A large number of students flocked to the Burnight Center Theatre for auditions for Cerritos College’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Aug. 21 and 22.

Among the students, 59 year old Patti Ann Ramirez (a former student of the college) lobbied for a role. Performing a monologue from “Taming of the Shrew,” Ramirez hoped to gain a minor role.

“Realistically, it’s for younger people because the three lead girls are, you know, pretty young,” Ramirez said. “But it’s okay if I get a minor role, it was fun. I’m happy.”

Ramirez wished that more of the Cerritos and Norwalk community had come to participate in the play. “There’s definitely plenty of roles for older people!”

Christopher Ibarra, a theatre arts major, auditioned for the role of Lysander, one of the leading men. Familiar with the audition process, Ibarra said he felt confident in his performance. “I didn’t understand the language, but that was the only hard part,” Ibarra explained.

Another theatre major was Natasha Lopez, also seasoned in the ways of the audition process, who felt good about her audition, too. “I’m open for any role,” she said. “It’s my favorite Shakespeare play and I’ll definitely see it, even if I don’t get a callback.”

Photography major Melissa Jimenez was also unsure of what role she wanted at first. Being a photography major, Jimenez came to the auditions on a whim and decided to “wing it.”

However, by the end of the day, she had auditioned for the role of Hermia, a leading character, and Lysander’s love interest. “I’m not too sure how the audition went,” Jimenez said, “but they said I did pretty well for my first time reading Shakespeare.”

When the cast list had been released, Ramirez had been cast as Philostrate, a minor but important role as the duke of Athen’s master of revels. Ibarra had been cast as Demetrius, another leading man, and Jimenez had been cast as one of the devious fairies in the service of Titania, queen of the fairies.

The play is slated to come out in October. For more information, visit the Theatre Arts homepage: http://cms.cerritos.edu/theater/