Syracuse University may soon add more reality television stars to its already impressive list.

Casting directors for the MTV reality show ‘The Real World’ will be holding a casting call at Syracuse University next Tuesday for students interested in having their lives taped and shown to a national audience. The audition, which will serve as the first of the show’s multiple audition rounds, will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Schine Underground.

Visiting college towns and campuses is a staple of ‘The Real World’ casting process, said Kasha Foster, a casting director for Bunim/Murray Productions, the company that produces the show.

Casting events are normally held at university area bars away from the campus, said Dennis Jacobs, president of University Union, the co-sponsor of the event, but MTV could not find any local bars large enough to accommodate their needs and looked for help from UU instead.

‘When we were contacted by MTV, we jumped at the chance,’ Jacobs said.

The two organizations have been conversing and planning the event for about a week, Jacobs said.

While the university had hoped to keep word of the event quiet, Jacobs said connections MTV had made prior to the university’s involvement foiled the plan. Local radio station Q 93.1 FM, whom MTV had contacted in trying to learn more about the area, leaked the information on the air yesterday as part of a promotion in which the station began to give away 40 VIP audition passes to listeners. The winners of the passes will be able to cut to the front of the audition line on Tuesday.

Such a privilege will be the envy of the rest of ‘The Real World’ hopefuls waiting in the long lines Jacobs expects at the casting call.

‘We’re bringing this to the footsteps of 10,000 students,’ he said. ‘(MTV) normally gets 800 to 1,000 people at their casting calls. We’re expecting 3,000, if not more.’

There’s no guarantee, though, that any cast members for the show, for which the location has not yet been released, will arise from SU’s crop.

‘The way we pick things doesn’t always make sense,’ Foster said. ‘We’re looking for someone willing to take the viewer along for the journey.’

For sophomore marketing major Jack Leeney, the casting directors’ interest in SU students does not come as a surprise.

‘(The casting directors came), naturally, for the fine-looking students,’ Leeney said, jokingly.

Whether any SU students are selected to the cast remains to be seen, but Jacobs said he’s pleased just to give students the opportunity.

‘Our generation has grown up with ‘The Real World.” Jacobs said. ‘This appeals to a huge population on campus.’

Published on September 22, 2004 at 12:00 pm