Auditions in Georgetown for Cats, the musical, December 7 - 9, 2013

The Georgetown Palace announces auditions for our upcoming production of CATS, with direction and musical direction by Clifford Butler.


The Artistic team is looking for a cast of approximately 24 adult and young adult actors. Actors must be at least 13 years of age to be considered for a role. All types, ethnicities and sizes are encouraged to audition.


Auditions will be held Saturday, December 7th, starting at 2pm, Sunday, December 8th, starting at 7:15pm, and Monday December 9th at 7pm. Callbacks will be held Tuesday, December 10th, starting at 7pm, with a possibility of additional callbacks on Wednesday, December 11th.


There will be some initial rehearsals during December, but the main rehearsal period will not begin until January 6^th. Performances will begin February 14th, and close Sunday, March 23rd. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. As this production tends to be very popular, it is also very likely that we will be adding Saturday matinees and possibly Sunday evening performances. All Auditions, Rehearsals, and Performances will be held at the Palace Theatre.


CATS is a very complex and difficult show with a tightly knit ensemble. For that reason, I am very disinclined to accept performance conflicts. However, we are considering the possibility of performing understudies and an offstage chorus, which may allow for some flexibility. If you do have (non-excessive) performance conflicts, please do not be discouraged from auditioning; just be sure to outline those conflicts on your audition form.


Our rehearsals will generally be held Monday through Thursday, from 7-10 pm, and Saturdays from 11 am-5 pm. However, it's possible that we will schedule rehearsals on some Sundays and Fridays as well. So we are asking for everyone's availability for the possible alternative times up front.


The Audition: Auditions on Saturday and Sunday will be vocal only. If you are interested in one of the particular soloists listed, please come prepared to sing the audition sides listed for that character. Even if you are interested in multiple roles, please pick only one set of sides to sing that shows the best of your vocal ability. You will be considered for all appropriate roles. If you are not aiming for a particular role or you are interested in one of the roles below with the default side (side 13 - Jellicle Songs), you can instead bring a song selection of your own that lasts no longer than 1 minute.


On Monday night, you will be taught a dance or dances to be performed in small groups, and there will also be some movement work.


Callbacks will be by invitation only, and consist of singing, dancing, and additional movement.


To schedule an audition, click the links below to fill out the online audition form, and you'll select your audition day at the bottom. You will receive a confirmation email with your date and time. Please download and fill out the conflict calendar, and email it back to us at productions@georgetownpalace.com along with your headshot (or any recent picture). The link is below. It is critical that you let us know all of your conflicts at the auditions. We will be unable to accept conflicts brought to us after casting is done unless they are emergencies.


Online Audition Form

Conflict Calendar

Click to view list of characters, with links to sides

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, musical, Georgetown Palace, May 17 - June 16, 2013

presents




Thoroughly Modern Millie

a musical by Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan and Richard Morris

directed by David Sray

May 17 to June 16
Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday shows are at 2:00 p.m.

Ticket prices are $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors (55+), $14 Students (10-22) and Active Military, and $10 Children (9 and younger). 
Available on-line via the Palace website.

Rated for General Audiences 

Georgetown’s Historic Palace Theatre opens Thoroughly Modern Millie on May 17 for a five-weekend fun-filled music and dance fest! With music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, the stage production of Thoroughly Modern Millie is based upon the 1967 film of the same name starring Julie Andrews.

It is New York City in 1922, a New York full of intrigue and jazz – a time when the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever. Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, in search of a new life for herself. Millie comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men, and a dragon-lady of a villainess, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of madcap merriment.

Sara Burke (Millie) and Stephen Jack (Jimmy Smith) star in this musical romp! Sara made her first musical theatre splash sharing the coveted role of Annie in the Palace’s 2003 production with two other lucky young ladies! Her most recent triumph at the Palace was as Kathy Seldon in the Palace’s hit production of Singin’ in the Rain. Sara has performed all around the Austin area, as well: as Kira/Clio in Xanadu, Wendla in Spring Awakening, Amber in Hairspray, Serena in Legally Blonde, Cathy in Last 5 Years, and Charity in Sweet Charity. Most recently, Sara studied vocal performance with Adam Roberts. She will teach and direct for the Palace’s Theatrical Education Program this summer.

Stephen Jack (Jimmy Smith) has Austin credits that include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Blue Theatre), Standing on Ceremony (ZACH Theatre), I Love You Because (Hyde Park Theatre), Drone (City Theatre), and RENT (ZACH Theatre); his Palace Theatre credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Man of La Mancha, and Big River. Additional credits include numerous galas and season previews for Austin Theatre Project, Penfold Theatre, and ZACH Theatre.

A strong supporting cast includes Melita McAtee as ‘Mrs Meers’ (The Villainess!); Scott Shipman as ‘Mr. Trevor Graydon’; Nikki Bora as ‘Matilda’; Tiffany Blackmon as ‘Miss Dorothy Brown’; Lariena Brown as ‘Muzzy Von Hossmere’; and Samantha Watson as ‘Miss Flannery’!

