Revised 2014 Season for Austin Theatre Project

Austin Theatre Project is revising its theatre calendar because of various unexpected events, including improvements to its performance venue:

The following shows and dates will now form our 2014 season:

• April 10 to April 27 - Company (Dougherty Arts Center)
• June 12 to June 29 - 'S Gershwin (Dougherty Arts Center)
• August 14 to August 31 - Godspell (Dougherty Arts Center)
• October 23 to November 9 - Carrie: the Musical (Dougherty Arts Center)
• December 31 - Bending Broadway 3: Dirty Rotten Divas (Venue TBA)

As you can see, we have added Bending Broadway 3: Dirty Rotten Divas to our Season Ticket Package so our subscribers will still have five shows to choose from. Subscribers will still receive five tickets that they can use in any combination for any show.

Because of the delay in our 2014 season, we will be offering our season ticket packages through March 31 instead of January 31. For more information and to purchase season tickets through our safe and secure form, click HERE.

All of us at Austin Theatre Project would like to thank you for your understanding, well-wishes, and continued support. We are so proud to have won the hearts of the Austin theatre community and pledge to continue to raise the bar for many season to come!

Copyright © 2014 Austin Theatre Project, All rights reserved.

Auditions in San Antonio for The Fantasticks, Vexler Theatre, January by appointment

The Fantasticks

The Vex will be holding auditions for "The Fantasticks" toward the end of January. If you are interested in auditioning, please email The Vex at vexler@jcc-sa.org and include a good contact phone number. We will send you more detailed information, including dates and audition requirements.

Location: Weinberg Campus JCC, 12500 N.W. Military Highway, San Antonio, Texas, 78231 - click for map

Video Promo: Quartet by Ronald Harwood, Black Diamond Cabaret in Wimberley, January 11-18 and San Marcos, January 24-25, 2014

(www.leecoleestudios.com)

During the month of January, 2014 producer and director Lee Colée will be showcasing some of her most elite senior talent with the poignant comedy

Quartet

by Ronald Harwood 

January 3-4 in Lockhart

January 11-12 and 17-18 at the VFW Hall in Wimberley

January 24-25 at the Price Center in San Marcos

Carla Daws, Judith Laird, Allan Eastwood and Larry Oliver take on the roles of four retired international opera performers and celebrities who now live in a retirement home for musicians and must come to terms with their lives after successful careers.

Whether you love opera or hate it, you will laugh and root for these four friends who discover that it isn't over when the fat lady sings!

Tickets are now online. Don't wait too long as this show is sure to sell out. People all around town are already talking about this award winning comedy.

Buy tickets here! 

Auditions in San Antonio for The Wedding Singer, musical, Cameo Theatre, January 25, 2014

Auditions for The Wedding Singer, musical, January 25, 2014

Director: Jonathan Pennington Choreographer: Danielle Martinez Musical Director: Tom Masinter

OPEN CALL, Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 10:00 a - 1 pm, with a 9:45 am sign in. Callbacks by invitation only

THE WEDDING SINGER -- it’s 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party, until his own fiancee leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Then when he meets Julia, an admiring young waitress, Robbie falls madly in love. Only trouble is Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. With a score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the 1980s, The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.

Big ensemble with a lot of great small parts all ages and all types needed. Ages 18 and Up are invited to audition for this show. All auditioners will be considered for all parts. Dancers and non-Dancers are needed. Strong Male Singer/Actor and Guitarist for the Role of Robbie.

Cameo Theatre, 1123 E. Commerce St., San Antonio, TX 78205 (click for map )

PRODUCTION DATES: March 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30; April 4, 5, and 6. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays 4 pm

Rehearsals begin on Monday February 3rd from 7—10:30pm. Rehearsals will be on Mondays — Thursdays; and Saturdays as needed.

Prepare: Vocals-Prepare a song of your choice in the style of the character desired or a selection from The Wedding Singer: The Musical. Piano accompaniment only or sing an uptempo or ballad, 32 bars in length and stay within the genre of the show. Music in a Rock/Pop genre from the 1980s (recorded music for this selection will be accepted for this selection only). Absolutely no vocals on the track. Please come familiar with the music from the show as you may be asked to sing on the spot. An accompanist will be provided. Dance: Standard, 1980′s Dance Style. Training in jazz dance is encouraged. A combination will be taught to you, no need to prepare a piece.

