UCI SHOWCASE : ACTORS GET READY FOR BIG BREAK

Otto Coelho would like to think that his performance Tuesday in Los Angeles won’t be a big deal, but the burly, dark-haired actor knows better.

When the UC Irvine drama student takes the stage at the Groundlings Theatre, nearly 100 Hollywood agents and casting directors are expected to be watching.

Coelho and 13 other students from UCI’s graduate drama program will be featured in a showcase designed to spotlight their talents for entertainment industry representatives. He is well aware that an impressive performance could lead to parts in films, television or the stage.

Still, he and the other UCI drama students try to downplay its significance, even as they suppress any lingering anxiety.

“Well, yeah, we’re pretty up for this, but you can’t overreact and think ‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for,’ ” said Coelho, 25, of Tustin.

“You try not to think about it because when you don’t worry about it, you do better . . . . But yeah, there’s no doubt that this could be a very important step.”

Such talent showcases are increasingly being used by colleges and universities to promote their drama students in the entertainment industry, according to industry and university officials.

The showcase in Los Angeles--the second such event organized by UCI drama professors with Southern California agents and casting directors--is especially important for the Orange County students because it brings them before the talent scouts who don’t always have a chance to attend productions at the Irvine campus.

The first UCI-sponsored talent show was held in 1985, and it led to several of the performers’ being signed by agents, university officials said. One of them, Brian Thompson, landed a high-profile role as the “heavy” in Sylvester Stallone’s film “Cobra,” said Gerard Babb, spokesman for UCI’s drama department.

Those successes convinced drama department officials that they should do it again this year, and they are tentatively planning to present a showcase every two years, said Mary Ann McGarry, director of the event and head of the UCI graduate acting program.

“We see it as a coming-out party for our grads,” McGarry said. “They get to show their stuff for industry people and get the access (to those people) they might not have a chance to meet. It can be a major move for our students . . . this is a tough business and something like this really helps.”

Babb added: “It’s great for them to get into Los Angeles and Hollywood. . . . It’s where the action is, and they need to get into that action.”

To display their skills, students will team up in short performances from contemporary movies and plays. Coelho will join with Mary Workman to do a scene from Steven Metcalf’s “Strange Snow,” a drama. Others will read from Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters.” Because seating is limited, only entertainment industry talent scouts will attend the two shows, one scheduled for the afternoon and another in the evening.

Among the nearly 100 agents and casting directors who have said they will be in the audience is Glenn Daniels, an agent with Stone Manners, a Los Angeles-based talent agency. Daniels, an agent for actress Samantha Eggar, among others, said such showcases for young actors can be fertile ground for people seeking new talent.

“It can be a great help in making future careers, mainly because it puts us in touch with potential talent,” he said. “It gives us and them immediate contact. If we see something we like, we can take advantage of it right there.”

But Daniels also stressed that the performers should not carry unreasonable expectations. “The big thing they should realize is that with no expectations, there is no disappointment. The possibility is there, but, no doubt, it’s slim.”

Still, Daniels said, he makes a point of attending showcases as well as Equity-waiver productions at small theaters and college plays to scout talent. The best university showcases, he added, are those sponsored by the UCLA; UC Irvine, and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

The UCI program, according to McGarry, is just one facet of the university’s commitment to its graduate students. Like internships at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the talent showcase provides valuable experience and opportunities for career breaks, she said.

The UCI program differs from the talent showcases offered by some private organizations in Hollywood, McGarry said. Many of those groups, which often charge large fees, have been criticized for exploiting naive actors’ desire for stardom.

“We’re far different from them because there is no cost (to the participants), and UCI has some credibility,” McGarry said.

She also cautions students against unrealistic expectations. The program is only the first step in a career that will probably include hundreds of auditions and almost as many rejections.

“I really don’t have to make too much out of this, though,” McGarry said. “Most of them have sought jobs before, so they have a pretty real attitude. Still, they can’t help getting excited about the prospects.”

During recent interviews, it was clear that most of the students, although aware of the stakes, were keeping calm by not dwelling on the showcase’s importance, even as they rehearsed their material.

Lisa Black, who will perform a scene from “Hannah and Her Sisters,” seemed almost blase as the show approached.

“I see it as just another performance,” said Black, 30, who lives in graduate housing on the Irvine campus. “I know it can be significant because of the contacts that can be made, but I’m prepared for anything. There are inevitable rejections” in the acting business.

Workman, 25, who also lives on campus, conceded that the fear of failing before industry types was the main motivation in playing down the program’s importance.

“You really can’t think about it too much--that’s sort of a defense mechanism,” she said. “We try to realize that this is not a make-or-break situation; we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. There’ll be other jobs; we know that.”