For two Northwestern students, a shot at stardom could be just a click away.
Kim Farber, Communication senior, and Joshua Friehling, a Communication freshman, spent this week in New York auditioning for a five-day stint on CBS’s long-running soap opera, “Guiding Light.” Voters will decide the students’ fates in an online poll this weekend.
But Farber and Friehling had no ordinary audition. The two, along with eight other college finalists, performed a scene on the CBS Early Show’s “Soap Stars Screen Tests” where Friehling and Farber acted opposite “Guiding Light” actors Lindsey McKeon (Marah) and David Macdonald (Edmund).
In a ballot that was to open at 9 o’clock this morning EST and ends Saturday at midnight, viewers will be allowed to vote for their favorite actors online. Farber and Friehling will find out if they got the part Monday, according to Alan Locher, assistant director of public relations for “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns.”
Viewers can vote their pick for favorite “Soap Star” at www.cbsnews.com/earlyshow. Two winners will be chosen to appear on “Guiding Light’ in summer 2004.
The 10 finalists were chosen last month from colleges across the country.
The show’s executives held auditions At NU in Cahn Auditorium. The auditions attracted nearly 200 NU students, Locher said.
“Guiding Light” casting director Rob Decina met face-to-face with each student, then called back 20 students to read with an actor from the show. Decina ultimately picked Farber and Friehling to perform on the Early Show.
“Northwestern has a great theater program,” Locher said, “and we were happy that they were willing to have us.”
Farber appeared on the Early Show Wednesday morning, and Friehling had his chance Thursday. Locher said he thought both performances were impressive.
“There’s some tough competition, and they had some great screen tests,” Locher said. “Kim came in with a strong confidence level and Joshua followed suit.”
Friehling, who appeared on screen with McKeon, said he thought the audition went well, but he’s happy it’s over.
“I’ve never done anything live before, so that was a little nerve-wracking,” Friehling said. “But I approached it the same way as I would anything else on camera as far as being prepared.” Friehling said he wishes Farber the best of luck and urges everybody to vote online.
“I want to be able to continue to represent Northwestern by being on ‘Guiding Light’ so people can say, ‘Oh, he goes to my school,'” Friehling said. “I want Northwestern to be proud.”
This is the second open casting call for Locher’s two shows at college campuses nationwide. The first occurred in April for the soap opera “As The World Turns,” and brought two new faces to the show in August. The last call was so successful in recruiting new talent, Locher said, they wanted to give it another shot.
“This is a great opportunity for people to see (the new talent) in action,” he said.
