August 17, 2017

Auditions set for 2017-18 season theater productions

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Theater will hold open auditions for two upcoming fall productions. Open auditions means community members as well as students, faculty and staff members are eligible to audition. 

“Boy Gets Girl” auditions are from 7-10 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug.23. Actor sign-in begins at 6:30 p.m. Auditions are in the C.H. Moe Lab Theater in the Communications Building. Performance dates are Oct. 26-29. The director is Kelly Jordan. 

Come to the audition prepared with a one- to two-minute contemporary dramatic monologue. Those without a prepared piece may do a cold reading from the script. Theater majors, however, should have an audition piece prepared. 

“Boy Gets Girl” is a play by Rebecca Gilman, a chilling modern tale of how quickly a disturbed admirer unravels a woman’s life, beginning with a blind date set up by a friend. 

There are roles for a female and a male lead, and three supporting male actors and two supporting female actors. 

Auditions for the musicals “Spring Awakening” and “The Boys from Syracuse” are set for Aug. 25. A required dance audition is at 6:30 p.m. and individual auditions are 7-10 p.m. Actor sign-in begins at 6 p.m. Actors will be seen in groups of 10 in order of sign-in. 

Come to the audition prepared with two contrasting songs. Song one should be from a pop-rock, post-2001 musical such as “Spring Awakening,” or may be a pop or rock song similar in style to that of Duncan Sheik (Paramour, Fall Out Boys, or Panic at the Disco, for example). Song two should be from a “Golden Age” American musical (1935-1965). Sample composers include Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bock and Harnick, Lerner and Lowe, or Cole Porter. Each song should be about 1 minute or 32 bars in length in the original show keys. The songs should contrast in as many ways as possible, and show your ability to play a variety of roles. 

“Spring Awakening” is a musical with book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik. J. Thomas Kidd will direct and choreograph. This groundbreaking musical explores the poignant journey from adolescence to adulthood with an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality and rock ‘n’ roll. 

There are roles for seven male and seven female actors. All actors must sing.   

“The Boys from Syracuse” is a musical with music by Richard Rodger and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and book by George Abbott. Timothy J. Fink is the director; Darryl Clark is the choreographer. This fun and tune filled, rollicking musical version of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” premiered on Broadway in 1938 and was a Broadway revival production in 2002. 

There are roles for three female leads and four male leads, five male supporting actors and two female supporting actors, and a singing and dancing ensemble. 

Performance dates for “Spring Awakening” are Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and for “The Boys from Syracuse” Feb. 22-25, 2018. 

Auditions for “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” are Aug. 26 beginning at 9:30 a.m. with actor sign-in at 9 a.m. Come to the audition prepared to read from the script. There are three lead and two to four supporting female roles and three lead and two to four supporting male roles. 

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is a dramatization by Joseph Robinette, based on the C. S. Lewis novel. J. Thomas Kidd directs. The play tells the heroic tale of love, faith, courage and the epic triumph of good over evil in the magical land of Narnia.

Performance dates are Nov. 30-Dec. 3.