Please bring a current headshot and performance resume, along with any conflicts, vacations etc. You must be able to make all performances to be cast.

If you play an instrument (guitar or bass piano will be provided for the show), please bring it to the audition and show us your skills. If you can break dance or have other strong 80s dance ability let us know! If you want to try out for one of the impersonators, be ready to show us your best imitation!

Any inquiries or concerns email the jonathan@jpstudios.org

Special Notes: Lead Male MUST play Guitar. Some roles require minimal to no dancing, while others are very dance heavy. There are 6-10 roles for well trained dancers.

Click to view character descriptions and vocal ranges at CTXLT.com

(*) San Antonio Current Theatre Reviewers Pick Top 5 for 2013

San Antonio

 

5 Top Local Plays and Musicals This Year 

By Joy-Marie Scott December 29, 2013

Paige Blend, Roy Bumgarner, Twyla Lamont in Roads Courageous (photo: Siggi Ragnar)

We asked our theater critics, Thomas Jenkins and Steven G. Kellman, for their top picks from the theater scene in 2013. Beyond the productions, Jenkins also noted the considerable movement—both physical and conceptual—at some of the city’s top companies, which started this year and will continue into 2014.


“The Playhouse mounted its first original main stage musical in recent memory—Roads Courageous—while populating its Cellar with recent New York hits (Red, Wittenberg),” said Jenkins, “and big changes are afoot at three of the city’s most established theaters: the Jump-Start and the Classic Theatre have found new homes—in Beacon Hill and the Deco District, respectively—while the AtticRep joins the new Tobin Center as its resident theater company in 2014.”


Click each image below for comments from a reviewer and link to the review in the San Antonio Current. 

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Klose/Seal Productions
(photo: Siggi Ragnar)

Sam Mandelbaum as Hamlet in Wittenberg by David G. Davalos, Playhouse San Antonio
(photo: Siggi Ragnar)

(link to Steven G. Kellerman's review)

The Book of Mormon touring company

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, adapted by Sophia Bolles, Overtime Theatre
(photo: Siggi Ragnar)

Hellcab by Will Kern, Attic Rep at Trinity University
(photo: Siggi Ragnar)

Auditions in San Antonio for male lead in Suds, musical at Cameo Theatre, by appointment

Join us for the auditions for the Texas Premiere of SUDS: The Rocking 60’s Musical Soap Opera

a Jonathan Pennington studios production at the Cameo Theatre

Directed by Jovi Gonzales, Jonathan Pennington, Musical Direction by Tom Masinter

Only one role to be cast: Male Lead who has multiple roles:

• Mr. Postman: A bouncy, energetic, slightly mysterious postman.
• Washer Repairman: A big lug. Probably wears work coverall & tool belt, carries toolbox etc.
• Mrs. Halo: A sweet middle-aged lady with a midwestern accent (she's from Minnesota). She can be dressed in bathrobe, slippers and curlers.
• Mr. Right: A dashing, debonair, good-natured man. A cross between Ward Cleaver and a matinee idol. Right out of a Sears Catalogue or an arrow ad come to life. Although very strong and confident, he should not be lecherous or leering; he's very polite to women and very charming.
• Milt Dudman: A nerd. Loud, obnoxious, inappropriate and unappealing.
• Johnny Angel: Earnest young man. Tries to be cool but is really just a regular guy.

Sings sweet solo up to G (can be falsetto). Must belt strong F. Falsetto backups to B flat. Bass to A below middle C. In "Mr. Postman" should be comfortable with a strong pop sound to G flat.

Auditions by appointment only call 210 212-5454 to schedule or email:cameocentersa@aol.com. Audition Location: 1123 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205. Please submit a headshot and resume. Please prepare a one-minute musical selection of your choice. Please choose something appropriate for the show.On the day of your audition please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled audition appointment. Bring a resume, headshot, and either sheet music or a CD of your musical selection. No a cappella singing please.

