Theatre Arts: Auditions

Anyone is welcome to audition for the UCC plays and musicals. No experience necessary.

Below are the audition notices for the year. Please note all dates are subject to change.

For more info, contact Stephanie Newman at (541) 440-4694.

Fall Play

Sense & Sensibility

by Kate Hamill, based on the novel by Jane Austen.

This playful, zany new adaptation of Austen’s beloved story follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor and hypersensitive Marianne—after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. Set in gossipy late 18th-century England, the play is full of humor, emotional depth, and bold theatricality.

This production in New York is receiving rave reviews for its fresh new interpretation of this classical novel and now Director Stephanie Newman is seeking the team that will bring this zany show to life at UCC November 4-13.

Casting:

3-8 men, 4-9 women (doubling, flexible casting) Open to non-traditional casting (race, age, etc)

GOSSIPS 1-5; chorus of high-society creatures that move the story and act as several parts

ELINOR DASHWOOD; eldest Dashwood sister; sensible
MARIANNE DASHWOOD; middle Dashwood sister; sensitive
MARGARET DASHWOOD; youngest Dashwood sister; 10-13 years old
MRS DASHWOOD; their recently widowed mother
JOHN DASHWOOD; half-brother to the sisters (from their father’s side)
EDWARD FERRARS; a gentleman; a bachelor
FANNY (FERRARS) DASHWOOD; wife to John Dashwood, sister to Edward; nasty
COLONEL BRANDON; an older bachelor and a sincere gentleman
JOHN WILLOUGHBY; an unusually handsome and charming young man
SIR JOHN MIDDLETON; a country gentleman; distant relation to Mrs. Dashwood
MRS JENNINGS; a good-natured, boisterous, terror of a woman; mother-in-law to Sir John
LADY MIDDLETON; an over-bred lady, very high society
LUCY STEELE; a young girl from no fortune
ANNE STEELE; Lucy’s sister; indiscreet, naïve
ROBERT FERRARS; a callow young man; Edward Ferrars’ younger brother
SERVANTS (including THOMAS)
DOCTOR

Also Seeking:

Stage Manager
Light Board Operator
Assistant Stage Manager
Costume Assistant
Hair Assistant
House Managers
Box Office Attendants
Ushers
Construction
Set Painting
Props

UCC students, staff and non-UCC community members all welcome to audition; cast and crew of all levels of experience welcome. Crew and other volunteer positions email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You can earn college credits for the course by enrolling in Theatre Arts PERFORMANCE or PRODUCTION classes.

Important Dates:

Play performs Nov 4-13; No show on Veteran's Day

Nov 10 pick up rehearsal

Auditions: Sept 27, 3pm for Students enrolled in Performance and open to community members, then again at 5p-7p for anyone coming after work. Check in at lobby of Whipple Fine Arts building on UCC's campus. You need only audition during one segment. Expect to read scenes from the show; if you have a short, 1 min classic monologue, be prepared to perform that first. Small groups will audition at a time. Please look up this version of the show to be aware of the style that Kate Hamill and Bedlam Theatre have created. Be prepared to fill out a form with all your conflicts and obligations (work, school, events already booked, etc).

Rehearsals: Beginning Oct 3 and running until opening; mostly weekday late afternoons and/or evenings, some Saturdays (all as needed and depending on cast availability)

No rehearsal on Halloween

Rehearsal schedules are drafted each week with specific times for characters each day; any conflicts must be given at audition because availability does affect casting and scheduling.

Contact Stephanie Newman for a more specific calendar or dates you have questions on.

This will be a very active, physical, and involved company; most scenes will require much of the cast, even when the dialogue does not have certain characters in a scene.

Break a leg! See you at auditions!

Winter Play

Curtains

by Rupert Holmes, Music by John Kander and Lyrics by Fred Ebb.

It’s the brassy, bright, and promising year of 1959. Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage the entire cast & crew are suspects. Enter a local detective, who just happens to be a musical theatre fan!

From the creators of CHICAGO & CABARET, this show is a silly who-dunnit with a host of incredible parts to play (singing and non-singing). Director Stephanie Newman and Music Director Michael Wheeler are seeking the team that will bring this hilarious show to life at UCC February 17- March 5, 2017.

