Brownell Talbot Theatre has been blessed with an exciting season for this school year. Both the fall and spring productions will be musicals. It is important that families understand how the schedule will work this year. It is anticipated that the fall season will take place between August and November 3,2024. It is anticipated that the spring production will take place between January and April 2025.
Auditions: Auditions will be closed. This means only the audition judging panel and the human auditioning will be in the audition; no outside humans may come to observe auditions. A panel of experienced theatre adults will be adjudicating auditions using an audition rubric.
There will be three components to the auditions: 1) singing 2) dance and 3) reading.
- Singing: Students will come to auditions with 32 measures of a musical theatre song prepared and memorized. It is preferred that you also bring clearly marked sheet music for a school-provided accompanist to play along with your song; however, you may also use an accompaniment track. A cappella auditions are not permitted.
- Dance: Students will also have a dance audition that they will learn on-site.
- Reading: Students will do a reading audition of material that will be provided a week prior to auditions. Students may check out the reading piece.
There may be callbacks, which means that the casting panel would like to see certain actors again.
Casting: Casting will be based on how each student did with each aspect of their audition, if the role is best for the student and vision of the show, and their conflict schedule. Those cast in a role must be available from the first read through through the performance dates. Actors may have no more than three unexcused absences during the rehearsal period or they may forfeit their role in the show. Illness that prevents a student from attending school and other school activities are considered excused. Please note, not all roles are right for all students. While we have amazing young humans, we have limited leads. Each student in/or helping with a show is essential for the show to be its best. No person is more important than another as Brownell Talbot Theatre is a team. We are blessed to build a family with each show.
Tech: Brownell Talbot has robust technical theatre opportunities for our amazing young humans. Our parent volunteer technical director, Casey Garrigan, and Ms. Morgan will provide a time for tech interviews for students to articulate their interest in the tech side of our productions. Our technical theatre students will build, paint, design, light, sew, costume, and implement all aspects of the tech side of our productions. We will need many technicians for both main stage productions.
Hadestown: Hadestown gives our students an opportunity for a new level of rigor, expectations, and excellence. Due to the rider (contract) we signed in order to be able to perform this amazing production, Hadestown will have a set number for cast members of 16 students maximum in the show. While only 16 will be able to perform on stage, Hadestown will be a very heavy tech production, and we will need many, many students involved in the technical theatre aspects of the show. We will need hand stitchers, builders, painters, front of house and ticketing, ushers, dressers, lighting and sound technicians, stage manager, and more. In the past we have had 30-40 technical students assist in creating our productions. Due to the rider signed, this production will be a grades 9-12 production for casting and a grades 7-12 production for tech. Tentative performance dates are November 1-3, 2024.
James and The Giant Peach: James and the Giant Peach will be an all inclusive, student designed production. All students who audition will be cast in a role that best fits their audition. In addition to creating, students will also design the set, costumes, hair and makeup, lighting, sound, properties, sound, and projections. We will also have a student music director, student director, and student choreographer. All students who audition for James and the Giant Peach will have the opportunity to be on stage. This show will be a grades 7-12 production for casting and a grades 6-12 production for tech. Tentative performance dates are April 4-6, 2025.
The Dracula Haunting: Will He Ever Die? This production is the Rep Theatre Class One Act Competition Piece. It will be cast from the class roster and will be performed at the conference and district one act competition.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Upper School acting class is excited to perform this whimsical tale by William Shakespeare. They will be partnering with the traditional Fable Play students to create a fun frolic with fairies, queens, kings, and a hilarious group of traveling players. This show will be student directed and designed. Tentative performance dates are April 26 and 27, 2025.
Audition Workshop: Ms. Morgan and senior members of the Theatre Leadership Team will have an audition workshop on August 26, 2024, for all students planning to audition for any productions from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Students will have the opportunity to read the audition script, practice their songs on stage, and learn the audition dance. This will show students what to expect from a BT audition.
Auditions and Tech Interviews for the Extra Curricular Productions: Auditions and tech interviews for Hadestown and James and the Giant Peach will take place on August 27 and 28 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm with callbacks on August 29 in Swanson Auditorium. Those who cannot attend auditions/interviews will need to make an appointment with Ms. Morgan and Casey Garrigan.
Rehearsals: At Brownell Talbot we strive to collaborate and cooperate with numerous school activities so students can be a part of our theatre adventures, Music rehearsals for the fall semester will be after school while learning music. Students will receive a breakdown of rehearsal dates, who rehearses when, and when tech meets at the beginning of the first readthrough. Additionally, Ms. Morgan will create a show Veracross site where rehearsal reminders will be posted and parents will all receive the same information as the students.
Parent Volunteers: Parent volunteers are always welcome! We have building, painting, sewing, and more. Parents currently assist in organizing cast parties, providing meals for the cast and crew during tech weeks, ticketing, help build sets, and more.
