Church Hill Theatre has announced audition dates for its upcoming production of the recent Broadway and National Tour mega-hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Auditions have been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, July 9 and 10, both starting at 1:00 PM, and Tuesday, July 12 starting at 6:30 PM.
The production is directed by Richard A. Vitanovec of Preston. Last seen on the CHT stage as Riff Raff in CHT’s hugely popular The Rocky Horror Show, Vitanovec comes to CHT with an impressive resume of directorial and design credits, including serving in both capacities for last year’s Bye, Bye, Birdie for the Easton Middle School Drama program. He holds a Master of Arts from Central Washington University. The Music Director for Spelling Bee is Kevin W. Thomas of Easton. No stranger to Eastern Shore Music Theatre, he is the Director of the Chesapeake Youth Chorale and Director of Music Ministries for Easton’s Grace Lutheran Church.
The musical is a hilarious tale of overachievers’ angst chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show’s Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time. Six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. The show is also known for its opportunity for audience members arriving at the theatre to sign up to become an on-stage speller (and a part of the show).
For auditions, the Director requires a prepared song in the style of the show or in the style of the role in which you are auditioning. According to Vitanovec, “each character in this show has a very specific physicality (the way they look and move), as well as having a very distinct sound. Also remember that the point of an audition is for me to see what you can do not only vocally, but physically. The song that you audition with should be done so in character, not just sung. You should have a copy of the music for the accompanist or a CD with background tracks. DO NOT plan to audition with a CD that has someone else singing over it. You may also be asked to do a cold reading and/or read from the script.”
If you have any questions please contact Ricky Vitanovec at [email protected]
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