Auditions begin February 22, 2016 Rehearsals begin February 29, 2016 Performances May 12-14, 2016
About Seussical Jr Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, and all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in Seussical Jr, a fantastical musical extravaganza from Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Transporting audiences from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, and he must also guard an abandoned egg that's been left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant! Auditions & Casting Auditions for Robbinsdale Middle School s production of Seussical Jr are open to all actors who are currently students in grades six through eight (2015-2016 school year). Actors who wish to audition should show up to their choice of one of the following three audition times: Monday, February 22 from 2:55-4:25 Tuesday, February 23 from 2:55-4:25 Thursday, February 24 from 2:55-4:25 Auditions will be held in the auditorium. Please be on time and be prepared to stay for the entire audition session. Note that only students who are auditioning for the show on each particular evening are allowed to be in the auditorium while the auditions are taking place. Actors do not need to prepare any audition material in advance. Please, however, come to the audition with a completed and signed Actor Information Sheet and Rehearsal Conflict Sheet to turn in. You will find both of these forms at the end of this packet. Please note that a parent signature is required. Also, please dress for your audition comfortably, in clothes and appropriate footwear in which you are able to freely move and dance. Callbacks for Seussical Jr will be held in the auditorium on Thursday, February 25 from 2:55-4:25. A list of actors required at callbacks will be announced and posted at school at some point that same morning, following Wednesday afternoon s final first round of auditions. The final cast list will be announced and posted at school on Friday, February 26. We intend to cast between 40-45 actors in Seussical Jr. Depending on how many audition and what our needs are cuts will likely be necessary.
Rehearsals & Attendance Expectations Rehearsals for Seussical Jr will begin on Monday, February 29 with a full-cast meeting and readthrough. Regular rehearsals will generally be held on the following schedule. Mondays from 2:55-4:25 Tuesdays from 2:55-4:25 Wednesdays from 2:55-4:25 Thursdays from 2:55-4:25 Fridays from 2:55-4:25 (usually only principal characters will be called) In an effort to be respectful of our actors time, we do not call every actor to every rehearsal. A schedule will be emailed to the cast each Sunday afternoon detailing the upcoming week s rehearsal schedule. Please plan to only attend the rehearsals at which you have been called, as we cannot be responsible for the supervision of actors who are sort of under our care on a particular evening. We do expect our actors to be at every rehearsal for which they have been called, unless proper notification has been given to the director prior to the weekly schedule being completed and posted. While we recognize that emergency conflicts do arise, the directing team reserves the right to deal with situations appropriately if attendance becomes a major issue. Dress/Tech Rehearsals & Performances We will have three dress/tech rehearsals and three performances, at which attendance is mandatory. It is expected that all cast members will clear their schedules for these dates and times. The only acceptable conflicts on these nights are those that the directors are told about on your audition forms. Monday, May 9 from 2:55-8:00 (dress/tech rehearsal) Tuesday, May 10 from 2:55-8:00 (dress/tech rehearsal) Wednesday, May 11 from 2:55-8:00 (dress/tech rehearsal) Thursday, May 12 from 5:00-9:30 (performance @ 7:00pm) Friday, May 13 from 5:00-9:30 (performance @ 7:00pm) Saturday, May 14 from 5:00-10:30ish (performance @ 7:00pm; Strike) School Registration/Production Fee Actors cast in Seussical Jr will have to obtain, fill out, and turn in the proper participation forms from the school. The activity fee is $40 per student. All registration questions should be directed to: Jona Deavel, activities director 763-504-4802 jona_deavel@rdale.org.
