Over the course of six weeks in January and February, the Tuacahn audition team spends time in six cities, facing 10-hour days, six days a week in some cases, funneling more than 1,000 people through an audition process to fill just 28 roles.

Sounds exhausting, right? But those on the audition tour say it is strangely exhilarating as well.

“You finish the day and flop on your bed exhausted, but there is also this really amazing energy that comes from getting to see all this talent,” says Mara Newberry Greer, choreographer at Tuacahn and part of the audition team.

A typical day for Greer and her colleagues depends on which city they’re waking up in. For example, auditions in Ivins, Provo, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are more intense, with a tighter turnaround because the auditions in those cities only last a couple of days.

“People come in, sing a song and then after they leave, we chat briefly about our immediate reactions to their vocal range, sound quality etc.,” Greer says. “Based on our impressions, that person will be emailed material for one or more roles that we’d like to see them perform. They only have about 24 hours to turn around and learn that material.”

In addition, Greer and her colleagues also host open dance calls for the ensemble where would-be Tuacahn performers learn a dance combination and perform it. The result of that performance determines whether they’ll be called back to sing, and then, after another round of cuts, perform another dance combination.

A similar process takes place in New York City and Los Angeles, only spread out a little because the audition team is in each of those cities for about a week.

“We see a much larger volume of people in both of those cities,” Greer says. “For example, in New York we had three days of people coming in to sing their own music in that first round of auditions. Then at the end of the day we talk as a team about which role we might like to see certain people perform in the show. Then the casting coordinator emails them that information and they get another appointment to come back and perform the additional material.”

The trick is, finding people who are suited not only for a role in one show; they almost always need to fill a spot in all three.

“These people have to be really talented because they have to cross over three different shows,” says Scott Anderson, artistic director for Tuacahn. “That can be difficult. But it means all of the people we cast are really incredible.”

There is an energy in the room during the auditions that is difficult to describe. For Anderson, he loves what he calls the “magical moments” when someone comes in to audition and right away everyone on the audition team looks at each other in a way that says, “yep, that’s the person.”

“It doesn’t happen with every character, but it has happened twice so far this year,” Anderson says. “Once in LA, and also in New York.”

More often, however, Anderson says, there are multiple people who could easily fill each of the roles. And that’s where the decision-making gets difficult.

“This year, we could probably cast each of the shows three times over,” Anderson says. “The variety of people we’ve seen is just amazing.”

In between the long, sometimes grueling audition hours, the Tuacahn team manages to squeeze in some fun — especially while in New York, taking in a Broadway show or two in the evenings, and hanging out with friends.

“I lived in New York for a decade and I have so many friends to see,” Greer says. “This year, we were also so lucky to see ‘Phantom of the Opera’ before it leaves Broadway.”

Once they wrap the audition tour in mid-February, the rest of the work begins.

“Once we finish, we give the directors a week to figure out who they want and then it comes back to myself and Shari Jordan (associate artistic producer) to put together who is going to cross over and fit into this puzzle,” Anderson says. “Then Shari goes to the agents to see who we can get.”

It’s a relatively short process when you consider the impact the results have on the rest of the Tuacahn season.

“It’s fun to see where the pieces fit and how those decisions are going to shape the next six months of entertainment in Southern Utah,” Greer says. “I really hope the audiences know how special it is that they are getting the best of the best out there and all that Tuacahn goes through to make sure they get the best people for these jobs. Getting to witness that process from the bottom up is really special.”

Come see the results of the audition tour when you purchase tickets to any of Tuacahn’s fantastic Broadway season lineup, including Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the Outdoor Amphitheatre, as well as Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and White Christmas in the Indoor Hafen Theatre. For show dates and ticket prices, log onto www.tuacahn.org or call the box office at 435-652-3300.