Kaufman Auditorium talent show

Later this month, Marquette’s Kaufman Auditorium is hosting auditions for Talent Marquette, a local talent competition.

“We will have a panel of celebrity judges who will audition people, and the top 20 or so will go through to a live show,” Marty Martello said. He’s one of the producers of Talent Marquette.

The auditions are on Friday, September 20th and Sunday, the 22nd. The live show, where the audience will determine the winners of cash prizes, will take place at Kaufman on Wednesday, October 9th.

There are four categories: Youth Solo, Youth Group, Adult Solo and Adult Group. Any types of entertainers can audition, from actors to jugglers to singers and more. Audition forms will be available to download from Lake Superior Youth Theatre’s website and must be returned at audition time.  Time slots can be scheduled online here or by calling (906) 362-6453.

Regular tickets for the live show are $10 each, and gold tickets, which include premium seating and a pre-show reception, are $25.

“It’s a great idea,” Kaufman Auditorium director Sara Cambensy said. “It serves several purposes for me as the director of Kaufman, and that is to get more people into the auditorium, and also to help the people that want to put on things more successful.”

And there are groups that want to put on things. Talent Marquette will raise money for the Lake Superior Youth Theatre and for the Kaufman Players, a brand-new community theater program for adults.

Outside of the summer months, opportunities for adults in the Marquette area to come out of the wings and get on stage are limited. Talent Marquette and the Kaufman Players should do something about that.

“There’s plenty of theater in the summer in the area,” Martello said. “You could be out at the Vista (Theater in Negaunee); you could be at Lake Superior Theatre down at the boathouse (in Marquette). Once the school year starts, unless you’re a student, there’s really nothing going on, and we’re all kind of scratching our heads and saying, ‘we really need another venue’.”

The Kaufman Players fit right in with Cambensy’s goal for the venue.

“What we’re looking to do with Kaufman Auditorium is make it more accessible to people that want to use it, whether you’re a group that wants to bring in musicians, or community acting, youth programs, whatever it is,” she said.

The Kaufman Players will stage two to three productions each season. Their first show will be “Ebenezer Scrooge” the weekend before Christmas.