WELCOME TO CYGNET PLAYERS PRODUCTION OF HAIRSPRAY

Transcription

1 WELCOME TO CYGNET PLAYERS PRODUCTION OF HAIRSPRAY Wednesday 17 th Saturday 20 th February (including a Saturday matinee) London Oratory School Theatre, Seagrave Road, London SW6 1RX ABOUT THE SHOW In Hairspray, it s 1962, the 50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore s Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance programme, The Corny Collins Show and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can an unlikely trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the programme s reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her do? Only in Hairspray!

2 THE SHOW S CHARACTERS Main characters Character name M/F Description Playing age Voice type Tracy Turnblad A big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart. Has a vibrant, lovable personality and a passion to dance. She is wide eyed and innocent, and always looks to see the good in everything Mezzo-soprano, strong belt Edna Turnblad A loving mother and wife who only wants what s best for her family. Fiercely protective of Tracy and can sometimes view life negatively. Needs a strong comic male performer who is ready for his inner woman to take the spotlight. It is NOT a pantomime dame and should contain a lot of truth in the performance Tenor Wilbur Turnblad Tracy s goofy father. He owns a novelty joke and magic store and loves to laugh. Tracy gets her optimism from him and he is willing to do anything for his family and friends. He tries to balance Edna s discouragement with his good humour Baritone Link Larkin The teenage heartthrob of The Corny Collins Show; an aspiring young Elvis. Good looking, charismatic and brightens the room with his smile. He may appear shallow but his heart and personality are genuine Tenor Velma Von Tussle Aging beauty queen who tries to relive her youth through her daughter, Amber. A firm believer that thin is beautiful; she would never appear with a hair out of place. A scheming career and fame-driven woman. Bree Van Der Kamp meets Joan Collins. 35+ Alto

3 Amber Von Tussle Seaweed J. Stubbs Penny Pingleton Corny Collins Motormouth Maybelle Little Inez The Dynamites Council Members Spritzer & The bratty, selfish resident princess of The Corny Collins Show. Looks like a Barbie doll and her personality is just as shallow. Her talents are very average but she is pushed to the fore by her mother. Ethnic male. Good looking and can dance up a storm. Hugely charismatic, stylish and charming. Tracy s quirky (and slightly geeky) best friend. She is not the brightest and secretly desires to rebel against her religiously fanatical mother. She instantly falls for Seaweed and throws her inhibitions aside. John Barrowman, Olly Murs and Dermot O Leary rolled into one. A big television personality who can sell just about anything to anyone. A confident matriarch who is full of soul. She wants to make everyone around her feel welcome and comfortable. Has a strong presence yet is also extremely personable. Small in stature but has huge dreams. Feels like an outsider but dreams of one day winning Miss Teenage Hairspray. Would love to dance with the other teenagers. Similar to The Supremes or Destiny s Child. A talented trio, usually in tight harmony. Full of sass. The popular kids at high school. They are great dancers and singers and appear on The Corny Collins Show. Think All American. President of Ultra Clutch cosmetics, the sponsor of the Corny Collins Show. He is keen to uphold the American ideal and is fearful of any controversy Mezzo-soprano Tenor Soprano Tenor 35+ Alto Mezzo-soprano Open to any N/A 35+ N/A Strong belt and harmony singing required

4 Prudy Penny s religious fanatic mother; she tries to behave as the pillar of the community but would be ready to exorcise the devil anywhere. 35+ Mezzo-soprano There are a number of other significant cameo roles also available. Traditionally a group of these cameos are collected together to form a Authority Figure and a Authority Figure. We may choose to divide these cameos up between a few people and so have only selected one of each above (Spritzer and Prudy). SONGS BY CHARACTER Act 1 Good Morning Baltimore Tracy & Company The Nicest Kids In Town Corny Collins & Company Mama, I m A Big Girl Now Edna, Tracy, Penny, Velma, Amber & Company I Can Hear The Bells Tracy & Company Miss Baltimore Crabs Velma The Nicest Kids In Town (reprise) Corny Collins & Company It Takes Two Link, Tracy & Men Velma s Revenge Velma Welcome To The 60 s Tracy, Edna & Company Hear The Bells (reprise) Link Run And Tell That Seaweed, Little Inez & Company Big Blonde & Beautiful Motormouth, Tracy, Edna & Company Act 2 The Big Dollhouse Women Dollhouse Playoff Matron & Company Good Morning Baltimore (reprise) Tracy You re Timeless To Me Edna & Wilbur Without Love Tracy, Link, Penny, Seaweed & Company I Know Where I ve Been Motormouth & Company (It s) Hairspray Corny Collins & Company Cooties Amber & Council Members You Can t Stop The Beat Entire Company

