Tag Archives: Troy Civic Theatre

To us, Labor Day is the third and last summer holiday; to a small town in Kansas in the early 1950s, Labor Day was the end of summer and the eve of a new school year, and a day for the whole town to celebrate with a picnic. On this day celebrating change, every carefully drawn character has a past with accomplishments and regrets, fears about their future, yet hopes for change in their lives.

Auditions for William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award winning drama PICNIC will be held at Troy Civic Theatre at 7:00 P.M. on Monday and Tuesday, March 4 and 5, 2019.

Director Jim Lockwood will be looking for actors to fill the following 11 roles:

• Helen Potts – a widow, and caretaker of her elderly mother, well past her prime, but still flirtatious with younger men.
• Hal Carter – a vagabond, 20s, good-looking and athletic womanizer, boastful, but insecure; a college friend of Alan, whom he hopes can help him land a job, big dreams, but no plan.
• Millie Owens – high school student who has already earned a college scholarship, boisterous, assertive, and sassy, but lives in the shadow of her beautiful older sister.
• Bomber Gutzel – newsboy, older teen, picks on Millie, has eyes for Madge.
• Madge Owens – 18-year-old former beauty queen who works at dime store, dating a wealthy college student, but searching for escape from small town life, jealous of younger sister’s intelligence and independence.
• Flo Owens – single mother, 40s -50s, protective of daughters, untrusting of strangers, pressing Madge to marry into money.
• Rosemary Sydney – school teacher, who rents a room from Flo. She jokingly calls herself an “old maid school teacher”; ultra conservative in art, literature, and behavior until loosened up a bit after a little liquor offered by her boyfriend Howard.
• Alan Seymour – college student, 20s, smart, polished son of a wealthy executive; dating Madge, but returning to college at the end of summer.
• Irma Kronkite – school teacher, long-time friend of Rosemary, loud, enjoys her single-life, a jokester when around Rosemary.
• Christine Schoenwalder – school teacher, 20s to 40s, new to this school, somewhat shy, quiet, looks up to Irma and Rosemary.
• Howard Bevans – small business owner, 40s to 50s, fond of liquor in a dry state, dating Rosemary, but wary of commitment.

Auditioners will be asked to read excerpts from the script.
A head shot and resumé are desirable, but not required.
Please bring a list of all conflicts between March 4 and May 12 (final performance).

PICNIC will run weekends May 3-12.

If you have questions, contact Jim Lockwood by email at jeckleday@msn.com.

Director Cathie Melvin is seeking 5 men (ages 30s to 70s) and 2 women for our March production of Neil Simon’s THE SUNSHINE BOYS. Auditions will be held Wednesday and Thursday, December 12 and 13 at 7:00 pm at the Barn in the Park, and will consist of cold readings from the script.

Al and Willie as “Lewis and Clark” were top-billed vaudevillians for over forty years. Now they aren’t even speaking. When CBS requests them for a “History of Comedy” retrospective, a grudging reunion brings the two back together, along with a flood of memories, miseries, and laughs. The story follows the attempt by a young theatrical agent to re-unite his elderly uncle, a former vaudevillian great, with his long-time stage partner for a TV reunion. Despite their celebrated reputation, the two old men have not spoken in twelve years. Besides remastering their sketch, the two men have numerous issues to work out before they are ready to return to the public eye.

THE SUNSHINE BOYS will be presented March 1-3, 8-10, 2019 – Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm.. Rehearsals are expected to be 3-4 times a week, to be set based on the cast availability. THE SUNSHINE BOYS is being produced with permission through Samuel French, Inc.