Performance Dates: Rehearsals will be Jan 5-31; shows are Feb 1- Mar 2, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 4pm. at the Cameo Theatre 1123 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205 (click for map)

SUDS (Book by Steve Gunderson, Melinda Gilb, and Bryan Scott; Musical Arrangement by Steve Gunderson) takes you back to the early 1960s to tell the story of Cindy, a lovelorn young woman who works in a laundromat, and the guardian angels that teach her how to find true love and survive in this wash, rinse, and spit-em-out world. SUDS is loaded with good clean fun, bubbling energy, and over 40 songs that topped the charts, including "Mr. Postman," “Where the Boys Are,” “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” “Respect,” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret.”

If you have any questions please email:cameocentersa@aol.com

(*) Guys and Dolls, musical by Swerling, Burrows and Loesser, Playhouse San Antonio, December 6 - 22, 2013

(www.theplayhousesa.org)

by Michael Meigs

Broadway! The 1930's! Folks like Arthur Freed and Busby Berkley portrayed that fairytale sophistication in the black-and-white films they cranked out of Hollywood, but an even more magical version came from the typewriter of Damon Runyon, the sportswriter, gambler, drunk and divinely gifted portraitist of the demi-monde of Broadway. 

Runyon knew those people intimately and his colorful prose was laden with slang and surprising turns of phrase often inherited from Yiddish. His writing portrayed a gallery of hustling lowlifes with hearts of gold and a stubborn attachment to their own odd notions of honor. He specialized in short stories with unexpected endings, a bit like those of O. Henry, but his were all written in the immediacy of the present tense, like anecdotes told over a couple of beers. Few read Runyon these days, and that's their loss.

His semi-fictitious creations live on in movies -- twenty films have retold his stories -- and plays, including Guys and Dolls. This light-hearted musical brings together two extremes of New York life: the crap-shooting, horse-betting gamblers and the uniformed Salvation Army staff with drum, trombone, kettle and their message of reform and a better life. Nathan Detroit is the small-potatoes organizer of the "longest established floating crap game in the City of New York," and Miss Sarah Brown is the uniformed Salvation Army sergeant heading the scarcely attended 49th Street Mission.

As in Runyon's fiction, these gamblers aren't real criminals; they're dreamers and grifters, perhaps with a inclination to a simple con, but I am telling you that they are in all ways sincere. Their markers -- should you be uninformed, those are their promises to pay, upon their honor -- are regarded with a seriousness not to be neglected or surpassed.

I am quick to say that the Playhouse production of Guys and Dolls does not entirely stick to the 1930s view of these denizens of the metropolis, but director and choreographer Michelle Pietri puts a robust and very masculine set of guys before you to scheme, avoid John Law and pitch the woo to dolls who are in my estimation most acceptable representatives of the female of the species.

Paige Blend as Miss Adelaide (photo: Siggi Ragnar)Putting aside the Runyonisms for the moment, there are two absolute standouts in this large cast, performers with total concentration and the gift of delivering their characters with special grace and style. 

 Paige Blend is Miss Adelaide, the woeful nightclub songstress left waiting for the altar for 14 years while Nathan Detroit attends to business. She has presence, voice, quickness in detail and the vivacity of a true comedienne. She's got some of best numbers in the show -- "Adelaide's Lament" about allergies caused by a continuing lack of matrimony, her duos "Sue Me" with Nathan Detroit (Miguel Ochoa) and "Marry the Man Today" with Miss Sarah Brown (Caroline Kittrell). She completely inhabits the persona of that not-too-bright but ever-so-sincere character. Her two nightclub numbers with the Hot Box Girls -- "A Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink" -- are adorable.

J.J. Gonzalez as Bennie Southstreet, a minor adjunct to Nicely-Nicely Johnson (chunky comedian Gerardo Vallejo) is the other. Bennie is written as a simple foil to a second banana, a handy harmonizer and straight man. But Gonzalez is intent every second we see him, reacting subtly to events around him. In a way, he represents us, the audience to the events of the play. In the key scene of the second act where the gamblers reluctantly attend a Salvation Army all-night revival meeting Director Pietri made the right choice to put him at center stage on the bench end closest to the audience.

