Auditions at Theatre 29 for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”

Twentynine Palms, Ca: Auditions for the fifth production of Theatre 29’s 2010 season, the new musical comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, have been scheduled for Monday, July 5th at 7:00pm on the Main Stage at the John Calveri Theater at 73637 Sullivan Road, across from Barr Lumber in Twentynine Palms. This musical comedy, winner of two 2005 Tony awards, the story features six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. It will take the stage for five weeks beginning August 27th through September 25th.  Veteran director Kathryn Ferguson will be seeking a cast of nine singer/actors for this fast paced production. The six “child” roles will be played by adults (as originally conceived on Broadway). There are no roles for children under the age of 18. The roles being cast are:

William Barfee- Eb3 - Bb4 (Tenor) Insecure, a little bit of a bully, can only breathe from one nostril and has severe allergies. A finalist in last year’s Bee, he was disqualified for a health-related incident, an event he is all too familiar with.

Olive Ostrovsky- B3 - F#5 (Soprano) Little Girl Lost, result of inattentive parenting. Sweet, Naïve. Her mom’s in an ashram in India. Her dad promises that, this time, he’ll try to make it. Her best friend is the dictionary.

Leaf Coneybear- A2 - G4 (Baritenor) Preferable red head, marches to his own drummer, a bit spacy. As just the second runner-up in his district’s Bee, he really shouldn’t be here. He makes his own clothes.

Marcy Park- B3 - E5 (Soprano/Mezzo-soprano) Chronic over-acheiver, excels at anything she attempts, but finds no joy in the success. She made it all the way to ninth place in Nationals last year. She sleeps three hours a night.

Loggaine Schwartzandgrubenierre- C4 - D5 (Soprano) A very young politico, vocal, opinionated, but craving acceptance. Must be able to do convincing lisp. The youngest of the competitors, her stage fathers would make Mama Rose blush.

Chip Tolentino- C3 - B4 (Tenor) Boy Scout, the “stud” of the bee. Outward confidence masks inward fears. Last year’s Putnam County champ is beginning to learn the ups and downs of puberty.

Mitch Mahoney- E3 - A4 (B4) (Tenor) Preferrably African-American, confident sexy, dangerous but with a good heart. Sings R&B/Gospel attitude songs. Fulfilling his community service, this former felon is now the Bee’s Comfort Counselor, handing out juice boxes and a dose of reality to the losers.

Vice Principal Douglas Panch- Must have deadpan comedic timing. Non-Singing Role, The “incident” of five years ago almost forgotten, this Lake Hemingway-Dos Passos Junior High Vice Principal is now in a better place, thanks to a high-fiber diet and Jungian analysis.

Rona Lisa Peretti-C#4 - Ab5 (Soprano) Strong singer, consummate professional, she is the big “bee”. This former Spelling Bee champ is not only the county’s top realtor, she also runs a highly lucrative e-Bay business, selling sensible pumps at sensible prices.

Please come to audition prepared with either a karaoke tape or professional backing track as accompaniment, (No background vocals, please!) as there will be no live accompaniment available. Dress to move. Be prepared for cold reading, pre-selected sides are available for review on our website: www.theatre29.com, choose the “Auditions” tab and follow the links. Music samples from the production are also available on that page. Also seeking technical support in stagehand and set construction capacities and volunteer “Audience Wrangers” as the show is audience participatory. For more information, contact the director, Kathryn Ferguson via email at theatre29programs@msn.com or call the Box Office at (760) 361-4151.

 

©2009 Theatre 29, 73637 Sullivan Rd, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277. For tickets, call 760.361.4151.
 

COLD READ SIDES

SIDE ONE
Rona, Olive, Chip, Marcy, Schwarzy, Barfee, Coneybear, Panch

SIDE TWO
Panch, Rona, Marcy, Chip

SIDE THREE
Panch, Rona, Olive, Coneybear, Barfee, Schwarzy, Chip

SIDE FOUR
Barfee, Chip, Olive, Rona, Marcy, Coneybear, Schwarzy

SIDE FIVE
Marcy, Jesus (Chip)

SIDE SIX
Panch, Barfee, Schwarzy, Rona

SIDE SEVEN
Coneybear (Carl Dad), Mitch (Dan Dad), Schwarzy, Panch, Rona

SIDE EIGHT
Mitch

Sample Music from Show

The Full Original Off-Broadway Cast Album is available to purchase on ITunes

Preparing a song for musical audition

Choose a song that has a similar musical flavor as the show you are auditioning for. (For instance: don’t perform your favorite rock song for a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical audition)

Choose your song as a piece you sing the best, not your favorite song on the radio. Unless you can pull off Beyonce’, it will not showcase your individual talents to sing a piece outside your range or level of talent.

Be Prepared: If you want to work in musicals, work up several songs that you do well and have performance backing tracks for them or sheet music. Being unprepared to sing will ensure you do not get cast.

Not sure where to get tracks? A great site online is hamienet.com where you can download just about anything. They are midi, but, you only need 16 to 18 bars.