Questions If you have any questions about Robbinsdale Middle School s production of Seussical Jr, please contact: Charlie Leonard, director charlie.leonard@bluewatertheatre.com From the Director: Hello Everybody! I am really excited to be directing the musical at RMS this year, after recently completing my second year as the musical director at Plymouth Middle School! To have a chance to work with all of the middle school actors in this district is very exciting for me! I m really excited to begin working with you all. I did want to take a moment to tell you bit about me and my background so that you have some frame of reference for who I am and what I do. In 2007, I founded Blue Water Theatre Company in Wayzata, following four years of teaching and directing in the Wayzata school district. I am a 1996 graduate of Wayzata High School and 2000 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. I have directed nearly 75 productions since 2003 for Blue Water Theatre Company, Plymouth Middle School, Wayzata West Middle School, Hopkins North Junior High School, and the Wayzata Summer Youth Theatre. Shows include, Into the Woods, You re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Music Man, Babes in Arms, Joseph the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Boy Friend, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie, Oklahoma!, A Midsummer Night s Dream, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Pirates of Penzance, A Grand Night for Singing, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver!, Carousel, Annie Get Your Gun, Curtains, She Loves Me, Bye Bye Birdie, 42nd Street, Cinderella, Sweeney Todd, Funny Girl, Anything Goes, The Wizard of Oz, Les Miserables, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,Guys and Dolls, The Secret Garden, High School Musical, Once Upon a Mattress, State Fair, The Mousetrap, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Aladdin, Jekyll & Hyde, Alice in Wonderland, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Big Fish. In addition, our choreographer for the show will be Grace Aiello. Besides joining me at PMS for each of the past two years, Grace has a large number of professional choreography credits to her name. Most recently, she was the choreographer for Grease at Lyric Arts in Anoka. You are absolutely going to love working with her! :-) I can t wait to get started! See you all soon! :-) Charlie
ACTOR INFORMATION SHEET (please return at the time of your audition) Name Date of Birth (MM/DD/YY) / / Cell Phone Grade (2015-2016 school year) T-Shirt Size (Adult) Street Address City/State/Zip Student Email Address Parent/Guardian #1 Name Phone Parent/Guardian #1 Email Parent/Guardian #2 Name Phone Parent/Guardian #2 Email In the space below, please describe your past performing experience (theatre, music, dance, etc). Use the back of this sheet if necessary: Are there any roles/characters in the show that you are most interested in being considered for? If so, what are they? Are you willing to accept any role in the show? If no, please explain further. YES NO ************************************************************************************************************ PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE: I have read through the entire Seussical Jr production packet, and am fully aware of all that the production entails (auditions, rehearsal schedule, performance dates, etc). I have also proofread my student's conflict sheet to make sure everything is included. My son/daughter has my permission to take part in this production. (parent signature) (date) (print parent/guardian name) (phone) BE AWARE THAT THERE IS NO LATE/ACTIVITY BUS AVAILABLE ON FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION (pick-up @ 4:30) IF CALLED TO A FRIDAY REHEARSAL? YES NO
REHEARSAL CONFLICT SHEET (please return at the time of your audition) Name Please list all known rehearsal conflicts clearly on the lines below. Include any event (school, personal, religious, or otherwise) that would keep you from attending the scheduled rehearsal on any given day. Monday, February 29 Monday, April 25 Tuesday, March 1 Tuesday, April 26 Wednesday, March 2 Wednesday, April 27 Thursday, March 3 Thursday, April 28 Friday, March 4 Friday, April 29 (NO SCHOOL) Monday, March 7 (NO SCHOOL) Tuesday, March 8 Wednesday, March 9 Thursday, March 10 Friday, March 11 Monday, May 2 Tuesday, May 3 Wednesday, May 4 Thursday, May 5 Friday, May 6 Monday, March 14 Monday, May 9 (DRESS REHEARSAL) Tuesday, March 15 Tuesday, May 10 (DRESS REHEARSAL) Wednesday, March 16 Wednesday, May 11 (DRESS REHEARSAL) Thursday, March 17 Thursday, May 12 (PERFORMANCE @ 7:00) Friday, March 18 Friday, May 13 (PERFORMANCE @ 7:00) Saturday, May 14 (PERFORMANCE @ 7:00) Monday, March 21 Tuesday, March 22 Wednesday, March 23 Thursday, March 24 Friday, March 25 (NO SCHOOL) SPRING BREAK (March 26 through April 3) Monday, April 4 Tuesday, April 5 Wednesday, April 6 Thursday, April 7 Friday, April 8 TRANSPORTATION NOTE: Rehearsal will end at 4:25 each day in order to allow students time to catch the activity bus at 4:30. Students who do not plan to take the activity bus are expected to have timely and reliable transportation at 4:30 sharp, as the directors are unable to linger much past that to supervise due to other scheduling commitments. Please make sure that this isn t an issue for you before you audition. FRIDAY REHEARSALS: Monday, April 11 Tuesday, April 12 Wednesday, April 13 Thursday, April 14 Friday, April 15 Monday, April 18 Tuesday, April 19 Wednesday, April 20 Thursday, April 21 Friday, April 22 Rehearsals will occasionally be held on Fridays, but usually only for small groups of actors and almost never for the entire cast (except for possibly Friday, May 6). There is no activity/late bus on Fridays. Do you have reliable transportation on Fridays if you are called to rehearsal? This will not affect casting, just scheduling. :-) YES NO