 Robert Nauman, Gerardo Vallejo, J.J. Gonzalez (photo: Siggi Ragnar)

Read more at Central Texas Live Theatre. . . .

(*) Video from Woodlawn Theatre, San Antonio: A Christmas Story, the musical, December 6 - 29, 2013

Video from

Robert Faires Reviews Untitled Zombie Hamburger Musical at University of Texas

All Over Creation

Nativity

A new musical by the 'Urinetown' team is born on the 40 Acres, and the chorus line craves bra-a-ains

By Robert Faires, Fri., Dec. 13, 2013

'Tis the season when much attention is given to what is born – the Son of Heaven, on Earth as man; the sun in heaven, returning with spring – but I didn't expect this year's births to include singing and dancing zombies.

Of course, really, who does expect singing and dancing zombies, at any time of year? In this instance, perhaps only their creators: playwright Greg Kotis and composer Mark Hollmann, whose names may ring a bell thanks to a keen little show they made a dozen years ago, Urinetown: The Musical. In the time since that satirical sensation snagged three Tony Awards (Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical for University of Texas alum John Rando), it has become a favorite on the college and high school theatre circuits and its writers have gone on to celebrate in song and drama the origin of life on the ocean floor (Yeast Nation [the triumph of life]) and the making of a one-man musical vehicle for Bush 43 Attorney General John Ashcroft (Eat the Taste). Once you've carved out niches in the American musical theatre for those topics, what's left to tackle but the living dead?

In truth, the team had been approached about writing a musical history of the hamburger for a theatre company that, Kotis says, hoped such a work would draw backing from the fast-food industry. Kotis responded with a fast-food-related musical idea that he and Hollmann had pitched for a movie: A chain called Chicken Hutt has created a new sandwich that, unfortunately, turns those who eat it into the shambling, brain-craving undead. While Kotis openly admitted that the show wouldn't inspire anyone in the industry to throw money at it, True Love Productions went ahead and commissioned Kotis and Hollmann to write it.

Read more at Austin Chronicle. . .

Auditions in Fredericksburg for Little Shop of Horrors, December 16 and 17, 2013

Audition Notice for Little Shop of Horrors - Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman

December 16 & 17, 2013, 7 p.m. at Fredericksburg Theater Company, Steve Shepard Theatre, 1668 Highway 87 south, 1.5. miles south of Main Street, Fredericksburg -- (click for map )

Auditions for FTC's Winter Musical Little Shop of Horrors will be held Monday and Tuesday December 16th and 17th at 7 pm at The Steve W. Shepherd Theater located at 1668 Hwy. 87s. All roles are available for auditions. Please prepare one song that best showcases your vocal ability. A CD player and pianist will be provided. Cold readings will follow vocal auditions. Attendance to both audition days is not mandatory. Performances for Little Shop of Horrors are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, Feb. 21st-Mar. 9th 2014. Attendance at Crunch week rehearsal, Feb. 17th-20th and all performances is mandatory. The first read thru is scheduled for Jan. 6th and first rehearsal will be on Jan. 13th.

A down-and out skid row floral assistant becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon "Audrey II" grows into an ill-tempered, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite, finally revealing itself to be an alien creature poised for global domination!

Click for a list of characters with descriptions. Please contact the FTC office at 830-997-3588 or fbgtheaterco@austin.rr.com with questions or for additional information.

Auditions in Austin for The Gospel at Colonus, Zach Theatre, December 10 & 11, 2013

ZACH Theatre announces local auditions for selected Principal Roles, and an ensemble of 30 for Chorus and Dancers in THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS on Tuesday and Wednesday December 10th and 11th between 6:00pm and 11:00pm in ZACH’s Nowlin Rehearsal Studio at 1426 Toomey Road. Callbacks will be held during Wednesday’s session as well as on Thursday, December 12th between 8:00pm and 11:00pm in ZACH’s Kleberg Theater.

