One of the last things School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) Musical Theatre seniors do, before leaving school, is perform a song as part of a year-end showcase. Each song is recorded so they can use it within future auditions. In the past, the senior showcase and its recording happened simultaneously, often finding students at a bad time: the day after graduation. This year, however, Musical Theatre seniors asked to do their showcase recordings a little differently.
Two things changed this year: the time and the place of the recordings. Now, a few days before graduation with better rested voices, Musical Theatre seniors shot their reel to send out as part of their audition process, at the Video and Audio studios within the Duderstadt Center. The Duderstadt Center houses the Digital Media Commons, or DMC, that offers many resources, including the Audio and Video Studios. The seniors still performed the day after graduation, but now had the assurance of having a high-quality Audio and Video Studio recording under their belts.
Jason Mulay, a now 2025 Musical Theatre graduate, talked about the benefits of having a professional recording for his future use. “Having performances recorded is going to greatly benefit us in the future,” Mulay said. “The theater industry is very digital: companies hold auditions via self recorded tapes and discover young artists on social media and YouTube. I am significantly more confident going into the industry knowing that I have such a high-quality example of my work.”
The process of professionally capturing this showcase was complex. For the recording, three rooms were in play: Audio Studio A, the Video Studio, and the Control Room. Rarely do the Video and Audio Studios work in tandem, so controlling audio in all three rooms needed to be streamlined.
Within the Audio Studio, a live band consisting of a pianist, a drummer, and a bassist aided the Musical Theatre students’ performances. The goal of placing the band within the Audio Studio was twofold: firstly to highlight just the performer in the Video Studio, and secondly to better isolate each sound. Leveraging existing infrastructure, the audio techs were able to have trilateral communication between the rooms– or more simply put– they could all talk and hear one another, though being in different rooms.
“We were told that this project was one of the most complex audio setups for the DMC in a long time; with a live band recording, live mixing for the performer, a live playback in the control booth, and a ‘God mic’ in the studio,” said Arie Shaw, the production Stage Manager for the filming portion of the Musical Theatre showcase. “However, all of that made the process very seamless and we were able to finish ahead of schedule each evening.”
Aquila Sol, a new 2025 Musical Theatre graduate, explained what she felt the Audio and Video Studios added to the process of recording. “The DMC is truly a place where artistic disciplines can interact like never before,” Sol said. “We are intersecting live performance with digital art, cinematography, and recording studio magic all at once.”
I was fortunate enough to see firsthand the background work and the performances and none of them were short of amazing. The technology only seemed to heighten their already immense amount of talent.
Aquila Sol made her showcase a full circle moment. “I decided to do the song “Sister’s Pickle” from Amelie,” Sol said. “As that was the role I was doing in high school when COVID hit and we were unable to ever share our work with an audience. It seemed like a full circle moment to bring that song back out.”
Nicola Troschinetz, another new Musical Theatre graduate, also chose a song that has meaning for her. “I chose Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar, not only because I love singing 20th century pop/rock but also because Pat Benatar is a huge inspiration of mine,” Troschinetz said. “I admire her for her ferocity, passion and determination in a male dominated industry. I also just think her music is wicked cool, so that makes it super fun to sing and perform.”
Each senior brought their own flair to the stage, and it was incredible to see each of them perform, knowing that in a few short days they would fully become SMTD graduates and have the rest of the world at their fingertips.
The seniors did want to thank all who were involved, as the process could not get done without the professors, students and staff who got them this far. From the Control Room, I saw the major influence staff had on the performances: from requesting a touch-up of blush, asking for a more tinted background color, to rewriting stage choreography, the seniors were not alone on stage. A whole team of people were there to cheer them on and help them be the best they could be. Each student additionally wanted to thank Jessica Bogart, Sydney Morton and Jason DeBord, for their hard work and guidance.
And lastly, to thank the Audio and Video Studios, for as Troschinetz said, “Thanks to all the incredible people at the DMC, not only do me and my classmates now have amazing recordings to use for our websites and auditions, but also the memory of an unforgettable experience that beautifully encapsulates our final days as University of Michigan Musical Theatre students.”
You can find the encore performances of these recent SMTD grads on their instagrams or websites:
Jason Mulay: @jason.mulay.03
Aquila Sol: @aquilasol, aquilasol.net
Nicola Troschinetz: nicolatroschinetz.com
Written by Emma Powell