Cirque Dreams Illumination’s quest to showcase “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” has been conquered. On Saturday, January 29, 2011, an open casting call was held at the Avenues mall for aspiring Cirque Dreams hopefuls. 15 contestants auditioned for the chance to perform live with the Cirque Dreams cast. A band of masked percussionists, fittingly called, RAD, was announced as the winner on Monday, February 7th.
RAD (Random Acts of Drumming) is comprised of Jacksonville residents Michael Patterson, Andrew Nixon, Matthew Remsen and Reggie Bailey. The group first met as drummers for the University of North Florida and has performed regularly for the past 8 years. The 4 friends come from diverse backgrounds but hold in common a passion for music and percussion. Andrew Nixon, medical supply technician and a 2000 graduate of Edison College in Southwest Florida, read about the casting call online the morning of the event and encouraged his three friends to join him for the audition that day. Matthew Remsen works full-time as a sales & loan associate and is a 2006 graduate of Florida State University. Reggie Bailey is a full time student working on his business degree at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Michael Patterson graduated from the University of North Florida in 2001 and is currently an underwriter at Bank of America.
The judges were wowed by RAD’s ability to create syncopated melodies with the union of drumsticks and graffitied metal trashcans. The group will be trained locally and given the opportunity to perform a uniquely choreographed segment in custom-made costumes. They will debut their feature role performance during the production’s stay in Jacksonville on Thursday, February 17, 2011.
To see RAD perform live, visit www.artistseriesjax.org or contact The Artist Series at (904) 632-3373 for ticket information.
No comments:
Post a Comment