The acclaimed ZACH theatrical landmark returns in an all-new production. Based on Sophocles’ Greek myth “Oedipus” and set in a contemporary African-American gospel church service, this soul-stirring event will move and thrill you with electrifying vocals by Austin’s most acclaimed gospel singers. The production is being directed by ZACH’s Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley. The Musical Director of the production is Allen Robertson, and the Choreographer is Christa Torres.

Rehearsals begin February 17th, 2014 and Performances begin April 2nd, 2014 and run through April 27th, 2014 with a possible extension to May 4th, 2014. Performances will be Wednesday through Sundays weekly. ZACH may add performances on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Audition materials will be posted on the website at www.zachtheatre.org/about/auditions for all available roles. Please be prepared with the sides posted for the role for which you would like to be considered.

NOTE: All actors will be considered for all roles.  We are seeking both AEA and non-AEA actors.

AUDITION APPOINTMENT INSTRUCTIONS:  Actors will be seen BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. To schedule an appointment, please send an email with a resume and headshot attached in PDF or Word Document format to auditions@zachtheatre.org. Please indicate in the email the character for which you will be auditioning. All actors should bring a hard copy headshot and resume to the audition.

All singers should prepare an additional gospel song of their choice, and bring sheet music for the accompanist. If you do not have a song you would like to perform, you may sing “Amazing Grace.” Click here to download "Amazing Grace."

For general information about ZACH please visit us at www.zachtheatre.org. All AEA members will be seen, and all non-union members will be seen while appointments slots are available. If you are not able to be seen at this audition, ZACH will make all best efforts to schedule you for a later audition date.

Click to go to CTXLT.com  for full details of roles to be cast and links to sides.

(*) Video: A Christmas Story, the musical, at Woodlawn Theatre, December 6 - 29, 2013

Shown on KENS, Channel 5, San Antonio:

University of Texas Workshops Zombie Musical, fall 2013 semester

Zombie Musical by Tony Award-Winning Duo Workshopped at University of Texas at Austin

A new sandwich by Chicken Hutt has hit the market. But there is one small snag. The fast-food restaurant’s customers are turning into zombies.

This is the premise for Tony Award-winning team (2002 Best Original Score and Best Book for a Musical for Urinetown) Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann’s new project, a subversive zombie musical commissioned by True Love Productions. Kotis, Hollmann, and director Sean Daniels tapped into the talents of University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance faculty Lyn Koenning and Natasha Davison and their students to workshop the musical this fall.

The workshop process has been integrated into this semester’s curriculum, allowing a cast of 26 undergraduate students supported by a team of graduate design students the opportunity to partner with these renowned Broadway artists in the development of the musical. With four scenes and five songs now complete, Kotis, Hollmann and Daniels return to the university in December to work alongside the UT cast and creative team.

About the Creative Team

Greg Kotis (Book and Lyrics) is the author of many plays and musicals including Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards, Yeast Nation (Book/Lyrics), The Unhappiness Plays, The Boring-est Poem in the World, The Truth About Santa, Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, Urinetown (Book/Lyrics, for which he won an Obie Award and two Tony Awards), and Jobey and Katherine. His work has been produced and developed in theaters across the country and around the world, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Theater Company, Henry Miller’s Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Stage and Film, Perseverance Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Soho Rep, South Coast Rep, and The Old Globe, among others. Kotis is a member of the Neo-Futurists, the Cardiff Giant Theater Company, ASCAP, the Dramatists Guild, and is a 2010-11 Lark Play Development Center Playwrights Workshop Fellow.

Mark Hollmann (Music and Lyrics) received the Tony Award, the National Broadway Theatre Award and the Obie Award for his score to Urinetown, which itself won Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Lucille Lortel Awards for best musical. Other shows as composer/lyricist: Yeast Nation (New York International Fringe Festival, Perseverance Theatre, and American Theatre Company), The Man in the White Suit (New York Stage and Film), The Girl, the Grouch, and the Goat (University Theatre, U. of Kansas), Alchemist the Musical (Seattle Fringe Festival), Jack the Chipper (Greenview Arts Center, Chicago), Kabooooom! (University Theater, U. of Chicago), I Think I Can and Deal with It! (Berkshire Theatre Festival), and Fare for All (Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Gardens, NYC). Actor/co-writer for The Rack, Theater of Funny, The Mercy Ripper, LBJFKKK, Love Me, All Eight Die and After Taste (Cardiff Giant Theater, Chicago).

