Arts & Entertainment
Jessica Phillips Hosting Audition Workshop For WHS Students
The television and Broadway actress' workshop is funded by the Friends of the Westwood Performing Arts.
Friends of the Westwood Performing Arts (FWPA), the booster association for Westwood’s performing arts programs, will sponsor an audition workshop with Jessica Phillips on July 12. “The Friends of Westwood Performing Arts wanted to start doing some programming for our students. As our boosters they were looking for new ways to support our students,” reports Jim Howard, Westwood High School’s drama teacher.
Sutton native Phillips has an accomplished resume on both stage and screen. She appeared on the TV show Elementary and Law & Order: SVU. She plays Heidi Hansen, mother to the titular hero, in the touring company of Dear Evan Hansen. “Jessica and I became friends as Undergrads at Emerson College. We've talked over the years about bringing her in to work with the Westwood students. The timing worked out since she will be in town with Dear Evan Hansen,” explains Howard of her connection to Westwood.
“It is an audition workshop to help our students. It should help them in their approach to any audition be it at Westwood, college, community, or professional level,” he says of the audition workshop. “[WHS drama students] are excited. Registration opens today, so I'll be interested to see who signs up. The July date may make it hard for students who work or travel, but I still think we will get a great turnout.”
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“[FWPA co-president] Lisa Savini and I have had a number of great conversations this year about how the Friends of Westwood Performing Arts could continue to help our students. They've been a great support to us throughout the years. This kind of programming is new to both of us, but I'm terribly thankful that they wanted to sponsor the event. They are a great group of parents who want to support their kid's passion for the Performing Arts,” Howard praises the FWPA. The FWPA’s mission is to “.... enrich the music and theater education of Westwood students and to expand cultural opportunities for the whole Westwood community. “ The organization also offers scholarships [in fact, this writer recieved one back in 2002].
The audition workshop with Jessica Phillips will be on July 12 from 10:30-12. Sign-ups begin today, May 28, at 2pm.