[NEohioPAL] Auditioning NOW for FINIAN'S RAINBOW at NWT Large Multi-Racial/Cultural Cast

[RNavisjr at aol.com]

AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENT:           
 
Finian's   
Rainbow 









In this time of growing national spotlight on issues of power, race and  
privilege, Near West Theatre's 
Season 2008-2009 offers three major musicals spanning six decades of  
American Musical Theater: Finian’s  Rainbow (1947), Sweeney Todd (1979) and Once On 
This Island (1990). All three of these shows  dare to mix humor, politics 
social justice and entertainment. Age-old struggles  against prejudice, classism, 
stereotyping, discrimination and violence to the  human body and psyche provide 
the tension/guts/realism of these shows, while  magic, myth and legend 
abound. They will each take a large, diverse cast of  actors to bring to life and 
will challenge Near West Theatre to expand our  relationships with people of all 
ages, races and ethnic backgrounds. 
AUDITION DATES FOR FINIAN'S  RAINBOW:
SEPTEMBER 2, 3 & 4
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. – Children, Ages  7-12
7:30 – 10:30 p.m. – Teens and Adults, 13 &  up

AUDITIONS HELD AT:
ST. PATRICK'S CLUB BUILDING
3606  Bridge Ave,  Cleveland, OH  44113
ALL  ROLES OPEN
(No  pre-casting, ever!)
WE ARE LOOKING TO CAST A LARGE, MULTI-RACIAL SINGING AND  DANCING COMPANY OF 
PERFORMERS
7  ROLES FOR BLACK ACTORS - 9 ROLES FOR NON-BLACK ACTORS
GREAT  ENSEMBLE PIECE!
NWT holds group auditions in a relaxed and friendly  atmosphere that require 
no preparation.  Actors of all experience levels are led through multiple 
improvisational  exercises providing every participant equal opportunity to create 
through word,  movement and song.  Audition focuses  on the creative process 
not the product. On working as an ensemble, not solo.  After this first level 
audition, callbacks will focus on individual  roles/songs and working from the 
script
All  individuals should arrive 15 minutes before starting time to  register.  
Auditions begin promptly at the designated time. Anyone arriving after the  
starting time will be asked to audition at the next scheduled time. 
Participants  should wear comfortable clothing that doesn't restrict movement and 
appropriate  shoes for dancing. For information, call NWT's Business Office,  
216-961-9750.   
Rehearsals Begin SUNDAY, Sept  21
Show runs Nov 21 thru Dec  7

Production Staff as of this  posting
Director/Musical Director….Bob  Navis Jr
Choreographer…….Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek
Asst  Choreographer......Kristy Cruz

Scenic & Lighting Designer………Cory  Molner
Costume Designer…….Deb  Clark
Sound Designer……..Rob  Horn
Stage Manager/Props  Designer.....Scott Zolkowski


CASTING CALL – ROLES:
The following descriptions of the characters in this play  are taken from 
the Tams-Witmark script. This is offered as a general  character list, not 
necessarily as
a reflection of the Director’s “take” on these  characters.


FINIAN MCLONERGAN
Completely Irish. Father of Sharon. He is  traveling  in America  seeking his 
fortune by looking for a place to invest  some gold, which he has "borrowed"  
from a leprechaun at  home.

SHARON  MCLONERGAN 
A lovely young Irish colleen traveling with her father  and wise to his ways.

WOODY MAHONEY  
A  young American, recently returned to Rainbow Valley from a hitch in the 
Merchant  Marines.

SUSAN MAHONEY                                            
Woody's mute sister, a  dancer.

OG 
A  leprechaun becoming mortal following Finian's trail to recover the 
"borrowed"  (magic) gold.

SENATOR BILLBOARD RAWKINS 
The  proto-typical southern politician, orator and barbershop baritone.

BUZZ COLLINS 
A  dapper, cigar-smoking character with a derby hat and a nervous manner.  
"Stooge" for the Senator.

SUNNY 
A blind, harmonica- playing sharecropper.  Non-speaking.

SHERIFF (Chick)  
A small, plump man who wears a ten-gallon hat and speaks  with a slow-whining 
delivery.


HENRY 
A small black boy who "reads" Susan's dance steps; he is  a sharecropper's 
kid.

HOWARD
A black college student seeking summer  employment.

TWO GEOLOGISTS 
Young men, one black, named Bill, a one white, who are  performing a 
geological survey of Rainbow Valley.

JOHN 
A black preacher and  sharecropper.

MR. SHEARS AND MR ROBUST 
Businessmen. One tall and lean, one short and  squat.

THREE GOSPELLERS                                     
The Passion  Pilgrim Gospeleers, a black male quartet minus one  baritone.

GIRL  
Messenger to Finian in the last  scene.

& 30-40 SHARECROPPERS, TOBACCO WORKERS AND  THEIR
CHILDREN. (The Singing and Dancing Company!!!)                                
                 
2008 FALL INTERGENERATIONAL SHOW at Near West  Theatre 
FINIAN'S RAINBOW 
"When the idle poor become the idle rich, You'll never  know just who is who 
or who is which. 
Won't it be rich, when everyone's poor relative becomes a  Rockafellertive 
and palms no longer itch? 
What a switch!?" - When The Idle Poor Become the Idle  Rich 
This delightful fantasy about a crock of gold, an  Irishman and his young 
daughter and….a leprechaun!.... is cleverly combined with  social-conscious 
conflicts in America involving sharecroppers, labor  exploitation, race prejudice, 
the poll tax, right-wing reaction and the greed  for gold that lurks in most 
people's hearts.  The setting is the mythical town of  Rainbow  Valley in the 
Southern  American state of Missitucky. The show's composer Burton Lane has  
commented: "I love what the show has to say. What it does is to take a very  
serious subject, racial discrimination, and treat it the way a child would.  A 
child has no racial prejudice, and Og,  the leprechaun, is a child. When Og 
meets the bigoted senator, who is fuming  because he has been turned Black, he 
says to him, 'I think it's very becoming…I  was green a few weeks ago.  Don't  
you find an occasional change of color interesting?" The remarkable score  
includes "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", "Look To The Rainbow" and "Old Devil  
Moon". 
FOR FURTHER INFO 
Call Bob Navis Jr, Director at 216-281-6879   or email at RNavisjr at aol.com  
or 
Call the NWT Office at  216-961-9750 
NWT proudly recognizes the 2008 Season Sponsorship of  Today’s Soft Rock,  
WDOK 102.1 FM and leadership support by the Cuyahoga County  residents 
through  Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, The Cleveland  Foundation, Ohio Arts 
Council,   
The George Gund Foundation and Community  Shares.




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