Tag Archives: auditions
Women invited to audition for SOAP’s “Love Loss and What I Wore”
The laughter has barely died down from SOAP’s comedy The Long Weekend, but the local theatre group is set for more comedy with their next production, Love Loss and What I Wore, by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.
The production will be staged in early to mid March 2012, and will be directed by Jen Jensen, assistant director for The Long Weekend.
Nora Ephron is an Oscar-nominated screenplay writer best known for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, so this play mixes laughs and heart-tugging tears. Love Loss, and What I Wore is presented in “readers’ theatre” style with a cast of five women speaking directly to the audience as well as each other, in a series of monologues and dialogues. The cast discusses women’s relationships with their wardrobe at critical moments of a woman’s life.
Clothing becomes a metaphor for women’s experiences: wardrobe malfunctions, puberty’s relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women’s memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.
In 2009, the show was produced Off-Broadway. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries.
SOAP’s auditions run Sunday November 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Osoyoos Art Gallery, 8713 Main Street, Osoyoos and Monday November 19 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street, Oliver. The audition is open to women of all ages – the cast represents women from young adulthood to senior years. New actors are encouraged to try out. Call 498-1954 or soap @ telus.net for more information.
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Women invited to audition for SOAP's "Love Loss and What I Wore"
The laughter has barely died down from SOAP’s comedy The Long Weekend, but the local theatre group is set for more comedy with their next production, Love Loss and What I Wore, by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.
The production will be staged in early to mid March 2012, and will be directed by Jen Jensen, assistant director for The Long Weekend.
Nora Ephron is an Oscar-nominated screenplay writer best known for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, so this play mixes laughs and heart-tugging tears. Love Loss, and What I Wore is presented in “readers’ theatre” style with a cast of five women speaking directly to the audience as well as each other, in a series of monologues and dialogues. The cast discusses women’s relationships with their wardrobe at critical moments of a woman’s life.
Clothing becomes a metaphor for women’s experiences: wardrobe malfunctions, puberty’s relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women’s memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.
In 2009, the show was produced Off-Broadway. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries.
SOAP’s auditions run Sunday November 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Osoyoos Art Gallery, 8713 Main Street, Osoyoos and Monday November 19 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street, Oliver. The audition is open to women of all ages – the cast represents women from young adulthood to senior years. New actors are encouraged to try out. Call 498-1954 or soap @ telus.net for more information.
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SOAP auditions seek four Wild Guys
The South Okanagan Amateur Players are holding open auditions for their fall comedy, The Wild Guys by Andrew Wreggitt and Rebecca Shaw, directed by Ted Osborne. In this Canadian play, four good-natured guys “take off to the great white north” on a men’s sensitivity weekend. This popular male bonding event takes city slickers into a wilderness setting to confront their primal fears and get in touch with their inner selves.
Andy, a CEO and men’s movement advocate, and Robin, a crystal-gazing New Ager, coax Stewart, an unsuspecting grocer, and Randall, a sceptical lawyer, into reluctantly participating in primitive rituals and communal hugs. The weekend quickly unravels when the guys become lost and discover all their food has disappeared. The result? Hockey cheers and Neil Young singalongs! This play is a satire on men’s self-help encounters of the type made famous by drum-beating poet Robert Bly and the new-age, touchy-feely movement that supported it.
The four male characters range from mid 20s to early 60s. The dialogue is fast-paced, funny, and easy to memorize. The roles are of equal size. Newcomers welcome. The production is scheduled for November, with rehearsals progressing from two to three times per week.
Auditions are on Sunday August 28 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Osoyoos Art Gallery (upstairs, west entrance), at the corner of 89th and Main; and on Monday August 29 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre 34274 -95th St., Oliver. To find out more information or to schedule an alternate audition, contact SOAP@telus.net
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SOAP Auditions for Rumors comedy
After a brief hiatus during the fall, the South Okanagan Amateur Players are back treading the boards this spring with a production of the comedy Rumors by Neil Simon. The prolific and award-winning playwright also penned The Odd Couple and California Suite.
