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From NorwalkPlus.com News
Performance dates are Friday and Saturday nights, September 5 – 24 and will include two Sunday Twilight matinees at 4 p.m. (Sept. 14 and 21).Rehearsals will be held throughout the summer, beginning the week of July 7. All types are needed – male and female, young adult performers and older types, as well. This is a singers-who-act show, so come prepared to sing in the original key. There will be no transposing. Auditions will be held at the Darien Arts Center, 2 Renshaw Road (off the Boston Post Road, behind Darien Town Hall) on Monday, June 30, and Tuesday, July 1, at 7:30 p.m. The action of the play covers the period 1911 to 1932. Carole Claps is directing and staging the production. Joel Martin is music director, and Chloe Sasson is co-conductor/music advisor. Jimmy Ferraro is executive director of the Darien Arts Center. Producers are Linda Wilson and Anne Ernst Wright. A choreographer will be announced at a later date. The role of Mack Sennett will be played by Lou Ursone (Stamford). All other roles are open, including: Mabel Normand (Age: 20 to 40) (Vocal range: alto/low mezzo Gb3-G5) - Charismatic silent comedy star. Her disastrous love-life gradually drags her into a shallow world of parties, drugs and scandals, and she never adjusts to the contradiction of public adoration mixed with personal rejection and failure. Not a wishy-washy heroine. Requires a genuine torch singer with the vocal power to do justice to some very gutsy songs; a perky sense of comedy; as well as the ability to bring an audience to tears. Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle (Age: 25 to 45) (Vocal range: Tenor) - Slapstick comedian of generous proportions, with a sentimental (almost maudlin) side, and a great deal of charm. (His career, too, was destroyed by scandal, so there is a touch of the tragic clown.) He leads the main production number, as well as being central to all the knockabout comedy. Requires a strong comic actor who can sell a sentimental song. Lottie Ames (Age: 25 to 45) (Vocal range: alto F3-F5) - A fictitious amalgam of several silent stars - she plays melodrama heroines, mothers, showgirls and gangster's molls, and eventually makes it in talkies because she can sing and dance. Requires an old-style Broadway belter, and must be a more than competent tap-dancer. Frank Wyman (Age: 17 to 50) (Vocal range: any) - Begins as company gopher, and eventually becomes a successful screen-writer. An idealist, troubled by the Hollywood sausage-machine. Requires an actor who can sing a few solo passages now and then. Ella (Age: 30 to anything) (Vocal range: any) - Plays piano while the silents are being filmed. Eccentric but devoted, she is a comedy turn in her own right. Requires an inventive comedienne who can hold her own as a singer. Kleiman and Fox (Age: 20 to 40) (Vocal range: baritone/tenor) - The film company's money men. They are philistine wannabe actors who really don't get it, but eventually get caught up in the fever. Requires a comedy duo, visually ill-assorted, with physical comedy skills and the ability to carry a comic number. Freddie (can be male or female) (Age: 30 to 50) (Vocal range -- any) - Plays the villains, and anything else that is going. What used to be called a 'character actor'. Requires the ability to overplay to excess while remaining convincingly a real person. Some solo singing. Iris (Age: 18 to 35) (Vocal range: soprano) - The company's girl-Friday, who turns her hand to continuity, camera and clapper-board. All energy and enthusiasm. Requires strong character creation skills, singing and dancing.
The show requires people with high energy, and strong singing and dancing skills, especially tap-dancing needed for some. AUDITION REQUIREMENTS: Be prepared to sing and dance. Songs should be classic Americana Broadway (please, not rock opera), and you will need to bring sheet music. An accompanist is provided. There will be several weekday rehearsals that will begin at 7:30 and go to 10 p.m. and some weekend rehearsals. Rehearsals will be staggered and not everyone will be needed at every rehearsal. EXTRA BATHING BEAUTIES needed: If you are interested in being in the Bathing Beauty number, please come to one of the auditions. All ages, sizes and shapes are welcome. Also needed are stage managers, props, costume, lighting, set persons. If you are interested in learning about the theatre, and want a real “behind the scenes” look at what goes into producing a musical the size of “Mack and Mabel,” come on down on one or both of the audition nights and say, “hello.” Everyone is welcome. For more information, e-mail: darienartscenter@aol.com or call 203-655-5138. About the Darien Arts Center Founded in 1975, the Darien Arts Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and fostering a greater appreciation of, and participation in, the visual and performing arts for all members of the community and has been an important part of the cultural life of Darien for more than 25 years. A volunteer board of directors and important committees and boards represent the various areas of interest and oversee the diverse activities of the DAC and its programs. © Copyright by NorwalkPlus.com |