Casting:

15 men, 13 women; Open to non-traditional casting (race, age, etc); ensemble/dance chorus and understudies are possible

LIEUTENANT FRANK CIOFFI - Local Boston detective who is also a musical theatre aficionado. Aside from being exceptionally good at his job, he has also aspired to be a musical theatre performer his entire life. He falls in love with Niki. Vocal Range: Baritenor Ab-E
NIKI HARRIS - Pretty, naive ingénue. Niki is a chorus girl/understudy in the chorus of the show-within-the-show during its Boston tryout. She aspires to make it as a performer on Broadway. She meets and falls in love with Dt. Frank Cioffi who is investigating a murder at the theatre. Actress must have legit Soprano and good comic timing. Vocal Range: Soprano C-E
GEORGIA HENDRICKS - Female half of our songwriting team. Ends up taking on the leading lady role. Must sing and dance well. Vocal Range: Belt G-E
CARMEN BERNSTEIN - Brassy Broadway producer. THIS ROLE HAS BEEN PRECAST and will be played by Jere Bartley
AARON FOX - The composer of the show-within-the-show. His songwriting partner, Georgia, is also his wife from whom he’s separated. He’s a charming ladies man. Strong tenor. Piano playing not necessary but helpful. Vocal Range: Baritone Bb-Gb
SIDNEY BERNSTEIN - The producer of an out of town flop. Sidney is tough and self-serving. Seeking a character actor with good comic timing.
CHRISTOPHER BELLING - English director. Very camp. Very funny. Requires a good comic lead actor and British accent. Vocal Range: B-E
BAMBI BERNE - Performer in the chorus and daughter of Carmen, the lead producer. Hungry to work her way up to leading performer many think she was only hired because of her mother. Bambi is an excellent dancer/comedienne who sings well. Vocal Range: C-C
DARYL GRADY - A Theatre critic for the local Boston newspaper, he enjoys using the power he has to make or break shows during their out of town tryouts. NON-SINGING ROLE.
JOHNNY HARMON - The Stage Manager of the show-within-the-show. Johnny is a character man who is gruff but lovable. He keeps the company in line and on their toes throughout the rehearsal process.
OSCAR SHAPIRO - The general manager. An agreeable if slightly gruff man. He is always looking for any angle to find money. Seeking a good comic actor who sings. Vocal Range: Bb-E
BOBBY PEPPER - The choreographer and leading man – a Gene Kelly type who is the one shining star in an otherwise dire show. A ladies man. Seeking a strong singer who dances well. Vocal Range: A-E
JESSICA CRANSHAW - Fading Hollywood star. A diva, who has no right to be one, she is a terrible singer and actress who stars in the show within a show and gets murdered on its opening night. MOSTLY NON-SINGING COMIC ROLE. It will be very challenging to appear this comically bad.
RANDY DEXTER - Singer/Dancer who is playing the role of Parson Tuck in “Robbin’ Hood”.
HARV FREMONT
MONA PAGE
ROBERTA WOOSTER
DETECTIVE O’FARRELL
SASHA ILJINSKY – The show’s pit conductor (M/F)
MARJORIE COOK
ARLENE BARRUCA
ROY STETSON
BRICK HAWVERMALE
JANE SETLER
CONNIE SUBBOTIN
PEG PRENTICE
RONNIE DRISCOLL
RUSS COCHRAN

Also Seeking:

Stage Manager
Light Board Operator
Spotlight Operators (2)
Assistant Stage Managers (2)
Assistant Choreographer
Production Assistants (2)
Costume Assistants (Sewing)
Wardrobe Crew
Hair, Wig Assistants
House Managers
Box Office Attendants
Ushers
Construction Crew
Set Painting Crew
Props and Special Effects Crew

UCC students, staff and non-UCC community members all welcome to audition; cast and crew of all levels or experience welcome. Crew and other volunteer positions contact Stephanie Newman.

You can earn college credits for the course by enrolling in Theatre Arts PERFORMANCE or PRODUCTION classes.

Important Dates:

Play performs Feb 17- March 5

Fridays, Saturdays 7pm, Sundays 2pm

Auditions: Nov 22 , 3pm for Students enrolled in Performance and open to community members, then again at 5p-7p for anyone coming after work. Check in at lobby of Whipple Fine Arts building at UCC. Callbacks may go as late as 9pm that night if necessary. You need only audition during one segment but if called back, you may be asked to stay or return that evening. Be prepared to sing 16 bars of a music theatre song that shows off your range; bring sheet music in your key. A few standards (including Happy Birthday) will be available for you to sing if you don't have music. There are non-singing roles as well; those interested should only prepare a short monologue (under 1 minute) or read from one of the selected sides at auditions. All auditioners will learn a short dance segment to be performed in small groups; come prepared to move. Some auditioners may be asked to learn part of a song from the show with the music director. Be prepared to fill out a form with all your conflicts and obligations (work, school, events already booked, etc).