Rumors is set at a posh dinner party to which several of New York’s socialites have been invited. When the first couple arrives, they discover that the hostess is missing along with the household staff, and that their host, the deputy mayor of New York City, has shot himself through the earlobe. Neither host nor hostess makes an onstage appearance during the entire play. As the evening progresses and more dinner guests arrive, wild rumours begin to circulate about their hosts’ marital problems. Comic complications arise when, given everyone’s upper class status, the couples decide they need to conceal the evening’s events from law enforcement and the media. As confusion and miscommunication mount, the evening spins off into classic farce culminating in an hilariously befuddled explanation to the police.
Director Ted Osborne, last at the helm of SOAP’s production of The Sound of Music, is looking for a cast of 10 adults. Four men and four women are needed to play the dinner guests, ranging in age from 30s to early 60s. Two smaller parts are available for the police officers arriving on the scene, one middle-age man and one younger woman. No previous theatrical experience is required.
Production dates are tentatively set for April 8-10 in Osoyoos and April 15-17 in Oliver. Actors must be available for a minimum of two rehearsals a week beginning in mid-January, but times and locations will be negotiated according to cast schedules. Closer to production, rehearsals may increase, as required, to three times per week.
Auditions are on Monday January 11 at the Osoyoos Art Gallery (upstairs) on 8713 Main St., and on Tuesday January 12 at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, Studio Building, 34274 95th St., Oliver, just south of the Fire Hall. Both auditions run from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. No prepared monologue is necessary. Actors will be reading from the script. Drop-in auditions are welcome, but hopeful actors are encouraged to stay for as much of one evening as possible to work through a variety of roles with other actors.
For more information, or to arrange an alternate audition time, please contact director Ted Osborne. Volunteers who would like to assist backstage with construction, set painting, costumes, or crew, are asked to contact producer Jennifer Mapplebeck. Both can be reached by emailing SOAP@telus.net
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Successful Auditions for Sand Mountain
Directors Penelope Johnson and Diane Gludovatz are pleased to announce the cast for the South Okanagan Amateur Players’ summer production of Sand Mountain at Tinhorn Creek Winery Amphitheatre.
Sand Mountain is a pair of original Appalachian folk tales written by American playwright Romulus Linney. These humorous tales are set at a rustic cabin in the plateaus of Alabama. The characters are simple mountain folk full of practical wisdom. Each tale has different characters but are set at the same location, are meant to be performed together. Both tales have a sweet unconventional charm and some good belly laughs. They have a decidedly cock-eyed view of the world and should leave audiences thinking – and smiling.
The first act is “Sand Mountain Matchmaking”. A young widow-woman is keen to remarry but not so keen on her over-eager suitors. She obtains advice from the local wise woman, who gives the young widow a piece of eyebrow-raising folk wisdom audiences are unlikely to ever forget.
The second act is “Why the Lord Come to Sand Mountain”. Jesus and Saint Peter, dressed as poor wayfaring strangers, decide to pay a visit to Sand Mountain. Saint Peter can’t wait to get down to the rich valley full of God-fearing folks. The Lord has other ideas. He’s much more interested in meeting the young couple with fourteen children (all played as one child actor) who keep their mountain cabin in a foul state and drink moonshine. To Peter’s horror, the Lord declares he wants to bide a while, and Jesus spends the whole night swapping outrageous tall tales with his hosts.
Three newcomers to SOAP, all from Osoyoos, join the cast. Paul Everest plays the suitor Sam Bean in “Sand Mountain Matchmaking” and the title role of The Lord in “Why the Lord Come to Sand Mountain”. “Paul conveyed strength and calm from the moment he spoke his first lines at the audition,” says Johnson, “and both these roles call for a certain quiet power in the character. He has theatre background in Ontario, so although he’s new to us, he’s definitely not new to the stage.”
Wendy Mellace, another SOAP newcomer, takes on the role of the matchmaker Lottie Stiles in “Sand Mountain Matchmaking”. Lottie provides guidance to the young widow Rebecca in her quest for a new husband, and gives her some eyebrow-raising but canny advice.
Kaleb Mailey charmed the directors and won the role of Vester Stiles, the matchmaker’s young grandson in “Sand Mountain Matchmaking”. Kaleb, only eight years old, initially had to master the Appalachian slang as it appeared in the script. “But once you got him to memorize a line, and act it out,” says Johnson, “you could see he had real understanding of the character.” Gludovatz adds: “And of course, being cute as a button, he’s going to just steal every scene he’s in.”
