Mercury Theatre Company Announces the 2019 Season Auditions AUDITION DATES/TIME: Saturday, March 16 10:00-12:00 and 5:00-8:00 (Mainstage Season Auditions by Appointment Only) Sunday, March 17 10:00-12:00 (Mainstage Season Auditions by Appointment Only) 12:00 (Munchkin Auditions Only.) 2:00 (My Mercury! Placement Auditions. No appointment necessary) 6:00 Callbacks by appointment LOCATION: Notre Dame College 1851 South Green Road South Euclid, OH 44121 Auditions will be held in the PAC, basement of Admin. Building. The 2019 Mercury Theatre Company Season Mamma Mia: June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23 My Mercury! presents Mary Poppins Jr.: June 29 and 30 Chaplin: July 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21 The Wizard of Oz: August 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18 APPOINTMENTS: Mainstage Season Audition appointments will be accepted starting Monday, January 21 at 9:00 am. If you are unable to attend the audition dates scheduled, recorded auditions are accepted by March 15, at 5 pm. Video links may be emailed to auditions@mercurytheatrecompany.org<mailto:auditions@mercurytheatrecompany.org>. No appointments necessary for My Mercury! Please arrive at 2 pm on Sunday, March 17. If a youth auditioning for My Mercury! is interested in being considered for a mainstage show, check the appropriate box on the audition form. Call: 216.771.5862 for audition appointment, further information, or with questions. AUDITION PREPARATION: Please prepare one short (32-bar) musical selection of your choice; bring sheet music in the correct key; an accompanist will be provided. If needed, you may be asked to sing an additional selection. Headshots and resumes will be accepted at the audition. My Mercury! Placement Auditions: Please prepare one short musical selection; bring sheet music in the correct key. Headshots and resumes will be accepted at the audition. Munchkin Auditions: To qualify, you must be ages eight and up, and 4’ 6” tall or under. Actors will be taught a short selection of Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead to sing and dance. No preparation needed. Headshots and resumes will be accepted at the audition. COMPENSATION: All 2019 Company Member over the age of 18 are paid. Salaries range from per-show stipend of $125.00 for non-Company Member actors to full season competitive salaries for 2019 Interns/Company Members. CASTING REQUIREMENTS: Non-Equity only. Please email auditions@mercurytheatrecompany.org<mailto:auditions@mercurytheatrecompany.org> for details. Mercury Theatre Company is committed to non-traditional casting. Actors will be cast solely on the basis of talent, except in cases where age, race or physical ability are essential to the role. Ages listed in breakdowns are "character ages" not actor ages. Actors selected for casting may be cast in more than one production for the season. 2019 SEASON BREAKDOWNS Mamma Mia! Music and Lyrics by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus And Some Songs with Stig Anderson Book by Catherine Johnson Over 60 million people all around the globe have fallen in love with the story and the music that makes MAMMA MIA! the ultimate feel-good musical. And now, in a stunning new production just for Mercury audiences, we invite you to fall in love all over again! ABBA’s greatest hits are woven into this dancing-in-the-aisles musical about a mother, a daughter, three possible dads – and a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget. A celebration of love, laughter, family and friendship, MAMMA MIA! is exactly what the world needs right now. Rehearsals begin the week of May 20. All rehearsals are Monday through Friday 6:30-10:30 and Saturdays 11:00-5:00. Sundays are the day off. Performances are June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23. Thursdays at 7:00 PM, Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All roles are open except Donna Sheridan, Rosie Mulligan and Harry Bright. SEEKING: SOPHIE: Female (18-25) A very special young woman who is determined to find the romance and happiness she feels eluded her mother. Has a wild, zany spirit even though she pursues a conventional marriage. Pop Soprano or Alto/Mezzo. TAYNA: Female (Late 30s-early 40s) A former singer in the “Dynamos”. Rich, sophisticated, acerbic, funny, and witty. Alto/Mezzo. SAM CARMICHAEL: Male (35-45) May be Sophie’s father. Left Donna 20 years ago because he was engaged to another woman. Charming, successful architect. Actor who sings. Bari tenor. BILL AUSTIN: Male (35-45) May be Sophie’s father. A travel writer with no possessions or strings. Good-natured, always ready for adventure. Funny, preferably a big or imposing man. Should be a very good actor who sings. High Baritone. SKY: Male (18-25) Sophie’s fiancé. Athletic, attractive – has given up his life as a successful young businessman in order to