Tag Archives: Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre

March 7, 2018 · 11:11 am

Auditions Announced for O BEAUTIFUL and SHREK The Musical at Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre

CAST_logoCAST is committed to casting incoming high school freshmen through just graduated seniors.  No roles are pre-cast.  All production areas are open to students, including orchestra.

Sat, March 10 from 2-5pm. Click here to reserve an audition time.
Sat, March 17 from 10am-1pm. Click here to reserve an audition time.

At Highlands High School in Ft. Thomas, KY.

Auditions are by appointment only.
You only need one appointment even if you are auditioning for more than one production.

Audition Requirements:

  • All applicants and auditionees are required to fill out paperwork prior to auditioning or interviewing.
  • All forms are located here.

For the Musical:

  • 32-measure excerpt from a Broadway show that showcases your vocal talents.

  • An accompanist, iPod/phone connection, and CD player will be provided.  If you intend on using the accompanist, please provide a clearly marked score that is either hole-punched or placed in a three-ring binder.  A cappella singing is strongly discouraged.

  • A memorized 45 second to 1-minute monologue from a play

  • Review and learn the dance from the video (video available here).

  • Please remember the dance audition is not a commentary on your dancing skills. We are not just assessing your dance ability. We are assessing your ability of comprehension, your acting while dancing and, most of all, your willingness to have fun.

  • There will be a voluntary dance workshop to brush up on the video for anyone interested for 30 minutes prior to auditions starting on the days of auditions.

  • A synopsis can be found here.

  • A character breakdown of the show can be here

For the Play:

O BEAUTIFUL runs June 29-July 8
SHREK the Musical runs July 13-22

Official audition page |

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February 19, 2018 · 12:09 pm

Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre (CAST) Announces Summer Season, Community Partnership, And First Grant

CAST_logoAfter six years presenting summer musicals under the Ft. Thomas Independent Schools umbrella, Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre (CAST) is now a year-round nonprofit youth theatre organization and is starting its first season with three exciting announcements.

SUMMER SEASON
CAST productions are open to all incoming freshmen through graduating seniors in ANY high school in our region. To give even more students the opportunity to participate in a summer theatre experience, CAST will present a non-musical play in addition to its traditional musical, joining previous productions of The Producers, Parade, The Addams Family, Ragtime, Spamalot, and Les Misérables.

The Play: in the CAST tradition of offering students the opportunity to present material often not found in high schools, the first non-musical offering will be the regional premiere of Cincinnati native Theresa Rebeck’s O Beautiful. Mike Sherman, theatre director from Walnut Hills High School, will direct this play described as a “theatrically inventive mashup of contemporary American life and the history that got us to this politically polarized age.” See below for dates and location of O Beautiful.

The Musical: following on the heels of last summer’s well-received production of the sing-through dramatic musical Les Misérables, CAST will go in a completely different direction this summer with the wild and wonderful Shrek: The Musical. Based on the successful animated films, Shrek: The Musical will bring the beloved characters of Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and the rest to the stage to entertain audiences of all ages. Shrek: The Musical will be presented the weekends of July 13-15 and July 20-22 at the Highlands High School Performing Arts Center.

THE CARNEGIE
CAST and Covington’s The Carnegie, one of the region’s premier community arts venues, are thrilled to announce a community partnership to further the educational, outreach, and production goals of both organizations.

The partnership will kick off this summer when The Carnegie will host CAST’s production of O Beautiful during the weekends of June 29-July 1 and July 6-8.

The plan between the two organizations is for CAST to expand its operations to a year-long company housing most of their programming at The Carnegie. With the expansion, CAST will offer productions throughout the school year, educational workshops on college readiness, technical theatre, etc., as well as assist The Carnegie in their youth programs and outreach. CAST and The Carnegie will market each other’s ventures as well as recommend programming to their subscription bases and the public.

“Partnering with CAST was really a no-brainer for The Carnegie,” noted The Carnegie Theatre Director Maggie Perrino. “Our own education programming ends when students get into high school, so this partnership promotes access to proven, successful arts instruction for children at the high school level.”

