Disney Dream is Full-time Job for Rider University Student Emily Marsilia

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Emily Marsilia

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ (05/10/2011)(readMedia)-- Rider University's Emily Marsilia of Santa Cruz, Calif., a junior Music Theater major, was recently cast as a main stage performer on the new cruise Disney Dream. Currently, she is training with the cast in Toronto and will rehearse there until June, before the cast crosses over to the ship. The cruise will tour from July until mid-January 2012 and will feature three shows a day.

The full-time position evolved from a guest speaker in one of her classes. This semester, her voice professor, Dr. Mariann Cook, invited Ron LaRosa, director of Global Talent Casting for Disney Parks and Resorts, to one of her classes. The students were asked to prepare audition pieces to present and to treat the class as a master class audition workshop. LaRosa ended up recording Marsilia's audition.

The next day, she received a phone call and an e-mail from LaRosa, requesting an audio of her script reading. Cook and Marsilia worked on a recording that they sent to LaRosa. Later that evening, he told Marsilia that he would send the video to the casting director, who would have a decision the following Monday. She was one of six women being considered for the role. The next morning, Marisilia received a phone call from LaRosa with exciting news. The casting director wanted to cast her for Disney productions.

"The best way to describe my reaction was I felt every possible human emotion in the time span of one second," she said. "I didn't accept right away and told him that I would get back to him. He asked me to let him know by noon that Monday if I was taking the job."

The next day, Marsilia pretended that she was an incoming freshman trying out for the musical theater program. She walked onto the stage and looked out to the theater faculty, including Cook, and told them the news. "They were all so thrilled," she said. "They said, 'You got the job as a junior in college. You're going to be successful. This is your dream. You need to take it.'"

Marsilia followed her professors' advice and took the position. So far, she said the experience of rehearsing for the tour has broadened her horizons.

"I thought I would graduate, move to the city and audition for a couple of years. It happened that I was offered a job now. I don't know what the reason is or why it happened. It's like everything in life, you put your all into what you do," said Marsilia, who plans to return to Rider in spring 2012. "The stars were aligned. I was at the right place at the right time. I think it's one of those magical Disney moments."

To read more about Marsilia's story, please visit http://www.rider.edu/news/2011/05/09/dreams-come-true