make over Donna’s taverna and marry Sophie. Tenor, must sing up to a Ab4. PEPPER: Male (18-25) Loves women and always flirting. Handsome and in great physical shape. Sexually charged and devil may care. Works at the taverna alongside Sky and Eddie running the taverna. Pop Baritone/Tenor with Acro skills. EDDIE: Male (18-25) Good friend of Sky’s. Dry sense of humor. Laid back dude. Works at the taverna alongside Sky and Pepper. Character actor. ALI: Female (18-25) Sophie’s good friend who arrives to be one of the bridesmaids. High energy and fun. Should contrast to Sophie and Lisa. Pop Mezzo-Soprano strong belter. LISA: Female (18-25) Sophie’s friend who arrives to be one of the bridesmaids. Very energetic, kooky and stylish. Pop Mezzo-Soprano, song belter. ENSEMBLE: Seeking 7 Male Ensemble and 6 Female Ensemble. CHAPLIN Music and Lyrics by Christopher Curtis Book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan Direct from Broadway and with special permission from the author, CHAPLIN is the showbiz musical about the silent film legend the world couldn’t stop talking about. From the slums of London to the heights of Hollywood, CHAPLIN is based on the real-life story of Charlie Chaplin, the iconic film actor, writer, producer and director. Dramatizing the making of Chaplin’s legendary films, including The Kid, The Circus, Modern Times and The Great Dictator, CHAPLIN tells the touching story of the man who makes the world laugh as his legendary screen persona, the Tramp, but struggles to find his own real-life happiness. Rehearsals begin the week of June 7. All rehearsals are Monday through Friday 6:30-10:30 and Saturdays 11:00-5:00. Sundays are the day off. Performances are July 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21. Thursdays at 7:00 PM, Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All roles are open except Charlie Chaplin and Hedda Hopper. SEEKING: YOUNG CHARLIE /JACKIE COOGAN: Male (7-12) From the moment this child walks onstage at age 5 – he is destined for greatness. His connection to the audience is instantaneous. He sings, dances and suffers great sorrow when he returns to his mother after getting out of the County Home to find she no longer recognizes him. He later plays Jackie Coogan, the famous child actor who co-starred in “The Kid” with Chaplin and the Usher. He must be adorable, charming and funny yet have great depth as well. Strong natural singer, unchanged voice. SYDNEY CHAPLIN: Male (18-30) Charlie’s brother, performing partner, and business manager. He sticks by Charlie through thick and thin, through marriages and women far too young and through political upheavals and exile. Sydney serves as a reminder of what little good their childhood had to offer and, until Oona arrives on the scene, the only one Charlie can truly count on no matter what. Tenor/bari-tenor. YOUNG SYDNEY: Male (12-15) Charlie’s older teen brother. Strong natural singer. HANNAH CHAPLIN: Female (20-30) Charlie’s mother. She is his inspiration – and also his first abandonment. We first meet her as an angelic creature on the Music Hall stage but she soon deteriorates rapidly into a very troubled woman who cannot fend for her or her boys. Because she could not afford to keep their flat, Charlie and his brother Sydney are carted away to the horrible Hanwell Orphanage. Hannah promised she’d return to get them but she never did. Once Charlie is finally released, he runs to his mother who no longer recognizes him. Hannah spent the rest of her life in and out of asylums much to Charlie’s disgrace. Once Charlie found fame in Hollywood, his brother Sydney kept imploring him to bring Mum over from London. Time and again, Charlie keeps promising, “After this picture is finished.” Once he finally brings her over, he barely visits her. She is the source of his first inspiration as well as his greatest humiliation. Mezzo/belt MACK SENNETT: Male (40-65) A baritone, the master of his Keystone universe – the rather arrogant yet perfectly knowledgeable creator of a factory of short, slapstick films. He finds Charlie in Vaudeville and gives him his first break in pictures. He helps market the Little Tramp to unparalleled fame and then loses Charlie to other studios. ALF REEVES: Male (20-30) A clever, intuitive, fields phone calls and starlet requests brilliantly – and knows Charlie sometimes better than Chaplin knows himself. Must have strong comedic timing. OONA O’NEIL: Female (20-30) A wannabe actress who meets Charlie when she turns up late for an audition. Shortly thereafter, she gives up her aspirations for a career in Hollywood and becomes the first woman to appreciate Charlie for who and not what he is. Their love is true from the start and she forces him to see that love, home and family are more important than the adoration of audiences all around the world. When Charlie makes a last-ditch effort to become the Tramp one more