it's multigenerational and features performers of all backgrounds
"I think that's also what makes it such a heartwarming project for our audience," she added. "I think they can kind of see themselves (in these performers) a little bit, and they're excited about coming to see their friends and neighbors perform on this stage."
One crowd favorite, she added, is the finale that the group performs as an ensemble at the end of each show. It's big, it's splashy and it demonstrates that although this is technically a talent competition with a grand prize of $5,000 (and an audience favorite award of $2,500 and specialty award of $750) on the line, everyone's in it together.
Embracing authenticity
The theme of the 2023 Open Call is authenticity, which is a principle that participant Lexi Gutierrez lives by daily.
Gutierrez, a 21-year-old Starbucks barista with a knack for singing, oozes personality — even on the phone. She was even hard to interview at times because she kept asking me, the interviewer, questions about myself.
But that just shows why Gutierrez connects with people onstage: she has a genuine passion for getting to know others, whether that's through conversing face to face or sharing music with each other.
Her deep connection to music began as a child who always had to have the radio on. But it reached a new level when, during one early road trip with her family, she heard a note that was out of her range.
"I was like, huh, I can't hit the note that the man is singing. So I'm gonna sing higher, and I started harmonizing," she recalled. "Without even realizing it, without even knowing anything."
The Palm Desert High School alum performed in plays and musicals as a teenager, but never in a venue as big as the McCallum. She didn't even expect to get past the first round of video auditions, let alone the in-person callback (the latter of which she got through despite a sore throat), so she describes the whole experience as surreal.
"I was out of town and I was like, 'I'm not going to check it until later, I'm probably going to be disappointed,'" Gutierrez recalled of the day the finalists were announced. "Then I was like 'No, whatever.' And so I scrolled on it. And I clicked on the email, and I saw my name right smack in the middle. And I was super excited. Like I actually screamed in my car."
Pianist Aidan Forehand is another finalist in the open call who's been honing his craft for a while. The junior at Xavier College Preparatory High School first picked up an instrument in early elementary school, and his first performance was a third-grade talent show at the age of 8.
This year, after auditioning for the Open Call for the second time — he and his brother were finalists in 2020 but the event was canceled due to the pandemic — Forehand will finally get to perform on the McCallum stage.
"It's just, it's kind of exhilarating," he said. "If I go up there and just play it the best I can possibly play it, it's exciting. It gets my heart racing, and it's a good feeling."
The group started rehearsals in March, and Gutierrez made fast friends with a few of her fellow performers. It felt good to bond over a shared passion — an art that she said "feels like a sweet release of the soul" — and it was humbling to watch her fellow locals excel.
And that's her elevator pitch for everyone she's convinced to attend the show — including several of her Starbucks regulars. "To be a part of something way bigger than me and just share that with as many people as I can, you know, that's why (it's special)," she said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, go.' I'm still advertising."
Forehand completely agrees. When asked what the best part of this process has been, he said watching his peers perform.
"It's just exciting, seeing them be good at what they like to do," he added. "And meeting all the people and getting little sneak peeks of their acts. (I enjoy) working together with all these really cool people."
As for the prize money, Gutierrez isn't thinking much about it — she didn't even know it was a competition when she first auditioned — because for her, the Open Call is about providing an outlet and encouraging audience members to be their authentic selves.
"(I hope that) people will come to this performance and feel like wow, that was amazing, or, I can do that," she said. "I should be my authentic self, you know, because it's like, in the day to day, in your work day, people get so caught up with what's stressful ... and they forget to really take the time to unwind, and just step back and be like ... I can also have fun and enjoy myself and do things that I want to do."
The importance of offering accessible art
Thuresson-Frary said this year's Open Call cast is twice as large as last year's. The theater received 121 submissions by its Jan. 25 deadline, and then a panel of audience members, volunteers, staff and donors pared it down to 54 for callbacks. The 20 finalists that rose to the top during the second round will take the stage this weekend.
"It's a talent competition. So surely, people win awards and such, but for us, it's more, and always has been, a learning project and community building initiative," Thuresson-Frary said.
Part of that community building is offering a high-quality stage production at an affordable price. Whereas most shows at the McCallum cost $50 or more a ticket, admittance to the Open Call starts at $20.
"Cost can be so prohibitive, so we need to be realistic about how we make things accessible," Thuresson-Frary said. "If we want people to be able to come and attend, we need to be realistic about what kinds of budgets people have ... that's the beauty of being a nonprofit organization, you have that opportunity to raise the funds and then make things available."
If you go
What: Open Call Talent Project
When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 21 and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 22
Where: McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert
Tickets: $20-$40
More info: mccallumtheatre.com
This year's finalists are:
Katherine Aiken, Aztec Arts Academy, Joana Ciurash, CK Dance Company, Coachella Valley Youth Ensemble, Desert Ukulele Marching Band, Aidan Forehand, Lexi Gutierrez, Nathaniel Lizarraga, Isela Mora, Sylvia Quintana, Razzmatapz, Maverick Risenmay, Ashley Haro Roman, Howard Siden, Luke Sonderman Band, CJ & Stella Wealand, Dan Westfall, Scott Allan Winter, Elizabeth & Josh Witte
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: McCallum Theatre Open Call Talent Project celebrates 25th anniversary
