Sign Up for Feb. 18 & 19 Musical Theatre Workshop

Submit Video Auditions for Aliyah and the Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll by Jan. 22

The Department of Theatre and Dance’s Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank (C3T) is holding auditions for a reading of a new work, open to all UC Davis students. Video auditions are now being accepted for Aliyah and the Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll through 10 p.m. on Jan. 22. The reading will be presented Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.

In addition to the reading, C3T will be presenting a musical theatre workshop consisting of a concentrated weekend of musical techniques, interpretation and performance, with Professor Mindy Cooper and Lisa Quoresimo (Ph.D., performance studies ‘18). Excerpts from the workshop will be presented along with the reading of Aliyah and the Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll. 

Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank (C3T) is a new works festival on the campus of UC Davis, committed to creating an artistically supportive place for new plays and musicals to grow and find their voices. C3T is a creative space where world-class theater artists, passionate students, and intelligent audiences meet to foster important narratives as they move forward onto the national stage. http://catalyst3t.com

*Aliyah and the Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll by Aidaa Peerzada, directed by Lisa Quoresimo.  

When Aliyah returns to her childhood bedroom in Pakistan, she is confronted by her old friend, Princess Jasmine Barbie. In their absence from one another, Aliyah has become informed about the ills of capitalism, and Jasmine has been inspired by the real demons and jinn of the One Thousand and One Nights. Will either of them make it out intact? 

Character Breakdown: 

ALIYAH (18 y/o) ( She, Her) – Imaginative Pakistani and Black American. She is visiting Pakistan from the U.S. on a break from high school. 

PRINCESS JASMINE BARBIE (Timelessly 19/21 y/o) (She/her) - Aliyash’s most beloved childhood doll. While she started off as the character in the film, she has spent nearly a decade abandoned on a bookshelf in Lahore where she has collected all sorts of ideas. 

Rehearsals for the reading will be Jan 29 TBD, Feb 2nd evening, and Feb 11 TBD.

The previously announced production of Mark Rigney’s Something Less Direct is being delayed until a future time when in-person rehearsals can accommodate the play. But we will be exploring a scene/song from that play in the Musical Theater Workshop in February. 

UC Davis students who have been Catalyst actors, please email us that you are interested.