Catherine LaMoreaux, the artistic director of the Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center in Woodbridge, NJ has been using Backstage since the theater’s inception to find diverse new talent for her productions. A co-founder of the theater, LaMoreaux selects, casts, and directs the productions. The theater mixes company members, actors from auditions, and invited actors to bring diversity to the three mainstage productions put up each year. Additionally, the theater’s company members take some shows on the road for schools and other venues. The theater also offers low-cost acting classes for children, teens, and adults, which has introduced new actors to the theater.
Because it is a small theater working with a very small budget, LaMoreaux says “getting the word out that we exist and are casting has been difficult.” Without pay, LaMoreaux has found that many NYC actors are unwilling to take the trip (approx. 10 minutes from Staten Island and 40 minutes from Manhattan). “However, we have found some excellent actors from all over New Jersey, Staten Island, and some from New York City,” says LaMoreaux, including a number of actors from NYC for their first show in the summer of 2014.
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