Category Archives: Family-Friendly

Open Auditions (Ages 6-14)
October 19th, 1pm-3pm

At Encore Performing Arts
3320 Tylersville Rd., Suite R
Fairfield Twp., OH 45011332

• Please prepare a 30 second cut of a song that best shows your vocal range, personality, and acting skills.
• Accompaniment not available. Please bring accompinantment (With NO words/voices in the background) on a phone or CD. Singing acapella is acceptable.
• Auditioners will be asked to learn and perform a short dance combination.
• Auditioners may be asked to do a cold reading from the script.

PERFORMANCE:
January 24th, 2020

CREATIVE TEAM:

• Vocal and Administrative Director- Carolyn Sigg
• Director- Alexandra Williams
• Choreographer- Kristin McSwain

REHEARSALS:
Rehearsals will start the week of October 20th. They are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings from 9-12am. Rehearsals will take place at Encore Performing Arts. Not all actors will be required to attend every rehearsal. A rehearsal schedule will be available at auditions.

QUESTIONS?
Email administrative director Carolyn Sigg at carolynsigg@gmail.com.

SYNOPSIS:
Based on the popular comic strip and adapted from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, with a beloved book and score by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, ANNIE JR. features everyone’s favorite little redhead in her very first adventure.

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts, despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Annie is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, finding a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

• Annie – Annie is a complex little girl. She is a tough, streetwise urchin who is nevertheless vulnerable when she thinks she might lose what has become most important to her: a newfound “family” who loves her. She has to be motherly in scene one, independent in scene two, overwhelmed in scenes four and five, needy in scene seven, and hopeful for the future in scenes ten and eleven. The actor who plays Annie must be strong vocally and musically. She must be capable of vocal projection without strain. She also needs a good understanding of subtext so she can act appropriately during the various scenes between Warbucks and Grace, and Miss Hannigan and Grace. Although she is at times aggressive or crafty, the audience should never doubt Annie is a friendly and caring child; she will go to any extent to gain the love of a family to which she can belong.
• The Orphans – Molly, Tessie, July, Duffy, Kate and Pepper. These girls are gritty, neglected and vulnerable, yet basically honest and potentially lovable. The actors portraying them must be able to have mischievous fun with each other as well as “sibling-style” fights. Each student should be able to create and shape her own character. Children auditioning for these roles need to have vocal strength and be visually expressive.
• Miss Hannigan – This woman is definitely a “has-been.” Her distaste for her job and the children that are part of it should be obvious in every line she speaks, every song she sings and every move she makes. She must have an excellent sense of comic timing.
• Grace Farrell – Grace is mature, calm, cool and “together.” She is classy and businesslike when dealing with Miss Hannigan and Warbucks, yet maternal toward Annie. The student playing Grace can set herself apart from the other characters simply by the sophisticated way she walks. Grace is ready with an answer for just about anything. Each dramatic situation should seem to come “under control” the moment she glides into a scene.
• Rooster – Rooster and Lily are quite the team — “team” being the operative word, as the characters play off each other constantly. You might consider casting students of contrasting heights. Rooster can even be shorter than Lily; after all, these two are not to be taken too seriously! Rooster is flashy and self-assured. His “moves” should be as smooth as a gambler’s, as should be the message he sells in “Easy Street.”
• Lily – Rooster and Lily are quite the team — “team” being the operative word, as the characters play off each other constantly. You might consider casting students of contrasting heights. Rooster can even be shorter than Lily; after all, these two are not to be taken too seriously! Lily (airhead that she is) is always distracted, although she manages to pick up on any conversation involving money. She never acts as the leader, always bringing up the rear while tripping over her own feet (it is difficult to walk and check your makeup in a compact at the same time).
• Warbucks – This may be the most challenging role for a student in this age group. He must appear middle-aged, self-assured and confident. At first awkwardly affectionate toward Annie, he soon finds himself completely charmed by her. He begins his transformation when he views “N.Y.C.” through Annie’s eyes and falls in love with the city again…and with her.
• Sandy – In this production, Sandy is played by a human. Sandy is Annie’s canine friend and scrappy in her own right. This dog also has to sing.
• Servants (Drake, Mrs. Greer and Mrs. Pugh) – From the moment these characters enter the acting area, their presence, posture and speech should suggest the most fastidious of domestic help. (Your actors will have fun perfecting the precision steps, nods and curtsies.) Their heads are always held high and they rarely show their emotions.
• Additional Characters
  The most important qualities to look for in casting the remaining roles are vocal accuracy and the ability to develop a character. Each role is self-explanatory and usually identified by the character’s occupation. Help your students develop these characters in the context of the historical time period. Students that are more comfortable performing in groups (without solo singing) might be cast as servants, pedestrians, Bundles, the chauffeur, Louis Howe, the apple seller and the dogcatcher.

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