Arts Entertainment

Springfield Community Players kick off 98th season with auditions

By Taryn Sidney
It’s that time again! The Springfield Community Players are looking for local talent to come out and join the team this season as they cast for their famed show. This year the players will feature the following shows: “Lend Me A Tenor,” “The Boys Next Door,” and “The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On.” In an effort to attract as many people as possible, the players will be hosting group auditions at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20 and at 7 p.m. Monday, May 21.

Unsure of which show to audition for? Check out the synopsis of each show below.

“Lend Me A Tenor,” a comedy by Ken Ludwig, takes place in a hotel suite in 1934 Cleveland, Ohio. On a very important night for the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, Tito Mirelli, the world-famous Italian tenor, is set to sing the starring role in Otello. Henry Saunders, the general manager of the company, is frantic that everything turns out right. He insists that his assistant, Max, a nervous young man and tenor wannabe, watch over Tito’s every move to insure smooth sailing.

After huge fight with his fiery Italian wife, Maria, a series of mishaps leaves Tito comatose. Max is left to save the entire production of Otello. He navigates the company through one disaster after another and with Saunders’ help ends the show in grand, farcical fashion.  The opera company triumphs.

The cast of “Lend Me A Tenor,” requires four men and four women, ages 20 to 60.

“The Boys Next Door,” is a play by Tom Griffin. Set in the Boston area, it focuses on four men with various mental disabilities who live in a group home. It takes place over roughly a two-month period and consists of brief vignettes about the men’s lives. The play provides a humorous commentary on the men’s lives, taking a surprising turn as Barry’s (one of our beloved characters) father comes to visit and as Jack (the caretaker) accepts a new job. It was adapted into a television film in 1996 by Hallmark Entertainment.

The cast of “The Boys Next Door,” requires eight men and four women ages 20 to 70.

“The Marvelous Wonderettes,” are back for the 2018 season. It’s 1969 and The Marvelous Wonderettes are back at Springfield High (Go Chipmunks!) to throw a retirement party for their favorite homeroom teacher. As the girls sing their way through the greatest girl-group hits of the 60s and bid Ms. McPherson a fond farewell, one of the Wonderettes reveals she’ll also be saying goodbye to search for success and happiness on her own. Act two finds the girls back together as the class of 1958 celebrates their 20-year reunion. The classic pop and rock hits of the seventies provide the perfect soundtrack for these old friends to catch up on the places life has led them, all performed with their own marvelous spin.

The cast requires four women, in their 20s to 30s. Those auditioning should prepare a song and bring their sheet music with them for the accompanist.

Please join The Springfield Community Players for auditions and ring in the 2018 theater season. Auditions will be held at the Players Studio on 165 South Street Springfield, Vermont, 05156. For further questions please contact the Springfield Community Players at the Studio by calling (802) 885-4098 or by email at [email protected].

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