David Sray, who has both acting and directing recognition at the Palace, directs Millie. David’s Palace acting credits include Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, Edward Rutledge in 1776, and Curly in Oklahoma!; plus a B. Iden Payne Outstanding Cast Award-winning Austin performance in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Palace directing credits include I Hate Hamlet, Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Cheaper by the Dozen. David has the inimitable support of Clifford Butler for music direction and Jesee Smart for choreography.

Thoroughly Modern Millie plays at the Palace on weekends from May 17 to June 16. Actual production dates are May 17-19, 24-26, 31-June 2, June 7-9, and 14-16. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday shows are at 2:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors (55+), $14 Students (10-22) and Active Military, and $10 Children (9 and younger). Rated for General Audiences 

The Palace seats about 295, with reserved seating paid for in the ticket price. The Palace office in the lobby of the theatre is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. (except for some holiday dates). Purchase tickets and select seating on-line at www.georgetownpalace.com or by calling (512) 869-7469 or (512) 869-5081. (Please call ahead regarding special needs seating.) 


Visa, Master Card, and Discover Card are accepted.

The Historic Palace Theatre is located at 810 South Austin Avenue in downtown Georgetown and is part of the most beautiful Town Square in Texas!


(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Evita, Georgetown Palace, February 18 - March 20

Evita offers not only the Georgetown Palace's usual high standards of performance, but also something more: a deglamorization of the Lloyd Webber/Rice tragic fairy tale.

Eva Duarte de Perón came from almost literally nowhere -- from a provincial Argentine town where she was one of several illegitimate children of a wealthy rancher. She became leading lady, first lady and "Spiritual Leader of the Nation."

Lloyd Webber's score and Tim Rice's libretto have furnished us with memorable if only partly understood standards of the English language musical theatre. Don't Cry for Me, Argentina, for example, is a stirring anthem that lurks somewhere in the popular mind in the region of Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way.

Few of us in American audiences are aware of the complicated history between the United Kingdom and Argentina, ranging from the quaint polo match and familiarities of the wealthy upper classes caricatured in the play to the bloodily decisive conflict in 1982 over the Faulklands/Malvinas islands, just four years after Evita was first produced. Mid-century Argentina evoked for the British mind aspects of European fascism. At the very time that Evita was first staged, the tactics of Argentine military rulers against their own people gave us a new locution in English -- the verb "to disappear" not only acquired a transitive mode but even became a passive transitive. As in, "After their arrests, the radical student leaders were promptly disappeared."

In the eyes of civilized Brits, the middle of the twentieth century was a sad disappointment all across Latin America, and nowhere more so for them than in Argentina.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Georgetown Palace, May 7 - June 6

Received directly:

The Georgetown Palace Theatre presents

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice

Weekends, May 7 - June 6
Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m, Sundays at 2 p.m.
Get tickets online or by phone 512-869-7469

Prices: general admission $22; seniors 55+, $20; students, active duty military, $12, children 15 or younger, $8

The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. Joseph, his father's favorite son, is a boy blessed with prophetic dreams. When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged. When news of Joseph's gift to interpret dreams reaches the Pharaoh (wryly and riotously depicted as Elvis), Joseph is well on his way to becoming second in command. Eventually his brothers, having suffered greatly, unknowingly find themselves groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed but no longer recognize.

This show is an entertaining musical of Biblical proportions that is sure to be enjoyed by the whole family. We are expecting Joseph to be a big success, so get your tickets now. In fact, the Sunday matinees are now starting to fill up! Joseph is headlined by Stephen Jack, Patty Rowell, and Sarah Kumengi and features Clifford Butler, Adam Munoz, Blake Yelavich and many more.

The Little Shop of Horrors, Georgetown Palace, May 1 - 31

The Georgetown Palace does its familiar high-gloss finish on this production with talented actors, a vigorous show orchestra, and an impressively atmospheric functional two-story set presenting Muschnik's shabby flower shop in the even shabbier surroundings of a NYC "Skid Row." The audience appeared to enjoy the goings-on and the six- and eight-year-olds sitting near me in Row B were fascinated by the puppetry for Audry II, the extraterrestrial carnivorous plant out to conquer the world from those humble beginnings.

For me it was a Grade A production of a Grade D musical play.

This story started as the campy 1960s black humor movie shot in two days by Roger Corman, with Jack Nicholson in a minor role. The 1982 success in New York of the musical The Little Shop of Horrors prompted puppeteer Frank Oz to produce a movie version in 1986. The show has made the rounds ever since, usually accompanied by the teeny and the massive versions of Audrey II provided by Character Translations in Pennsylvania, based on designs by Martin P. Robinson, a Jim Henson Master Puppeteer.

I enjoy camp and I enjoy black humor. But in order to appreciate camp, you have to know and relish the art form or the artwork that is being exaggerated to pieces. Relating to this show, one of my blind spots, not shared by the majority of the American public, was cinematic. I don't know much about horror films, alien invasion films or creature films, except for Godzilla and King Kong (in the 1928 version, please). And the other blind spot was Audrey II. When I settled in the front of the Georgetown Palace last Friday, I'd never seen the play or either of the movies. So I was a blank slate for Howard Ashman's book and lyrics, as well as for Alan Menken's music.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .