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Audition Notice
- Woodstock Musical Theatre Company announces open auditions for
their Fall 2008 production of
“Dames at Sea”.
Auditions:
July 27
& 28,
2008
 Dames
at Sea
Production Dates: October 3rd
- 25th, 2008
(Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays
at 3:00 pm)
George Haimsohn and Robin Miller. Music by Jim Wise.
4 m., 3 f., 2 extras.
A long run off Broadway musical based on the campy nostalgia of the
Hollywood musicals of the 30's. The scene is Big Time New York, and into
the scene wanders a sweet little girl from a faraway Hometown, who has
come to make it big on Broadway. When lo! who should she chance to meet
but the Hometown boy, now a sailor, who also has some ambitions as a
songwriter. The Hometown girl begins in the chorus, of course, while the
show's femme star makes goo goo eyes at the sailor and rocks the boat of
true love. But in Hollywood fashion the songwriter sailor will save the
show with a smash tune, and the Hometown girl will achieve stardom by
singing it on the deck of the battleship which happens to be passing by
for the occasion.
"An instant hit."-- UP. | "A winner! A gem
of a musical!"-- N.Y. Times. | Outer Circle Critics Award as best
musical of the year.
Chosen best musical of the year by Time, Look, Newsweek,
and N.Y. Post.
Artistic
Director – Kevin Wiczer
Musical Director - Jack Davis
Choreographer – Kara Williams
Production Coordinator – Janie
Czarny
Audition Dateses
“Dames at Sea” on n
Sunday,
and d
from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm in the Greenroom of the Woodstock Opera House
(121 W. Van Buren St, Woodstock, IL 60098). Please enter through
the Calhoun Street Stage Entrance. No appointment is needed, no parts are
pre-cast or paid.
Audition Procedure
Prepare 32 bars of an uptempo musical theatre song. An
accompanist will be provided. No cassettes or a capella please. In
addition, you will be taught a dance routine, so please wear comfortable
clothes and shoes you can dance in.
Casting Information
Artistic Director Kevin Wiczer, Vocal Director Jack Davis, and
Choreographer Kara Williams will cast 6-10 people for
this production. See our website for additional
information at
www.woodstocktheatre.com
Female Leads: Mona Kent, Joan & Ruby (stage age 18-40)
Male
Leads: Hennessey, the Captain, Dick & Lucky
(stage age 18-50)
Chorus:
2 women & 2 men (stage age 18-40)
Rehearsal Schedule
Rehearsals will take place in Woodstock four nights a week
beginning Thursday, July 31st.
Rehearsals will be
held in Woodstock either at the Opera House or the Storage And
Rehearsal Area (SARA) on Route 47 across from
K-Mart.
Fee Information
Costumes are supplied, in general actors supply their own shoes
and own make-up.
About the Show
Plot synopsis
In the early 1930s, a Broadway musical is in
rehearsal. Mona Kent is its temperamental diva star,
Joan a wise-cracking chorus girl, and Hennesy the
producer/manager. The naive Ruby arrives from
Utah, with "nothing but tap shoes in her suitcase
and a prayer in her heart"
[8], determined
to be a Broadway star. She promptly faints into the arms
of Dick, a sailor and aspiring song writer ("It's You").
Ruby gets a job in the chorus, but Hennesy informs the
cast that the theater must be torn down, and they must
find another place for the show. Joan and Lucky, another
sailor and her former boyfriend, renew their romance ("Choo-Choo
Honeymoon") while Ruby admits her feelings for Dick
("The Sailor of My Dreams"). Dick and Lucky persuade
their Captain to volunteer the use of their ship. Mona
recognizes the Captain as a former boyfriend. When Mona
kisses Dick, to persuade him to give her one of his
songs, Ruby sees and is despondent ("Raining In My
Heart"). Dick explains the misunderstanding and the
couple make-up. While rehearsing on the actual ship,
Mona becomes sea sick; Ruby steps in to save the show
and becomes a star. The three couples decide to marry
("Let's Have A Simple Wedding").
Other elements
The music is a mixture of parody, such as the torch
song ""That Mister Man", pastische ("Raining in My
Heart"), and the real thing. The joke was that, while spoofing the large, lavish
movie musicals, Dames at Sea did it with a cast
of six, 2 pianos and percussion, and a tiny stage.
Musical numbers (1968)
- Act I
- "Overture"
- "Wall Street"--Mona
- "It's You"--Dick and Ruby
- "Broadway Baby"--Dick
- "That Mister Of Mine"--Mona and Chorus
- "Choo-Choo Honeymoon"--Joan and Lucky
- "The Sailor of My Dreams"--Ruby
- "Singapore Sue"--Lucky and Company
- "Broadway Baby" (reprise)--Hennesy
- "Good Times Are Here To Stay"--Mona,
Joan and Company
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- Act II
- "Dames At Sea"--Company
- "The Beguine"--Mona and Captain
- "Raining In My Heart"--Ruby and Chorus
- "There's Something About You"--Dick and
Ruby
- "Raining In My Heart" (reprise)--Ruby
- "The Echo Waltz"--Mona, Joan, Ruby and
Company
- "Star Tar"--Ruby and Company
- "Let's Have A Simple Wedding"--Company
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Critical response
In his December 22, 1968, review in the
New York Times,
Clive Barnes wrote, "Dames At Sea is a real winner,
a little gem of a musical. The show is wonderfully
helped by its cast. The star I suppose is Bernadette
Peters as the wholly sweetly silly small-town chorine
who taps her way from the bus station to stardom in 24
hours."
Walter Kerr, in his Sunday Times feature
article, added "You'll find the show cheerful and
ingratiating, I think... Miss Peters is a real find...
She is extremely funny, and endearing on top of that."
Television
An adaptation for television starred
Ann-Margret as Ruby,
Ann Miller as Mona,
Anne Meara as Joan, Harvey Evans as Dick, and
Fred Gwynne as the Captain/Hennesy. It was
broadcast on the Bell System Family Theater on
NBC on November 15, 1971. The cast had extra chorus
girls and boys, and there were full production numbers,
turning into the very thing it was spoofing. Ann Miller
was singled out for praise, especially when "she was
allowed to tap out her brassy...temperamental star..."
Recording
The original off-Broadway Cast Recording was released
in 1969 by
Columbia Masterworks Records by
Sony. The Original London Cast Recording is also
available on CD.
Awards and nominations
-
Drama Desk Award
- Best Direction (Neal Kenyon) (winner)
- Outstanding Lyrics (George Haimsohn and Robin
Miller) (winner)
- Outstanding Performance (Bernadette Peters)
(winner)
-
Outer Critics Circle Award
- Best Off Broadway Musical (winner)
Contact Info
For further information, call Janie Czarny, Production
Coordinator at 815-354-0072.
Future Auditions
The Woodstock Opera House maintains an
audition list, which is made available to all companies producing shows
at the Opera House. Auditions commonly take place nine weeks from the
opening production. If you would like to be on the audition list and
receive all notices, please call the Administrative Office at the
Woodstock Opera House (815) 338-4212 or at
ophseofcmgr@woodstock-il.com.
Other Area Auditions
NICOTH.com Callboard, and
Chicago Craigslist.com. You may
also find other theatre companies' audition listings in these same
publications.
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