Presents Equal Light Talent Night Audition Information Welcome from the Planning Committee Thank you for your interest in being part of FirstLight Players 2019 Equal Light Talent Night. Drama at First Unitarian Church of Rochester has a very long history including Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in the 1970s and 80s, original musical reviews in the 90s, and full stage musicals such as Leap of Faith, Death Takes a Holiday, and A Man of No Importance in the 2000s. Most recently, FirstLight Players has produced An Equal Right to Act, an original play by our own Ira Srole, which has been performed multiple times around the area, including at First Unitarian and at the 2018 Rochester Fringe Festival. This year we are hosting an equality-themed variety show with two main goals: 1. To build and encourage performing arts talent among people who support the mission and values of FirstLight Players. FirstLight Players is a group within the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York. Our mission is to use the performing arts as an expression of our church s mission and to extend our reach into the greater Rochester area. We strive to produce illuminating theater for the entire community to enjoy. The mission of First Unitarian Church is as follows: Through spiritual connection in community, we Listen deeply to others and ourselves Open to wonder and transformation Serve together with love and humility. For more information please visit http://rochesterunitarian.org 2. To expand the producing and directing expertise within our team. To accomplish this, we invite folks to audition even if their act is not yet stage-ready. For those who wish it, we will pair a mentor with your act to help get it ready for final performance. The mentor s role will be to schedule any needed rehearsals for the act, suggest and/or obtain resources to enhance the performance such as costumes from the FLP collection, liaison with the production team for sound or projection requirements, pair the performers together if duets or other players are needed, and to coach the performers on their presentation. There will be one dress rehearsal for the entire show, bringing all the elements together. We hope you are as excited to be part of this special evening as we on the planning committee are! Welcome! Within this packet: 1. Welcome from the planning committee 2. Production Notes 3. Audition Notes 4. Audition Information Form (please print and bring this with you to the audition)
Production Notes Production team Co-directors: Ira Srole and Kathy Mater Co-producers: Fritz Lange and Jeff Cook Show date and rehearsal commitment The show will be March 22, 2019 at 7:30 pm. By auditioning, you are committing that you will be available on that date for this one-night-only show. You are also required to attend one dress rehearsal when the full show will come together. This will held one night to be chosen by the cast, either March 18, 19 or 21, 7 to 9 pm. Other rehearsals will vary by act. If there are multiple people involved in your act or you need accompaniment, please plan on 2-3 rehearsals in February or March. If desired, a mentor will be assigned to your act to work out rehearsal needs. The church has various rooms that can be used for rehearsals. Show content The show will consist of solo and group acts, varying in age from youth to adult, in a variety of performing art genres. The exact acts will rely entirely on the auditioners who present themselves. We are hoping for an array of talents such as improv actors, poets, dramatic readers, sketch comedy, instrumentalists, comics, vocalists, jugglers, dancers, storytellers, or whatever your talent may be. We expect the show to run about 90 minutes. We are considering having an emcee to help make the evening flow smoothly. (Auditions are also open for emcee!) We are envisioning a casual setting with seating at cabaret tables and refreshments being sold. Tickets will be free; donations will be gratefully accepted. We expect to publicize the show using our church communications, local media calendar of events, and flyers around town. Show theme: Equal Light Talent Night à The show is being held in the first few days of Spring, near the Vernal equinox, when daylight is close to equal with nighttime. Thus, Equal Light. à Our church has monthly worship themes, which are explored in depth in our various services and small groups. Our church worship theme for March 2019 is Investment. With these themes in mind, your act should express some aspect of investing in equality or justice, springtime, renewal, or equal light. These themes may be interpreted quite broadly. All details do not have to be worked out by the audition time, but you should be able to describe your vision for the act and how it will express the themes. Constraints on content Once it is refined, your performance should be from 3-8 minutes in length. We play to a family audience, so content should be in good taste and be in line with the mission and values of FirstLight Players and First Unitarian Church of Rochester, as laid out in the Welcome on Page 1 of this packet. Acts containing dangerous stunts or flames are not encouraged and will need to be strongly evaluated in regard to the church s liability insurance.
Audition Notes Audition dates and times Saturday January 26, 2019 from 1-4pm Wednesday January 30, 2019 from 5-8pm Audition Sign-up To sign up for a 10-minute audition timeslot, visit SignUp Genius using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4faaab29a5f49-auditions Note: These times might fluctuate slightly on the day of the auditions, so be ready to go a little before or after your timeslot. Please plan to arrive at least 10 minutes before your scheduled audition time. Audition and show location: First Unitarian Church of Rochester 220 Winton Road South Rochester, NY 14610 We will be holding auditions in the main sanctuary where the show will be held. What to prepare and bring to the audition 1. Prepare about 2 minutes of your act (or about 32 bars of music) for your audition. As noted in the Welcome from planning committee, this should show your talent potential and vision for the theme, but does not have to be perfected and you don t have to perform the entire thing. If you envision back up singers or instruments, or your skit needs another person to play off of, tell us so we can see your vision. 2. Fill out the Audition Information Form (in this packet) ahead of time and bring it with you. 3. If you need accompaniment for your audition, indicate this on your audition form and in your SignUp Genius entry. Bring piano sheet music in the correct key. Loose sheets or a book that stays open are much appreciated! 4. If you have prerecorded music: for digital/download please bring your own technology with enough volume to play the music such as a Bluetooth speaker. We will have a CD player available if you need one. 5. We will have microphones available for the show, but not the audition. We encourage good audio projection! If you have electronic instruments, you must provide your own equipment. Audition selection process Our Production Team and a few planning committee members will attend all the auditions. They will deliberate together and select acts that form a well-rounded variety of performance styles and demographics, and weave the threads of the theme of Equal Light and Investing in Equality into a show of about the right length. The Team will be weighing talent potential heavier than a perfected performance, as discussed earlier. Keep in mind that there is a good chance that some acts may not be accepted for this show; it will depend on who comes out to audition. Regardless of the outcome this year, we strongly encourage all our auditioners to continue to pursue their passion! We also have many other roles to fill behind the scenes and are looking for volunteers, whether or not your act is accepted for this show. Next Steps Our goal would be to notify all auditioners with the outcome within one week after the last date of auditions. Questions? Show production team: FirstLight@RochesterUnitarian.org
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Equal Light Talent Night Audition Information Form Your Name: (Print name, as you would like it to appear in program/publication. If act includes a group, please print all performers name, preferred phone, email address on the back of this page) Address: Telephone: circle one circle Preferred: cell / home /work Alternate: cell / home /work Text ok? Y/ N Text ok? Y/ N E-mail: Performance experience: Name of the act or description of how the act fits the themes of Equal Light or Investing in Equality : Type of performance: (e.g. song, dance, dramatic scene, comedy skit, oboe solo, etc.) Name of song/composer (if music is part of your act): I will need piano accompaniment for my audition. I would like a mentor assigned get the act ready for the show. I would be willing to perform in a group act if asked. I would be willing to perform a different song/skit if asked. I am available for the show March 22 and commit to the dress rehearsal date when it is decided (either March 18, 19 or 21) Yes (add comment if you have concerns with this commitment):