Emerson’s BFA Showcase Opens Doors for Emerging Actors in NYC
Isan Salem ’25 
Colin Welter ’25 and Maggie Cavanaugh ’25 
Chad Fruscione ’25 
Ruochen Hu ’25 
Andrew Bova ’25 
Molly Howard ’25 
James M. Brooks Jr ’25 
David Staats ’25 and Madeline Carleton ’25 perform together. 
Asa Dupras ’25 
Emerson holds two BFA showcases per year for casting agents, producers, and more. 
Evelyn Alumbreeros ’25 
Members of the Acting BFA 2025 class. 
Members of the 2025 Musical Theatre BFA program.
Photos by Derek Palmer
Twice a year, Emerson College hosts BFA Showcases, giving recent graduates and soon-to-be graduates the chance to audition for top industry professionals. In recent years, the showcase has helped launch Emersonians into national touring productions such as Peter Pan and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
That possibility — a real path to professional theater work — is what brought recent alums to New York City in November. They performed for the Emerson community and, more importantly, for casting directors, agents, managers, and producers.
Maggie Cavanaugh ’25 felt ready for the November showcase. “Emerson shaped me professionally because it taught me what a real audition, a real rehearsal room, and a real performance would look like,” she said.
The College presents two showcases each year, one in Boston and one in New York. After attending a previous showcase, Nathan Gehan ’99 — CEO and Founder of ShowTown Theatricals — wanted to deepen his involvement. His company partnered with Emerson to help coordinate this year’s event, bringing additional industry reach to the table.
He compared the showcase to a marketing campaign. “This is the start of the visibility of your branding. You’re all entrepreneurs. You’re all your own business, and this is the start of your ad campaign,” Gehan said.
The showcase helps open doors, he added, creating early relationships with casting directors, agents, and managers. At this year’s event, at least one agent immediately expressed interest in a student.
Eric Paris, Emerson Stage’s Director of Theatre Operations, said this showcase was open to graduated BFA Acting and BFA Musical Theatre students of the Class of 2025. There wasn’t a BFA showcase for them this past spring.
“The students have an opportunity to choose their own material, with the guidance of faculty and the directors of the showcase, including Performing Arts Senior Distinguished Director-in-Residence Melia Bensussen and Associate Professor Scott LaFeber,” Paris said.
For the auditioning Emersonians, the showcase felt like both a milestone and a launchpad.
“This experience has given me an understanding of my place in the industry and how to present myself well within it,” said Mateo Bailey ’25. “It’s given me tools to lean into type — which can be helpful early on — because the goal for all of us is to break into the industry, and this makes that entry point a little clearer.”
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