FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE TO HOLD YOUTH AUDITIONS FOR 2016 SEASON
Seeking young performers for The Music Man and The Diary of Anne Frank
Flat Rock Playhouse announced today youth performer auditions for the upcoming productions of The Music Man and The Diary of Anne Frank in the 2016 Flat Rock Playhouse season.
The Music Man, with book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, is the story of fast talking con artist Harold Hill who plots to swindle the folks of River City Iowa by posing as a band instructor. The long awaited, highly requested musical features the Broadway standards Til There Was You and 76 Trombones.
Directed and choreographed by former YouTheatre alumni and Broadway choreographer Chase Brock, The Music Man will utilize a large ensemble of young performers aged 8 through 18. Rehearsal and performances will be from May 23 through July 9, with eight shows a week.
Flat Rock Playhouse is specifically seeking young performers for the featured roles of Winthrop Paroo and Amaryllis. Winthrop, aged 10, is the shy, introverted little brother of town librarian and piano teacher Marian Paroo. He also speaks with a lisp. Winthrop slowly comes out of his shell when Harold Hill rolls into town and ultimately serves as an instrument of change for the swindler. Amaryllis, also aged 10, is Marian’s young piano student who is enamored with Winthrop. Both young actors need to be able to sing and move well.
Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, The Diary of Anne Frank, is based on the diary kept by Frank while she was in hiding with her family in Amsterdam for two years and has become symbolic of the enduring power of the human spirit. The Diary of Anne Frank will be directed by Flat Rock Playhouse Producing Artistic Director, Lisa K. Bryant, with rehearsal and performances from August 23 through September 25. There will be weekday matinee performances on Wednesdayand Thursday during the show’s run.
Flat Rock Playhouse is specifically seeking young actors for the roles of Anne Frank and Peter Van Daan. Anne Frank, to play early teens, is the lively and curious girl who remains optimistic throughout the months her family is in hiding and makes the best of the situation she is in. Peter Van Daan is the shy, quiet teenaged boy also in hiding with the Frank family and the object of Anne’s first crush.
Auditions will take place on the Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage Monday, February 29 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Those auditioning forThe Music Man are asked to prepare 16 bars of a musical theatre song and be prepared to learn a short dance combination.
Young boys interested in the role of Winthrop in The Music Man are strongly encouraged to review the song Gary, Indiana from the show.
Those auditioning for The Diary of Anne Frank will be asked to read from sides provided. Additionally, young actresses interested in auditioning for Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank are encouraged to attend the audition workshop for this role on Sunday, August 28 from2:00 to 4:00 PM on the Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage. There is no charge for this workshop.
The Flat Rock Playhouse is located at 2661 Greenville Highway in Flat Rock.
FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE
In 1937, a group of struggling performers, led by Robroy Farquhar, organized themselves as the Vagabond Players. The Vagabonds worked in a variety of places over the course of three years, and in 1940 found themselves in the Blue Ridge region of Western North Carolina. The local and tourist community welcomed them with open arms when they presented their first summer season of plays in a 150-year-old grist mill they converted into The Old Mill Playhouse at Highland Lake. So successful was that summer, they returned in 1941. After WWII, the Vagabond Players reorganized, came back to the region and opened a playhouse in nearby Lake Summit. The Lake Summit Playhouse thrived during the post war years and soon the Vagabond Players were looking for a larger and permanent home. In 1952, the troupe of performers, and a newly formed board of directors, made an offer to buy an 8-acre lot in the Village of Flat Rock. This new home made the Vagabonds “locals” and a rented big top gave birth to Flat Rock Playhouse. As the beautiful Western Carolina region continued to grow, so did the Playhouse and in 1961, by Act of the North Carolina General Assembly, Flat Rock Playhouse was officially designated The State Theatre of North Carolina. What began as a few weeks of summer performances in 1940 is now a nine-month season of plays including Broadway musicals, comedy, drama, and theatre for young audiences. The Playhouse’s dual mission of producing the performing arts and providing education in the performing arts includes a professional series; a summer and fall college apprentice and intern program; performances and cabaret series by the Studio 52: year-round classes and workshops for students from kindergarten through adults. Flat Rock Playhouse now hosts over 98,000 patrons annually and is a significant contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.
Videos