5 ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Director: Damian Sandys Damian trained at Oxford University (BA, English Literature & Language) and Arts Educational (MA, Creative Practice in Musical Theatre). While he is a new Director to Cygnets, he has many (many) professional Directorial credits to his name, has previously directed local society PLOS in their version of Sister Act, and is no stranger to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For the last seven years he has been Associate Director on the annual Whatsonstage Awards Concert (Prince of Wales Theatre & Palace Theatre), specifically devising and directing the performance segments, working with many Olivier award winning actors and actresses. Musical Director: Tom Theakston tomtheakston@hotmail.com Tom read music at Royal Holloway, University of London where he was awarded an Organ Scholarship. He then went onto study for his Masters degree in Music at the University of Surrey specialising in conducting. Here he also studied singing with Andy Sullivan at Guildford School of Acting Conservatoire. Tom developed his interest in musical theatre from a young age and has previously MD d shows for several local societies including WLOS and KVODS. He joins us fresh from a professional tour of Wicked. Choreographer: Della Bhujoo - dellabhujoo@gmail.com Della previously choreographed for Cygnets in our production of Footloose in 2012 and is no stranger to the local amdram scene. She regularly teaches dance and Zumba classes, is a regular judge on Cygnets do Strictly, and has choreographed professionally. Producer: Mary Hughes maryhughes59@googl .com Mary produced Cygnets Parade in 2014 and we are thrilled to have her supreme organisation skills on board for this production. PRE AUDITION REHEARSALS AND AUDITIONS Thursday 8 th October Thursday 15 th October; 7:30pm Thursday 22 nd October; 7:30pm Sunday 25 th October; from 4pm Sunday 1 st November; from 6pm First get together Audition music/dance rehearsal Audition music/dance rehearsal AUDITIONS RECALLS (and overspill auditions if necessary) Rehearsals will then be on Tuesday and Thursday evenings throughout November, December, January and February (with a break for Christmas). There will also be some Sunday rehearsals nearer the time of the show. Unless otherwise stated, all rehearsals and auditions will take place at St Barnabas Church Hall, Lavenham Road, Southfields, SW18 5EP. A full rehearsal schedule will be sent out after the cast is announced.

6 AUDITION PIECES Character Lib Songs Tracy Turnblad Edna Turnblad Wilbur Turnblad P33: From Cozy up to old Corny until I d make every day Negro Day! AND P59-61: From Tracy, you can t do this until They ll never be able to shove them back out the door with us blocking it P74-75 From Hello? Yes, Mr Pinky until Oh, Wilbur, I suddenly feel so old P11-12 From Whoa! Rush hour traffic! until Thanks, daddy Link Larkin P79-81 From Tracy? Where are you? until but they can t stop us from singing Velma Von Tussle Amber Von Tussle Seaweed J. Stubbs Penny Pingleton P8-9: From And we re off! until And we re back in five four three AND p36-37 From Mrs Von Tussle, how do you plan until Velma s Revenge P33-34: From I read you like tomorrow s headlines to Mother! AND Second audition amalgamation script P82-83: From Pssst! Penny! until Hurry, Seaweed! P10-11 (abridged): From I guess Amber s pretty but she can t dance until Bye Mrs. Turnblad. Bye, Tracy AND P82-83: From Pssst! Penny! until Hurry, Seaweed! Good Morning Baltimore, bars You Can't Stop The Beat - Part 2, bars 5-24 You re Timeless To Me, start - bar 36 It Takes Two, bars Velma's Revenge, bars 10 - end Cooties, bars 5 (16 - the bars jump from 15 to 32) Without Love, bars You Can't Stop The Beat - Part 1, bars Corny Collins P9-10 (abridged): Nicest Kids In Town, bars

