This Could Be Your Fast Track to Fame
Auditions Set to Find Performers Who Can Jazz Up Subway Riders' Day

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Attention, Sanjaya! You might have been booted off "American Idol," but there's another chance to show off your silky locks and much-maligned voice, albeit to a more buttoned-down audience.

Next week, Metro and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities will hold auditions for live performances at select Washington subway stations, as the transit agency welcomes entertainment for the first time in its 31 years.

Auditions are open to all, but only D.C.-based performers (sorry, Sanjaya) will receive stipends, likely $200 a performance, which will come from the arts commission. Auditions will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 12 at the very un-Kennedy Center-esque Metro headquarters, 600 Fifth St. NW.

Performances will begin this summer and run through the fall and again during the December holiday season, said Lisa Richards, the commission's arts program coordinator. Winners may not sell merchandise or panhandle, she said.

And there's no need for all those Type A Washington workaholics to worry that a little music and dance might slow their paths to trains; performance areas are limited to station entrances and spots far from stairs and escalators. So on to work you go.

Performances are likely to be allowed at five D.C. stations, but officials from Metro and the arts commission haven't decided which ones.

Metro is also setting up auditions with arts councils in Montgomery and Prince George's counties for performances in Maryland. But there won't be auditions in Northern Virginia this year because of tight budgets, according to Michael McBride, Metro's art program coordinator.

Officials are expecting a large turnout for the auditions. "There are a lot of good musicians out there, and we're confident we'll get a good crop," McBride said.

Determining who will make the cut, Richards said, will be a panel of five judges, including McBride; Angie Gates, associate general manager of the Warner Theatre; and Jonathan Willen, an arts and events producer. The remaining judges are likely to be a vocals expert and someone from the GALA Hispanic Theatre, she said.

Richards will be in charge of managing the talent, "so I'll be the girl-Ryan," she quipped, referring to "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest.

And the role of Simon Cowell, the bad guy who hates everybody? Maybe Willen. "He's a riot. He can do a British accent," Richards said. Gates could be Paula Abdul "and give the contestants a break or two." Which means McBride gets to be Randy Jackson.

McBride and Richards are developing the judging criteria. Officials want to showcase artists of all kinds -- not just music, but also theater and literary arts. The number of winners, who will be chosen sometime after the auditions, will depend on the quality of talent that shows up.

Chosen performers will be required to undergo criminal background checks by Metro Transit Police, wear a Metro-issued identification badge while performing, and cooperate with station managers and police to keep commuter paths clear.

Performance times will probably be once a week, between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Officials said they knew better than to intrude on the morning rush. Especially after the experience of world-famous violinist Joshua Bell, who played his priceless Stradivarius one weekday morning at L'Enfant Plaza Station as part of a Washington Post Magazine experiment but drew scant attention, McBride said.

"People here are very focused on getting to work in the morning," he noted.