Please always check the Callboard in the Lower Lobby of Waller Hall for any updates on production auditions or position needs. Involvement in Theater-by-the-Grove (TBTG) and IUP Dance Theater Company productions is open to all students at IUP—and frequently involves the opportunity for academic credit under faculty supervision.
Spring 2010 Major Production Opportunities
Auditions for the last two major productions of the 2009–2010 Theater-by-the-Grove Season as well as Spring 2010 Honors Project will be held on Sunday, November 8, and Monday, November 9, 2009.
Auditions for Sweet Charity, the annual coproduction of the departments of Theater and Dance and of Music (directed by IUP theater faculty member Rob Gretta, music direction by IUP music faculty member Sarah Mantel, and choreography by IUP dance faculty member Joan Van Dyke) are scheduled for Sunday, November 8, starting promptly at 7:00 p.m. in Cogswell 126. Academic credit is available to any student cast in this production. Performance dates are February 25–27, 2010.
Auditions for The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni (directed by IUP theater faculty member Rick Kemp) are scheduled on the evening of Monday, November 9. Academic credit is also available for any student cast in this production. Performance dates are April 14–18 and April 21–24, 2010.
Auditions for Asylum by Jerome McDonough (directed by IUP senior theater major Hayley Faight) are also scheduled for the evening of Monday, November 9. Performance dates are January 29–31, 2010.
Further information concerning the auditions for each of these production is located below. Additional information (including a character breakdown for each play) is posted on the Waller Callboard.
In addition, Theater-by-the-Grove is looking for students who are willing to work in all areas of theater production. If you are interested in being considered for this challenging work (which can also provide academic credits for qualified students), please contact Barb Blackledge, director of Production (Barb.Blackledge@iup.edu)
Sweet Charity Audition Process:
All students auditioning must come to the dance audition starting sharply at 7:00 p.m. in Cogswell 126 on Sunday, November 8, as everyone cast will be required to dance in this production. Please arrive early to fill out the necessary audition paperwork. Please be warmed up and dressed in clothing that allows you to move well. Jazz shoes for men and character shoes for women are encouraged. The Dance portion of the audition will include a group dance combination.
All auditioning will also be required to do a Singing/Acting audition as well. These auditions are by appointment only. Please sign up for a three-minute time slot on the Callboard in the lower level lobby of Waller Hall. Wear clothing that is both professional looking and appropriate (as if you are going to a job interview). In preparation for this portion of the audition, each student will need to prepare sixteen (16) bars of any music theater song that shows off your range. Please bring sheet music for your song. An accompanist will be provided. A capella singing is not permitted. In addition, each student will need to prepare a short (no longer than one minute) comic monologue.
Scripts: Two scripts are available in Theater Department office in 104 Waller Hall. They can be signed out for a short period of time. But they cannot legally leave the building.
Actors who are called back must check the same Waller Callboard by Monday morning (11/9) to see if their name is on the sheet, and then initial that they read it.
Callbacks: Monday, November 9, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Cogswell Hall, room 126
Selected songs and scenes will be provided.
Questions: e-mail Rob Gretta (director) rgretta@iup.edu or Dr. Sarah Mantel (music director) sjmantel@iup.edu
The Servant of Two Masters Audition Process:
Please sign up as soon as possible for an audition appointment for the evening of Monday, November 9, on the Callboard in the lower lobby of Waller Hall. You will need to prepare a short classic or contemporary comic monologue (no longer than two minutes). The auditions will be on the Fisher Auditorium stage in the Performing Arts Center. Please come at least fifteen minutes prior to your audition appointment time in order to fill out the audition forms with the stage manager.
Please check the Callback posting on the Waller Callboard on Tuesday morning (11/10). If you are called back, you will be again coming to the Fisher Auditorium stage, starting at 7:00 p.m. that evening (11/10).
As this play/production is based on Commedia dell'arte, a brief overview of that genre of theater is provided here: A high-energy comic style that requires physical precision, exaggerated mannerisms, and a willingness to be absurd. It is also bawdy and vulgar—and not for those who are easily offended. The style grew up in Renaissance Italy, as touring companies developed a repertoire of stock characters that improvised dialogue in set scenarios. Many of the characters wear half masks with exaggerated features. Each character has a defined physicality, way of walking, set of gestures, and personality. Servant... was written by Carlo Goldoni in 1753, long after the heyday of street Commedia. Goldoni puts the characters of commedia into a scripted comedy that was the forerunner of farce. Our production will use a contemporary translation of the play and handmade leather commedia masks.
Asylum Audition Process:
Please again sign up for an audition appointment on the Callboard of the Waller lower level lobby. The auditions appointments will start in the early evening of Monday, 11/9, in the Waller Hall Multi-Purpose Room (MPR), Waller 202 (on the second floor front of Waller). If you are also auditioning for The Servant of Two Masters, make sure that you are scheduled for an early audition time for Asylum.
You will need to prepare a short (no longer than one minute) dramatic or comic contemporary monologue. (If you are also auditioning for Sweet Charity and/or The Servant of Two Masters, you could prepare the same short contemporary comic monologue for all three productions.)
Callbacks will also be posted on Tuesday morning (11/10) on the Waller Callboard, with callbacks also scheduled for the Waller MPR starting at 5:30 p.m. that day (11/10).
Asylum is about the search for answers, and the journey to find them: through lucid dreaming. Between living out fantasies and discussing philosophy with God and Satan, Gary must wage a battle with his own subconscious to find the key to happiness before he loses himself and his sanity altogether.
Please check the Callboard on the lower level of Waller Hall for any further information on these plays.
Further Casting or Production Opportunities:
Please check this webpage in January or see the Callboard in the lower lobby of Waller Hall for further information about casting options for the Spring 2010 Acorn Project productions.
If any students are interested in working on any aspect of either a theater or dance production in our Spring 2010 season before the end of the Fall semester, please contact our director of Production, Barb Blackledge, at Barb.Blackledge@iup.edu.
Academic credit is available to any IUP student working on any aspect of our major season productions!