7 Motormouth Maybelle From Now don t forget, guys and Gidgets until come on down to station WZZT to audition P88-90 (abridged): From Lord have pity, it s a crazy city until The front door Little Inez P53: From Hey, you re Tracy until my young, gifted and black behind The Dynamites Council Members I Know Where I've Been, bars N/A 32 and bars P87: Newscaster lines. Please choose a character trait(s) for your council member (e.g. an airhead; too cool for school; earnest; attention seeking) and deliver these few sentences in this style Spritzer P102: From This is marvellous until I think I can get you a recording contract Prudy P82: From Penny Lou Pingleton until the phone rings? Ensemble P87: Newscaster lines Please choose a character trait(s) for your newscaster (e.g. patronising; dramatic; authoritative) and deliver these few sentences in this style PDFs of all the above are available on the Cygnets website at Auditions Audition forms will be ed out after the first meeting. Auditions will be closed, and held in front of the audition panel (creative team plus one committee member). Everyone auditioning for the show will audition (lib and song) individually. Dance auditions (again, for everyone auditioning) will be done in groups. Please try to be off book if possible. We will allocate timings and circulate a schedule prior to the auditions. We re a friendly bunch, so please try not to be nervous!

8 KEY SHOW DATES Please make a note of the following dates, and make sure you re available for all of them (and the show dates, of course!): Sunday 14 th February Monday 15 th February Tuesday 16 th February Wednesday 17 th February Thursday 18 th February Friday 19 th February Saturday 20 th February GET IN and final run through at rehearsal venue Technical Rehearsal from around 1pm Dress rehearsal First performance Second performance Third performance Fourth and fifth performances (including matinee) HELPING TO PROMOTE THE SHOW As with all amateur societies, most of our audience members are made up of friends and family of those in the cast, long-term supporters of Cygnets, and residents local to where we re performing. For each show, we run a handful of publicity sessions (flyering in the streets around the theatre area, putting posters up in local shops/bars, and flyering local houses) to help spread the word. These will be on Saturdays/Sundays a couple of weeks before the show: Weekend of 30 th /31 st January Weekend of 6 th /7 th February (Exact details to be confirmed nearer the time, but it will be for a couple of hours in/around Putney and Fulham on three of the dates above.) Every member of the cast is asked to attend at least one of these sessions (if you can attend more than one, that s even better!). ABOUT CYGNET PLAYERS Cygnet Players is a young and vibrant company based in south west London. We rehearse in Southfields and put on shows in and around Putney. We perform two musicals and a play every year, as well as putting on various concerts and other events. We also have regular social events, which are great opportunities to meet and catch up with other Cygnets. We always welcome new members, so if this is your first show with us welcome to the family!

9 For more information about the company in general, have a look at our website at or info@cygnetplayers.com. AUDITIONING FOR A CYGNETS SHOW There is an audition fee of 10 if you are not already a member of the Cygnet Players. Please bring this along to your audition in cash. If you are successful and are cast, you must then become a member of the society. Your 10 audition fee will be offset against your show fee. If you are already a member, you will not need to pay an audition fee. Membership is 25 a year if you pay by cash or cheque, or only 20 when you set up a standing order (we can provide you with a standing order form to fill out). This lets you audition for both our musicals within that year, and our annual play. It also gives you members rates to our social events. SHOW FEES The budget for this show is substantial, and the simple fact is that ticket sales do not cover this expenditure. We therefore ask everyone in the cast to make a modest financial contribution to the production. This is to ensure that we can make the show look and sound as professional as possible and it represents excellent value for money when you consider the number of rehearsals that you get. The show fee for Hairspray is 90 ( 55 for full time students/unemployed). We ask that all show fees are paid by Thursday 7 th January. Failure to pay will jeopardise your role in the show. We don t like to sound heavy handed but it s only fair if everyone makes a contribution. Please have a chat with a member of the committee if you need to discuss payment of your membership/show fees it is of course possible to pay in instalments. AND FINALLY... Good luck everyone!