Auditions Announced for MARY POPPINS at Cincinnati Music Theatre

Cincinnati Music Theatre is proud to announce auditions for MARY POPPIINS

Sunday and Monday, May 31st & June 1st, 2015
Clifton United Methodist Church, 3416 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati

AUDITIONS ARE BY APPOINTMENT.

Children’s auditions: Sunday, May 31 from 3-5:30pm,

Adult auditions:

• Sunday, May 31 from 7–10pm
•  Monday, June from 7–10pm

Please reserve your time as soon as possible by emailing Karen Sowards at ikarens@me.com or by calling 859.250.9410. Slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis, so include your 1st and 2nd choices for audition times.

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS, SO YOUR AUDITION TIME CAN BE CONFIRMED. AUDITION DETAILS AND FORMS WILL BE SENT TO YOU.
Walk-ins are welcome, but you must wait for the next available slot.

PLEASE PREPARE & PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR AUDITION:

• Appropriate shoes and clothing for a dance audition (dance tights/leotards or athletic gear and jazz/character or ballet shoes preferred;
• 16-32 bars of a Broadway-style ballad that best demonstrates your vocal range;
• Sheet music in the proper key with cuts marked. An accompanist will be provided (no CD’s, tapes or a cappella numbers);
• A copy of your resume and headshot.

Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00pm.

Rehearsals will tentatively begin in late August, 2015.

Production dates: November 13 – 21, 2015 at the Jarson-Kaplan Theatre of the Aronoff Center for The Arts. (9 performances)

PRODUCERS: Bill Geraghty and Karen Sowards;
DIRECTOR: Mark Femia
CHOREOGRAPHER: Julie Carroll Keeney;
VOCAL DIRECTOR: Kathy Kramer;
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Charlie Wilhelm