time, Oona has to fight hard to make him see that his Tramp years were wonderful for what they were but that they cannot last forever. He must let go of his past to move on to his present with her and his future as the man born of film legend who will never be forgotten. Soprano ENSEMBLE: Seeking 6 Male Ensemble and 6 Female Ensemble. THE WIZARD OF OZ By L. Frank Baum With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg Background Music by Herbert Stothart Dance and Vocal Arrangements by Peter Howard Orchestration by Larry Wilcox Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company Based upon the Classic Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Warner Bros. See Oz like you've never seen it before! When farm girl Dorothy Gale runs away from the evil Miss Gulch, she finds herself lost in a strange and wonderful new world. With her faithful dog Toto at her side, she sets off on an adventure to find her way back home. THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of the most popular tales of all time celebrating its 80th cinematic anniversary that has delighted generations. In a bold yet faithful reimagining, directed by Artistic Director Pierre Brault, this spectacular production features your favorite songs and characters from the classic film with an added sprinkle of Mercury magic. Join us somewhere over the rainbow for a fantastic festive treat… Rehearsals begin July 8. All rehearsals are Monday through Friday 6:30-10:30 and Saturdays 11:00-5:00. Sundays are the day off. Performances are August 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18. Thursdays at 7:00 PM, Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All roles are open. Seeking: DOROTHY GALE: Young innocent girl with a tendency to find trouble. Loves her family, friends, and her dog, Toto. Anticipate casting someone between the age of 12 and 22. Soprano (Range G to C) THE SCARECROW/HUNK: Gender neutral; who is also a strong singer/dancer with an "honest" quality, a sympathetic and optimistic friend, lovable and clumsy, must be an excellent dancer, acrobatic skills preferred. THE TINMAN/HICKORY: Gender neutral; singer/strong dancer, charming and thoughtful, a kind-hearted romantic. THE COWARDLY LION/ZEKE: Gender neutral; singer who also moves well on stage, cuddly actor with excellent comic timing. THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST/ALMIRA GULCH: vengeful, nasty and hungry for power. GLINDA/AUNT EM: strong singer, "beautiful, benevolent and beloved," a very maternal figure. UNCLE HENRY/THE GATEKEEPER: a good-hearted and plain-speaking man, hard-working and an affectionate family man. THE WIZARD OF OZ/PROFESSOR MARVEL: Gender neutral; character role, an older figure with a theatrical, eccentric flair. THE MUNCHKINS: the little people of Munchkinland, long oppressed, they are happy to be freed by Dorothy, group singing and movement are required. Must be ages eight and up, 4’ 6” tall and under for Munchkin roles. Actors will be taught a short selection from Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead to sing and dance. No preparation needed. Headshots and resumes will be accepted at the audition. ENSEMBLE: Seeking 6 Male Ensemble and 6 Female Ensemble. My Mercury! presents Mary Poppins Jr. Explore all aspects of the theatre with other teens who love the stage as much as you do! My Mercury! Theatre Intensive is the arts camp that is more than a traditional summer camp. Designed for students 10-19, the program is a comprehensive, one-week 9:00am-4:00pm intensive June 24 through June 30, 2019, in which students get a chance to hone their skills in a fast-paced, creative environment while rehearsing and performing in Mary Poppins JR. Each student will not only STAR onstage in the production, but also will also contribute to the direction, choreography, set, lighting and costume design of the production. Students will be assigned a mentor from the Mercury Theatre Company 2019 Staff and will work as assistants on a specific “behind-the-scenes” area of their interest. My Mercury! is designed to instill in aspiring thespians a deeper understanding about producing and participating in a first-class musical with working professionals. Tuition for My Mercury! is $200.00 and space is limited. All interested campers must audition for placement. Tuition includes one ticket for the teen night of each musical. Scripts will only be handed out at the first teen night for Mamma Mia (June 20th). Each of the teen nights will incorporate team building as well as parties. Each student will be a required attendance as well as participation in the South Euclid Memorial Day Parade. The tuition cost of $200.00 which includes one ticket to all mainstage shows, a camp t-shirt and headshot. A $25 non-refundable deposit is due at the time of auditions. Mercury Theatre Company 216.771.5862 www.mercurytheatrecompany.org