2022 Ray of Light Awards Merit in Performance Competition

This year we will continue to award Gold, Silver and Bronze “Merits in Performance” to individual students who audition. These Merits in Performance will be IN ADDITION to the traditional production awards usually given out at the Ray of Light Awards.

Students will have the opportunity to perform their ‘performance pieces’ for our adjuration panel in the morning of April 9th at CTL.

Audition reservations will open January 2022. 

Performance Piece Requirements:

PERFORMER IN A PLAY:  Please prepare 2 contrasting monologues from any published theatrical piece.

PERFORMER IN A MUSICAL: Please prepare two 32-bar cuts from contrasting musical theatre pieces. Both pieces and your slating should be longer than two minutes but yet shorter than five minutes total.
(Students must bring their own sheet music for accompanist, no tracks will be allowed).

• Deadline to register for an audition spot is April 4th! (Registration opens January 2022)
• Students can apply for either or BOTH of these categories. (If applying for both categories the student will need to register for two separate audition times.) 
• Students MUST audition in person on April 9th, absolutely NO exceptions.
• Students that are auditioning for ‘Performer in a Musical’ should bring their music double sided, in a three ring binder with CLEAR markings for start, stop and any cuts. (Please no page protectors.)
• Eligible students MUST be currently enrolled in grades 9 through 12 in a Ray of Light eligible school.
• Students’ performance pieces should be no shorter than 2 minutes in length and NO LONGER than 5 minutes in length (this will include slating). Any performance piece over 5 minutes long will result in the student being disqualified.

ADJUDICATION: Students will perform their pieces in front of our adjudication panel, they will be scored on the rubric below. Any student who scores between an average score of; 40 – 38 will be awarded a ‘Gold Level Merit in Performance’, 37-34 will be awarded a ‘Silver Level Merit in Performance’ and a 33-30 will be awarded a ‘Bronze Level Merit in Performance’.

Bronze and Silver Medalists will be asked to join us in a Celebratory Concert held at CTL on Saturday, May 14th! Tickets purchased for this concert will help raise fund for the Phillips Leadership in the Arts Scholarship!

Gold Level Merit winners will be invited to perform at our 2022 Ray of Light Ceremony on May 21st at the Community Arts Center as well receiving an honorarium.

All Merit winners will receive a “Merit in Performance” medal. 

PERFORMER IN A PLAY RUBRIC:

Acting–Are they natural? Confident? Do they know their lines? Are they believable? Do they “Tell the story” or are they just reciting the lines they’ve memorized? (1-10)

Diction— Can you understand them? Do they speak clearly or do they mumble? Do their sentences drop off at the end? Do they have a repetitive voice pattern? (1-10)

Sense of Character–Do they know who they are supposed to be? Did they research? Do their body movements portray their character? Do they “carry” themselves correctly? (1-10)

Pacing/Energy/Focus –Does the dialogue have a natural flow? Are they “locked in”? (1-10)

PERFORMER IN A MUSICAL RUBRIC: 

Acting/Sense of Character–Are they natural? Confident? Do they know their lines? Are they believable? Do they “Tell the story” or are they just reciting the lines they’ve memorized? Do they talk to the people they’re in the scene with, or do they talk to the audience? Do they know who they are supposed to be? Did they research? Do their body movements portray their character? Do they “carry” themselves correctly?(1-10)

Vocal Ability/Diction–How well do they sing? Are they hitting the notes? Can you understand them? Do they speak clearly or do they mumble? Do their sentences drop off at the end? Do they have a repetitive voice pattern? (1-10)

Projection/Volume/Intonation/Pitch/Tone/Style–Does the students project? Are they in tune? Are the notes strong or do they waver? Do they have a uniform sound? Are they singing with correct vowels (when appropriate)? Is their style correct? Are they singing in a light airy tone when the song is meant to be bold and brassy? (1-10)

Pacing/Energy/Focus –Is there a natural flow? Are they “locked in”? (1-10)

All COVID-19 Policies will be in place during both the auditioning and the ceremony, for those policies please follow this link. All participants (adjudicators and students) will have their temperatures taken and be required to be masked at all times. Students will be able to unmask for their performance. If a student find themselves on a direct contact list and consequentially ordered to quarantine during the audition date please email our Executive Director Seth Sponhouse at ssponhouse@CTLshows.com for accommodations.