Character Breakdown

• ADMIRAL BOOM – A retired Royal Navy man and neighbor of the Banks family. A physically large man with a loud and booming voice, he speaks in Navy jargon and has a soft spot for his neighbor, Miss Lark. Can be any vocal range as needed. If Admiral Boom doubles as the Bank Chairman, he can be a baritone.
  Male, 50-60 yrs old
• BANK CHAIRMAN – The head of the bank where Mr. Banks is employed, is an Edwardian stuffed-shirt. He can speak/sing his lyrics if necessary. Male, 50-60 yrs old. Range: C3 – D4
• BERT –
  The narrator of the story, is a good friend to Mary Poppins. An everyman, Bert has many occupations, including hurdy-gurdy player, sidewalk artist and chimney sweep. Bert watches over the children as well as the goings on in Cherry Tree Lane. He has charm, speaks with a Cockney accent, and is a song-and-dance-man. Male, 30-39 yrs old. Range: B2 – F#4
• BIRD WOMAN – Covered in a patchwork of old shawls, and her pockets are stuffed with bags of crumbs for the birds. She tries to sell her crumbs for the birds. She tries to sell her crumbs to passerby, who ignore her as if she doesn’t exist. Sings “Feed the Birds.” There can be a gruff, folksy qulaity to her voice that reflects the hardness of her life. Female, 50-60 yrs old. Range: Gb3 – C5
• ENSEMBLE – Annie, Fannie, Valentine, Teddy Bear, Mr. Punch, Doll, Chimney Sweeps, Toys, Parkgoers
• GEORGE BANKS – The father to Jane and Michael Banks, is a banker to the very fiber of his being. Demanding “precision and order” in his household, he is a pipe-and-slippers man who doesn’t have much to do with his children and believes that he had the perfect upbringing by his nanny, the cruel Miss Andrew. His emotional armor, however, conceals a sensitive soul. A baritone, George may speak-sing as necessary. Male, 40-45 yrs old. Range: Bb2 – Eb4.
• JANE BANKS – The high-spirited daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, is bright and precocious but can be willful and inclined to snobbishness. Female, 11 yrs old. Range: A3 – F#5
• JOHN NORTHBROOK – An honest businessman seeking a loan to build a factory for his community. He speaks with an accent from Northern England. Male. 30-50 yrs old.
• KATIE NANNA – Jane and Michael’s nanny at the beginning of the show. Overwhelmed and upset, she has absolutely had her fill of the Banks children. Female, 30-40 yrs old.
• MARY POPPINS – Jane and Michael Banks’s new nanny. She is extraordinary and strange, neat and tidy, delightfully vain yet very particular, and sometimes a little frightening but always exciting. She is practically perfect in every way and always means what she says. A mezzo soprano with strong top notes, she should be able to move well. She can have a more traditional soprano sound, but precision and diction is the key. Female, 20-30 yrs old. Range: Gb3 – C6.
• MICHAEL BANKS – The cute and cheeky son of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Excitable and naughty, he adores his father and tries to be like him. Both he and Jane misbehave in order to get the attention of their parents.
  Male, 9 yrs old. Range: A3 – E5.
• MISS ANDREW – George’s overbearing and scary nanny. With her bottle of nasty-tasting brimstone and treacle to keep naughty children in line, she is a bully who only knows one way of doing things – her way. A soprano with an alto belt, there can be some heaviness to her voice along with the range. Female, 40-60 yrs old. Range: Gb3 – F5.
• MISS LARK – The haughty next-door neighbor of the Banks family who treats her dog, Willoughby, as if he were her child. Female, 30-40 yrs old.
• MISS SMYTHE – The Bank Chairman’s humorless secretary. Female, 40-50 yrs old.
• MRS. BRILL – The housekeeper and cook for the Banks family. Overworked and harassed, she’s always complaining that the house is understaffed. Her intimidating exterior is a cover for the warmth underneath. Mrs. Brill doesn’t have a high opinion of nannies in general and Mary Poppins in particular. She does not have to be a strong singer. Female, 50-60 yrs old. Range: F#3 – D#5.
• MRS. CORRY – Owns a magical gingerbread shop. She is a mysterious woman of great age who speaks with a Caribbean accent (or any accent that would make her seem exotic). Female, 40-50 yrs old
• NELEUS – The statue of a young boy posed with a dolphin in the park. Neleus was separated from his father, Poseidon, and misses him very much. A small and lonely being, he is very happy to befriend Jane and Michael. This role is a wonderful opportunity to feature one of the strong dancers in your ensemble.
  Male, 16-20 yrs old.
• PARK KEEPER – Uniformed and officious, he makes sure no one breaks park regulations. His life is defined by rules, but he secretly hankers after his childhood. Male, 40-60 yrs old
• POLICEMAN – A neighborhood fixture who is respected by and observant of the households on his beat.
  Male, 30-50 yrs old
• QUEEN VICTORIA – A statue in the park. Female, 40-60 yrs old
• ROBERTSON AY – The houseboy to the Banks family. Lazy, sleepy, and grumbling, he never gets things right and believes himself to be useless. He doesn’t do a lot of singing, but his “Spoonful” solo can be a fun surprise. Male, 20-30 yrs old. Range: F3 – G#4
• VON HUSSLER – A businessman seeking a loan from the bank for a shady business deal. He speaks with a German accent. Male, 30-50 yrs old
• WINIFRED BANKS – George’s wife and Jane and Michael’s mother. A former actress, she is a loving and distracted homemaker who is busy trying to live up to her husband’s desire to only associate with “the best people” as well as be a model wife and mother. She suffers from the conflicting feelings that she’s not up to the job of “being Mrs. Banks,” yet, she is, and more. She has a great warmth and simplicity to her tone.
  Female, 30-40 yrs old. Range: A3 – D5.

Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins delighted Broadway audiences for over 2,500 performances and received nominations for nine Olivier and seven TONY Awards, including Best Musical.

The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren’t the only ones she has a profound effect upon. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that “Anything can happen if you let it.”

– See more at: http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000329#sthash.aghzyICG.dpuf