The directors are especially pleased to see relative newcomers move from small roles in The Sound of Music into larger roles that display their talents.
Aimee Grice, a member of the nuns chorus in The Sound of Music, takes the romantic female lead, Rebecca, in “Sand Mountain Matchmaking” and plays Jean in “Why the Lord Come to Sand Mountain”.
“Aimee really impressed me whenever she was called upon to fill in for someone else’s part during rehearsals for Sound of Music,” says Johnson. “She could immediately grasp a character and convey very clear, strong emotion. Then she would quietly resume her place in the chorus, and I would think “The audience will never see this, will have no idea how good she really is.””
David Badger, last seen as Captain von Schreiber in The Sound of Music, plays a chilling suitor in “Matchmaking” and the moonshine swilling father Jack in “Why the Lord Come to Sand Mountain.” The two different characters will give Badger an opportunity to flex his acting muscles.
“He blew me away as the icy Nazi captain. My first thought? “We need to give this fellow some more stage time!”” Gludovatz agrees, and so does her dog Pookie. “When David auditioned for the aggressive suitor, Pookie, who had been lying at my feet, stood up and started growling at him.”
Patrick Turner worked as a stage hand when not performing his small role as Nazi sympathizer Herr Zeller in Sound of Music. Now he plays two characters in Sand Mountainwith similar personalities . He takes on the role of Radley, a Bible thumping suitor in “Matchmaking”, and the church-going Prosper Valley Farmer in “Why the Lord Come”. Although the Farmer is a small role, Turner will get to deliver the play’s final hilarious punchline, one audiences will not forget. “He just makes me laugh,” says Gludovatz.
Two more actors who had larger roles in The Sound of Music return to play quite different characters in Sand Mountain.
Darryl Mackenzie starred as Georg von Trapp in the musical, but makes a departure from that austere character. MacKenzie plays a lusty, swaggering suitor in “Matchmaking” and the complaining Saint Peter in “Why the Lord Come”.
“So far, Darryl has played rather emotionally reserved characters with SOAP,” says Johnson, “The naval captain Georg in Sound of Music, and before that, the upper class Charles in Blithe Spirit. We were delighted with his comedic talents. He has a mobile expression and a wonderful drawl. ”
Wesley Frederick, who played Kurt von Trapp in last year’s musical, is rolling up his sleeves to play the scrawny scruffy Fourteen Children in “Why the Lord Come”. This unusual but highly entertaining role requires Wesley to argue and fight with his thirteen imaginary brothers and sisters.
Diane Gludovatz, a SOAP veteran, will step away from the assistant director’s chair to take on the pivotal narrator role in “Why the Lord Come”. She plays the Sang (Ginseng) Picker, a wise woman who has seen it all on Sand Mountain, and entertains the audience with her stories.
Sand Mountain is slated for production on Saturday July 18. Other dates earlier in that week, are currently being negotiated.
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South Okanagan Amateur Players (SOAP)
SOAP has just come off a successful run of The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein in November – December 2008. They broke box office sales records, and had some of the largest audiences in 20 years. Take a look at some photos from the show!
Sister Margaretta, Sister Sophia and the Mother Abbess wonder “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”
Maria listens to the wisdom of the Mother Abbess.
Maria teaches the von Trapp children “Doe-A Deer” (Do Re Mi). Initially, they are reluctant pupils – that is, until Maria’s charm and gaiety inspires them to sing! Photo by Silvia Badger
Brigitta and Gretl von Trapp in their sailor suits.
So, what’s next for this busy troupe?
The South Okanagan Amateur Players hold auditions for the comedy Sand Mountain by Romulus Linney, a set of two Appalachian folk tales. Auditions will be on Wednesday April 22 at the Sonora Centre in Osoyoos and Thursday April 23 in “Big Blue” at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre in Oliver. Auditions run 7 – 9 p.m. both evenings. Newcomers welcome. No audition piece required. Parts are available for men and women 20 – 60+ years and for one or two children aged 8 – 12 years. Backstage volunteers also required. The production runs during the third week of July at the Tinhorn Creek Winery Amphitheatre. Directors: Penelope Johnson and Diane Gludovatz. For audition information or advance copies of the script: 250-498-0183.
Photos by Penelope Johnson (except where noted above)