“We are so grateful that CAST and The Carnegie could find a way to partner together and foster more opportunities in theatre for high school students in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati,” commented CAST Artistic Director Jason Burgess.

“As a community arts organization, we are always looking for new ways to engage with the residents of Northern Kentucky and facilitate arts opportunities for people of all ages,” remarked The Carnegie Executive Director Kimberly Best. “CAST is an outstanding arts organization in our community and we couldn’t be more pleased to announce this partnership.”

ARTSWAVE SUPPORT
CAST is excited and grateful to announce its first grant from ArtsWave in support of the upcoming presentation of O Beautiful. “Receiving that first grant validates that our vision for CAST to provide more theatrical experiences for high school students in our region resonates with the broader community. We are looking forward to audiences seeing the benefit of the ArtsWave grant on stage this summer at The Carnegie,” said Amy Burgess, executive director of CAST. 

About CAST: Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre is a Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati theatre collaborative, that through professional quality productions, arts instruction and developing community relationships, empowers students to achieve their artistic potential under the leadership of professionals. More information about CAST is available at www.caststages.org or by calling (859) 474-2811.

About The Carnegie: The Carnegie is Northern Kentucky’s largest multidisciplinary arts venue providing theatre events, educational programs and art exhibitions to the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati community. The Carnegie facility is home to The Carnegie Galleries, the Otto M. Budig Theatre, and the Eva G. Farris Education Center.  More information about The Carnegie is available at www.thecarnegie.com or by calling (859) 491-2030.

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July 17, 2017 · 2:18 pm

Introducing the new CAST (Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre)

CAST_logoAt the end of the upcoming production of Les Miserables by the Commonwealth Artists Summer Theatre (CAST), a new era of youth theatre and theatrical experiences will begin when the expanded, and slightly renamed, Commonwealth Artists Student Theater begins operation.

CAST is a Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati theatre collaborative, that through professional quality productions, arts instruction and cultivating community relationships, empowers students to achieve their artistic potential under the leadership of professionals.

For six years, CAST has offered high school students from throughout the region the chance to act, sing, play instruments, create sets, assist with direction and choreography, and work the front of house for musicals not often presented by local high schools: Parade, Ragtime, The Producers, Spamalot, The Addams Family and, this year, Les Miserables. These productions have been possible with the support of Fort Thomas Independent Schools, a relationship that, while slightly altered, will continue into the next generation of CAST.

The new CAST is an independent 501(c)3 organization and will expand its offerings of on-stage and off-stage experiences for high school students in the Northern Kentucky-Greater Cincinnati community. With the ability to now generate funding in addition to ticket sales, CAST will offer a wider variety of productions including straight plays, cabarets, radio dramas, etc., but with the summer musical at Highlands High School remaining the cornerstone production.

“As arts programming in schools continues to fade, we’ve discovered that the interest and enthusiasm for theatre has not waned,” said Jason Burgess, artistic director and co-founder of CAST. “We need to move to this next level to provide more students with more experiences and to further solidify their lifetime love and appreciation of live theater, whether they pursue it as a career or as an audience member and patron.”

In addition to a wider array of on-stage offerings, the new CAST will also work collaboratively with the rich, vibrant local theatre community to create unique learning opportunities for students through workshops, job shadowing, talkback sessions, or internships. According to Amy Burgess, executive director and co-founder of CAST, “We know the generosity and talent of the Greater Cincinnati theatres and the professional actors, technicians, directors, and others and we want students to meet them, learn from them and, perhaps, become one of them down the road.”

CAST’s IRS 501(c)3 application has been approved and the founding board members are in place and are working on creating the initial marketing and financial plans, developing branding materials and an online presence, and establishing a strong foundation for the future of CAST. Those members are Michael Boberg (The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati); Helen Kemp (P&G); and Kevin Reynolds (Cincinnati Public Radio Inc.)

Stay tuned for more details on the new website (caststages.org) and plans for 2018 and beyond!

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