Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick is looking for a wide variety of ages and talents for roles in two musicals and one comedy this summer.
Auditions for “The Foreigner,” “Legally Blonde,” and “The Spitfire Grill” will run from 9 am to 4 pm Saturday, March 21, at the South Berwick Community Center at 71 Norton St., with callbacks the next day.
“I think 2020 offers roles that will challenge and thrill actors, singers and dancers looking for a place to take the stage this summer,” said Michael Guptill, owner of the 48-year-old Hackmatack Playhouse.
Auditions are generally open to actors age 18 and up, but directors may consider younger actors, Guptill said.
All actors should prepare a brief audition package of three minutes or less, including a one--minute contemporary comic monologue and two contrasting song cuts of 16 bars each, according to Artistic Director Danielle Howard.
At the audition table this year will be Artistic Director Danielle Howard, Alden Caple, the director and choreographer of “Legally Blonde,” and John Berst, the director of “The Foreigner” and musical director.
The three shows run July 8 through Labor Day and each show rehearses the three weeks before it opens.
For the first show, “The Foreigner,” Hackmatack is looking for two women and five men. This two-act comedy tells the story of a shy Englishman on vacation at a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. After pretending not to speak English, he becomes privy to dangerous and frivolous secrets.
Characters include a science-fiction copy editor, an inherently shy man with an unfaithful wife; a British military demolitions expert; an elderly widow who is a good-hearted, generous, “down-home” Southerner; a promising young religious leader; a genteel young woman going through an emotional time; an agreeable young man who is a bit slower than those around him; and a local property inspector who is superstitious and mysterious.
“Legally Blonde,” the second show, is a popular Broadway musical that is “the big show” of the summer. It follows the transformation of Elle Woods, a law student, as she tackles stereotypes and scandals in pursuit of her dreams. The show calls for several people to play law students, as well an ensemble of singers and dancers.
“The Spitfire Grill,” a small-stage musical that will close the season, has a cast of four women and three men. It tells the story of an elderly woman who owns a ramshackle diner she is hoping to sell and a young woman who was recently released from prison when she arrives in town and is hired as a waitress.
The young woman is a bit rough-edged with a sadness beyond her years. The diner owner is about 70 and is a tough-skinned and flinty old bird with a short, no-nonsense manner. In addition the cast calls for a soft spoke 30-something woman and her slightly older husband; an out-of-work foreman of a stone quarry; a young small-town policeman; a nosy postmistress, and a mysterious visitor who never speaks, but has a powerful and expressive intensity.
Anyone who wants more information, or to make an appointment for an audition should send a resume and email to
Mikeguptill@hotmail.com
Videos
