Arena Stage will hold open-call auditions this weekend for four young person’s roles in its upcoming production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, the company announced yesterday.
The four roles are that of Winthrop Paroo, a timid young man with a pronounced lisp; Amaryllis, a precocious young lady with a developing interest in Winthrop; Zaneeta Shinn, the daughter of a prominent local family; and Tommy Djilas, the working-class boy Zaneeta is secretly dating. Arena is looking for actors between the ages of 10 and 12 who can sing for the roles of Winthrop and Amaryllis, and strong musical theater dancers and singers sixteen or older for the roles of Zaneeta and Tommy.
Arena has had recent success with both young actors and open-call auditions. Audience Choice Award nominee June Schreiner, now a high school senior, won great acclaim for her performance as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! Helen Hayes nominees John and Leo Manzari, then 15 and 17 years old respectively, were enormously successful in Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies starring Maurice Hines. And Arena’s open-casting audition for the role of Yolanda in Crowns discovered Zurin Villanueva, a Howard University senior whose performance was roundly applauded by critics.
Actors interested in auditioning for the roles of Tommy and Zaneeta should register at Arena’s Molly Smith study at the Mead Center between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, December 10. Actors interested in auditioning for the roles of Winthrop and Amaryllis should register between 11:00 and 12:30 on the 10th. Bring two copies of your resume and headshot. Tommies and Zaneetas should bring jazz and ballet shoes and be prepared to learn and dance a standard musical theater combination and a short ballet combination. Winthrops and Amaryllises should be prepared to sing a short song (16 bars preferred), and are encouraged to bring sheet music for the accompanist. Arena guarantees that the first 100 actors to register will receive auditions; all auditions will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Callbacks will be on Sunday, December 11 from noon to 4:30pm.
Arena casting director Daniel Pruksarnukul will conduct the auditions, and the musical’s leadership – director Molly Smith, Musical Director Lawrence Goldberg, and Choreographer Parker Esse – will be on hand.
More information about the call can be found here.
Arena will present The Music Man between May 11 and July 22, 2012, at the Fichandler Stage.
