“1776” auditions March 11, 13 at Arlene’s Broadway on Buffalo Before there was “Hamilton,” there was “1776”... Arlene’s Broadway on Buffalo, 236 Buffalo St., Conneaut, OH, will host auditions for the musical “1776” Saturday, March 11 from 2-4 p.m. and Monday, March 13, from 6-8 p.m. Performance dates for the show are June 30, July 1-2 and 7-9. From Wikipedia: "1776 is a musical with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and a book by Peter Stone. The story is based on the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It dramatizes the efforts of John Adams to persuade his colleagues to vote for American independence and to sign the document." The musical features a bevy of great male roles, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, and a pair of featured female roles (Martha Jefferson and Abigail Adams.) It is filled with comedy and poignant drama as the founding fathers who are trying to agree on the founding of a nation can't even agree whether to open the window at Independence Hall. It features many memorable songs, including "Sit Down, John," "Mama Look Sharp" and "The Egg." No roles have been precast. Directors are Melissa and Sydne Nielsen. “The Glass Menagerie” auditions March 11-13 at ABOB Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" has been added to the 2017 ABOB season. It will run June 9-11 and 16-17. It is one of the true masterpieces of playwriting, and each role in the four-person cast is a challenge for actors. Auditions will be at the theater Saturday, March 11, from 2-4 p.m. and Monday, March 13, from 6-8 p.m.; readings will be from the script. Director is Clay Nielsen. The play, written in 1945, was just revived on Broadway with Sally Field in the role of the mother, Amanda. From Wikipedia: "The play is introduced to the audience by Tom, the narrator and protagonist, as a memory play based on his recollection of his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Because the play is based on memory, Tom cautions the audience that what they see may not be precisely what happened. Amanda Wingfield, a faded Southern belle of middle age, shares a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son Tom, in his early twenties, and his slightly older sister, Laura. Although she is a survivor and a pragmatist, Amanda yearns for the comforts and admiration she remembers from her days as a fêted debutante. She worries especially about the future of her daughter Laura, a young woman with a limp (an aftereffect of a bout of polio) and a tremulous insecurity about the outside world. Tom works in a shoe warehouse doing his best to support the family. He chafes under the banality and boredom of everyday life and struggles to write, while spending much of his spare time going to the movies — or so he says — at all hours of the night. Amanda is obsessed with finding a suitor (or, as she puts it, a "gentleman caller") for Laura, whose crippling shyness has led her to drop out of both high school and a subsequent secretarial course, and who spends much of her time polishing and arranging her collection of little glass animals. Pressured by his mother to help find a caller for Laura, Tom invites an acquaintance from work named Jim home for dinner.” “HONK JR.” youth show opens March 10 at ABOB ABOB’s spring youth show, Honk Jr., will debut March 10 at the theater, 236 Buffalo St., Conneaut, OH. Featuring a cast of more than 30 children, the musical tells the story of the ugly duckling. The show is a joint project between ABOB, the Conneaut Arts Center and the Conneaut Rotary Club. The show continues on stage March 11-12 and 17-19. Show times are 7:30 p.m. for the Friday and Saturday shows, 2:30 for the Sunday shows. The doors open 45 minutes prior to the performance. Tickets are $8 adults, $7 seniors and $6 for students. Call the Conneaut Arts Center or ABOB, 440-599-PLAY (7529) for reservations. Directors are Kirsten Emerson and Pam Simpson.