If you want to produce a play about the Jets and Sharks in Berwick, Maine, you might have to look high and low to find actors for the Puerto Rican roles –if you are looking for authenticity. So Hackmatack Playhouse has decided to take auditions to Boston to cast some of the roles for this summer’s production of West Side Story.
Hackmatack will be holding auditions for the popular Broadway hit on Saturday, March 29 in Boston. Auditions for this and the Hackmatack’s other three shows will also be held in South Berwick.
“You don’t have to have Latinos cast in the roles of the Puerto Rican characters,” said Michael Guptill, owner of Hackmatack Theater, “but it sure adds a genuine touch to this show about two warring gangs and racial relations in New York City.”
The Boston auditions will be in Rehearsal Hall A of the Calderwood Pavillion at 527 Tremont St. Although auditions in Boston are primarily for West Side Story, directors may look to fill specific roles for its other shows, Guptill said.
According to Guptill, the theater has had great success in the past holding auditions in more urban areas to bring in a more diverse cast. Auditions for Hairspray were held in New York to fill out a cast with both Caucasian and African American actors. According to the most recent US Census, fewer than 1 percent of the population of South Berwick and Berwick is Hispanic.
Auditions for Unnecessary Farce will be March 7 at the South Berwick Community at 71 Norton St. and for all three musicals – West Side Story, as well as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Ruthless –March 21 at the community center.
Directors at Hackmatack are looking for males 15 years old or over and females 9 and over for the various shows. Actors for the musicals will be asked to sing from one of the shows and provide a monologue no longer than two minutes, said Crystal Lisbon, artistic director at Hackmatack. Sheet music for these shows as well as detailed lists of characters will be available beforehand on the Hackmatack website, she noted.
Some candidates in the Berwick auditions may be asked to return on March 22 for additional singing, reading and a dance call, she said. Those unavailable for callbacks will be asked to indicate this in an appointment request.
According to Lisbon, the roles of Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels have already been cast.
Appointments for the Boston audition can be made at
crystal.hackmatack@gmail.com and for the Berwick location by emailing
mikeguptill@hotmail.com. Actors who have a digital headshot and resume have been asked to provide it when they email for the Boston appointment, and to bring two copies of each to the auditions. Actors signing up for appointments should say which shows interest them.
CALENDAR ITEM
AUDITIONS - Auditions for Unnecessary Farce at Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick, Maine, will be March 7 at the South Berwick Community at 71 Norton St. and for all three musicals – West Side Story, as well as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Ruthless –March 21 at the community center. Auditions, mainly for West Side Story, will also be held March 29 in Boston at the Calderwood Pavillion at 527 Tremont. More information can be found and appointments booked by emailing
crystal.hackmatack@gmail.com for Boston and
mikeguptill@hotmail.com for South Berwick or on the website at
hackmatack.org.
CUTLINE
Though winter is still in full force at Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick, Maine, the theater is getting ready for the balmy days of summer ahead with auditions scheduled for March 7 and 21 in South Berwick and March 29 in Boston.
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