This spring, Theatre senior Tyler Fauntleroy got to be in the room where it happens—auditioning for Hamilton in New York City. It was an intimate and brisk experience; one that showed this burgeoning actor just how far he’d come.
Growing up, Fauntleroy was admittedly a shy kid. “[I] had a secret interest in performing,” he recalls, “but I was always afraid of that kind of spotlight.” It wasn’t until the sixth grade, when his best friend invited him to a play she was performing in, that he become hooked. “I was blown away by it, and knew immediately that theatre was what I wanted to do.” By the seventh grade, he was auditioning for musicals, and he hasn’t left the stage since. As a Performance major at VCUarts, Fauntleroy played a lead role in a 2016 production of the satirical musical Urinetown, and portrayed Lucas Beineke, boyfriend of Wednesday Addams, in The Addams Family.
During the Theatre department’s New York Senior Showcase—where students meet with casting directors, join workshops, and prepare for interviews—Fauntleroy seized a chance to audition for a part in Hamilton. He described the experience of auditioning for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s runaway Broadway hit as surreal.
“It was only myself, the accompanist, and the casting director,” says Fauntleroy. “I was expecting way more people to be in the room, but I was happy that it was so intimate. It helped take away the nerves and made me feel comfortable. It was a quick audition. I was in and out pretty fast and I felt really good about what I had done.”
While he is still eagerly waiting to hear back from Hamilton, Fauntleroy will be moving to New York after graduation to live with nearby family.
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