Sean Daniels (Director) is the artist-at-large at the Geva Theatre Centre in Rochester, New York. He previously spent four years at the Tony Award-winning Actors Theatre of Louisville as the theater’s Associate Artistic Director (where he directed a record seventeen productions including five Humana Festivals). Daniels is the former Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director of the California Shakespeare Theater and before that spent a decade as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Dad’s Garage Theater Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Daniels has developed new plays with and directed the world premieres of many playwrights including: Two Time Tony Award winners’: Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann (Urinetown), and Trey Parker and Matt Stone (The Book of Mormon); Pulitzer Prize Finalists Kristoffer Diaz and Steven Drukman; and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee, Big Love, Spiderman).

Workshop Team Natasha Davison, Director/Choreographer; Lyn Koenning, Music Director; Steven Wilson, Assistant Director; Designers: Rachel Alulis, Patrick Lord, Mercedes O'Bannion; Stage Managers: Danya Gorel, Joe Heike

Cast: Shereen Ahmad, Mallory Ayliffe, Lauren Beausoleil, Tyler Cullen, Allie Donnelly, Meghan Enright, Felicia Fitzpatrick, Mandy Foster, Catherine Frank, Sydney Frank, Nicolas Garza, Dylan John Gonzales, Emma Graves, Andie Haddad, Grace Hanna, Quinton Johnson, Jack Leahy, Breanna Lind, Devin Medley, Cherry Mendoza, Christopher Montalvo, Laura Rogers, Lilly Stafford, Sam Strum, Ursula Walker, Joseph Wilson

2014 Austin Theatre Project Season

Click images for 2014 season ticket information at www.austinteatreproject.org

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Wimberley Players, November 15 - December 8, 2013

by Michael Meigs


As fresh as the ink of the morning paper on a bright fall day, the Wimberley Players' staging of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is big, bold and beautiful. And so is the cast; director Jim Lindsay has handpicked some of the most attractive talent from the region.

Did you know that this musical by Clark Gesner is approaching its 50th birthday? You'd never know it from this production. The original version was done in 1967, and in 1998 performers using the revised script presented in this Wimberley production took two Tony awards. And Charlie Brown himself, if he weren't ageless, would be almost ready to qualify for Social Security, for Charles Schultz's first four-panel strip featuring him was published on October 2, 1950.

Ryley Wilson (photo: Leanne Brawner Photography)

A musical for six players, presented as a series of lively songs and skits featuring some of the most memorable tropes and plights of the Peanuts gang, the work is a favorite of high schools and amateur groups. Director Lindsay chose to expand the cast by two women to to calibrate the choreography, so Wimberley's augmented edition includes both that little red-headed girl (the fetching Lindsay Katherine Powell) and Kate Clark (Frieda, a fine singer and captain of the dance ensemble).

Schultz drew the comic strip for fifty years, so that tiny community of primary schoolers has a rich and diverse history of incident. The situations onstage are instantly recognizable and bring smiles to faces in the audience. 

 Ryley Wilson in the title role has Charlie's yellow shirt with the zig-zag, a fugitive kite, and that mild, yearning and baffled presence. Kristi Brawner as Lucy van Pelt is adorably heedless, loud and self-certain -- comically capturing childish speech and emphasis with her frequent prolongation of initial consonants ("You're a Buh-LOCKHEAD!")

Part of the pleasure of seeing mature but young actors in these roles is the irony of age difference: grown men are returned to the tentative innocents they once were, while the actresses giving Schultz's girls their endearing brashness are at the same time very attractive young women.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre. . . .

Chicago, 15th U.S. Tour in Austin, November 19 - 24, 2013

by Michael Meigs

An enthusiastic voice behind us as we exited Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas last night: "That was nothing like the movie!"

