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College Theater will hold auditions for its spring production of The Slabtown District Convention 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Pardee Hall room 120. The play will be performed March 1-4, 2006. Questions should be addressed to the director, Samuel Hay, visiting professor of government and law, at hays or x5588.
The Marquis Players will hold auditions for its spring musical Once Upon a Mattress 7-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 9-10 in the Farinon Center Marlo Room. The play will be staged March 31 and April 1-2. Questions should be addressed to director Benji Berlow ’06 (Palmerton, Pa.), a double major in psychology and Jewish studies.
Students auditioning for The Slabtown District Convention should prepare a one-minute monologue and will be asked to dance to jazz music and do cold readings. Scripts will be available for 24-hour perusal at the Williams Center for the Arts room 132. Callbacks will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in Pardee Hall room 120.
The Slabtown District Convention is based on the writings of Nannie Helen Burroughs, one of the founders of the Women’s Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention. Hay’s lively and tuneful new adaptation includes musical collaboration by Skip Wilkins, assistant professor of music. The cast includes one man and five women.
Charles Leroy, 48, leader of a jazz combo, is an excellent dancer and handsome showman with an outgoing personality. Baby Ruth, 60, is the attractive president of the Slabtown District Convention and is a candidate for re-election. She is an excellent dancer and orator with a cheerful personality.Mae Belle, 58, is a candidate for the presidency of the Slabtown District Convention. A good dancer and acceptable orator, she is a well-balanced, efficient, and spiritual person. Georgia Mae, 55, is Mae Belle’s campaign manager for her bid in the Slabtown District Convention presidential race. She is temperamental, mean, obnoxious, conniving, and foul-mouthed. Josie, 63, is the pompous vice president of the Slabtown District Convention. She thinks that she is an excellent orator, and she is mean, jealous, and very ambitious. Catherine, 60, is Baby Ruth’s re-election campaign manager and sergeant-at-arms for the Slabtown District Convention. Organized and detail-oriented, she can be tough when she needs to be and is quietly ambitious.
Students auditioning for Once Upon a Mattress should wear comfortable clothes for dancing. They will be asked to sing a Broadway or musical theater-style song a cappella or accompanied by the student’s own CD. Students should be prepared to stay the entire two hours. If needed, callbacks will be at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11.
Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, and Dean Fuller’s Once Upon a Mattress is a spin on the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Princess and the Pea.” When a curse renders King Sextimus unable to speak, the domineering Queen Aggravain takes charge of the kingdom. She insists that any potential bride for Prince Dauntless pass an impossible exam designed to ferret out true royalty. Twelve women have already failed when the courageous and sincere Winnifred swims the moat to reach the castle and vie for the prince’s affections. What follows is a tongue-in-cheek battle of wills.
The Marquis Players is a student-organized acting troupe that gives students the opportunity to gain experience in the many facets of theater production. All proceeds from its shows are donated to charity. In 2005, the Marquis Players raised $7,700 for charities such as American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Safe Harbor, and SPCA.