Rehearsals: Select music rehearsals will be Nov 29 & 30, and December 1 in the evenings; rehearsals then begin January 9 and run until opening; mostly weekday late afternoons and/or evenings, some Saturdays (all as needed and depending on cast availability). A full production calendar will be at auditions.

No rehearsal on MLK Jr Day or over Christmas break.

Rehearsal schedules are drafted each week with specific times for characters each day; any conflicts must be given at audition because availability does affect casting and scheduling.

Contact Stephanie Newman for a more specific calendar or dates you have questions on.

This is an ensemble show; we are looking for people of all levels who have great attitudes to fill the many parts of this show.

Break a leg! See you at auditions!

Spring Play

LEAR

Adapted from William Shakespeare's King Lear.

This LEAR explores the iconic role with both a man and a woman as Lear, who falls from prosperous king to babbling madman. As Lear readies to retire from ruling the kingdom, three daughters prepare to step into their next phases as women and rulers. When Lear demands his daughters to express their love and loyalty to him, the results surprise him and send him into a spiral of confusion. With disguises and deceit all around Lear, identity becomes a major theme of this classic Shakespearean tale.

The part of Lear will be played by both Carl Jones and Marnie Allbritten.

Director Stephanie Newman is seeking the team that will bring this classic show to life at UCC May 18-28, 2017.

Casting:

12-22 cast members; Open to non-traditional casting (race, age, etc); many parts are doubled

King of France, a suitor to Lear’s youngest, Cordelia
Doctor
Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and most virtuous daughter
Oswald, a loyal but sneaky steward who will do anything to climb the ladder of success
Kent, Lear’s good friend who gets banished and returns to serve Lear as the disguised “Caius”
Gloucester, Lear’s friend and parent to Edmund and Edgar who is betrayed and blinded
Regan, Lear’s middle daughter, married to Cornwall; charmingly evil
Cornwall, Regan’s power-hungry spouse
Goneril, Lear’s eldest daughter, married to Albany; beautiful and conniving
Albany, Goneril’s husband who is a good man at heart, perhaps in over his head
Lear – This part has been precast
Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate though beloved son who seeks to revenge his “bastardness” in villainous ways
Edgar, Gloucester’s other (legitimate) son who is betrayed by Edmund and hides out pretending to be crazy “Poor Tom”
Various servants and guards

Also Seeking:

Stage Manager
Light Board Operator
Production Assistants (2)
Wardrobe Crew
Hair, Wig Assistants
House Managers
Box Office Attendants
Ushers
Set Painting Crew
Props and Special Effects Crew

You can earn college credits for the course by enrolling in Theatre Arts PERFORMANCE or PRODUCTION classes.

Important Dates:

Play performs May 18-28

May 18, 3pm - School Preview

Fridays and Saturdays 7pm, Sundays 2pm

Auditions: March 9, 3pm for Students enrolled in Performance and open to community members, then again at 5-7pm for anyone coming after work. Check in at the lobby of the Whipple Fine Arts building at UCC. You need only audition during one segment. Expect to read scenes from the show; if you have a short, 1 min Shakespearean monologue, be prepared to perform that first (it is preferable that you first present something memorized). Small groups will audition at a time. Be prepared to fill out a form with all your conflicts and obligations (work, school, events already booked, etc).

Rehearsals: Two text rehearsals will be March 14 and 16 at 3pm; then there will be a break until April 3. Rehearsals are mostly afternoons and/or evenings and sometimes Saturdays, all depending on availability and scheduling. A final production calendar will be made available at auditions for you to look over.

Rehearsal schedules are drafted each week with specific times for characters each day; any conflicts must be given at audition because availability does affect casting and scheduling.

Contact Stephanie Newman for a more specific calendar or dates you have questions on.

This will be a very active, physical, and involved company; most scenes will require much of the cast, even when the dialogue does not have certain characters in a scene.

Break a leg! See you at auditions!