Live performance, even in the cavernous space of the Bass, can seize your attention and send your heart racing in ways that no flat screen image ever can. And that's what happens in the 15th (annual?) tour of Chicago, playing in Austin through this coming Sunday.

(Terra C. MacLeod)

The story is familiar and, frankly, banal, a combination of 1920's tabloid sensationalism, some 1930's B-movie styling, and a dose of Cinderella (and I don't mean Disney's Cinderella). Roxy murders her lover and when her big dumb good-hearted husband realizes what happened, he recants his own false impression; she gets sent to the state pen in Joliet, where a different hierarchy rules. Tough women sing in cages (Cell Block Tango) and vie with one another for favors from Mama the warden and from Billy Flynn, the lawyer who'll lie, cheat, misrepresent and do just about anything (except, interestingly, overtly request sexual favors) to earn his colossal fee by obtaining a non-guilty verdict. Tabloid notoriety promises to become celebrity that offers prospects of a career in vaudeville.

(Terra C. MacLeod and cast)

The thrills of this stage version are delivered hot and steaming by the choreography. It's classic Bob Fosse style done for the 1997 original staging by Ann Reinking and meticulously recreated by David Bushman. Muscular, supple and proudly strutting their stuff in revealing costumes, this cast of a dozen dancers astonishes and surprises again and again. The moves are cool, the scenes are fast and full of style, and over the course of the two hours of entertainment you'll have the opportunity to pick your very favorite. The final curtain call brings them on individually with their own names to receive the acclaim of the crowd.

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

Auditions in Austin for Assassins, musical by Steven Sondheim, December 14, 2013

Auditions for Steven Sondheim’s ASSASSINS

Soubrette Productions -- with director Philip Olson of 2011’s award-winning Putnam County Spelling Bee and music director Adam Roberts -- seek non-Equity male and female actors of all ethnicities for a production in April, 2014 at the Carver Center. Rehearsals will begin mid-February 2014. All roles are compensated. 

For character breakdowns and synopsis, visit mtishows.com. Please bring a headshot, resume and sheet music for 90 seconds or less of a prepared song. Accompaniment provided. December 14th, 12pm-2:30pm. Callbacks announced and held later that day. Auditions are by appointment only. 

To schedule, email: contactsoubretteproductions@gmail.com. Please allow 5-7 days for slot assignment response.

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

Auditions for Five Tenors for Section 60, a musical

© 2005 Patty Hankins

Wanted: 5 male tenors to perform a 3-day workshop for the musical Section 60.

This is a paid opportunity ($75) that will consist of three 5-hour rehearsals at the Carver Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina St (click for map ) from December 16-18. Singers will be singing to a recorded audio CD during the performance.

Section 60 is a rock musical that revolves around five undead soldiers reflecting on their past lives. In a bittersweet song cycle, the soldiers find out what they set out to do, why it ended the way it did, and what it means for them now. 


Contact Waldo Wittenmeyer at management.waldo@gmail.com

Auditions in San Antonio for Texas HS Football Musical, Prosumer International November 10, 2013pr

Varsity Nights is a new musical set in the atmosphere of Texas high school football and tells the story of real teen issues...such as bullying, fitting in, popularity, relationships, and empowerment. This musical is a mixture of VARSITY BLUES, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, MEAN GIRLS, BRING IT ON, GLEE and DEGRASSI. 

Prosumers is currently seeking cast for the demo CD recording, Texas workshop production and full scale production in NYC. Auditions will take place on Nov 10 in San Antonio. Please let us know what you're availability is for Nov 10. Auditions will consist of reading from the script and singing 2 songs accapella: a Broadway and Pop song.

Here's a run down of schedule:

Nov 16 or 17, Cast meeting and read through

Nov 21-22, vocal rehearsal in San Antonio Texas

Nov 23-24, CD recording in Blanco Texas

Dec 20, rehearsal for promo night and concert in San Antonio

Dec 21, promo night and concert in San Antonio

Jan-May, rehearsals on Sat or Sun, based on cast availability (San Antonio and Austin)

May 15-21, travel to NY to perform show as part of bullying prevention conference

If you're interested in being considered for this project, please send headshot and resume to prosumerssanantonio@gmail.com