[Capdist-auditions] Apple Tree Auditions this week!

[Melissa Lacijan]

This is a really exciting new direction for Spotlight and something new for the theatre community at large.  PLEASE spread the word!
 
Many, MANY thanks!


AUDITIONS FOR THE APPLE TREE SLATED FOR DECEMBER
 

Dig out your sheet music and warm up your voice!  Spotlight Players, East Greenbush’s resident communtiy theater company, is holding auditions for The Apple Tree, Tuesday and Thursday, December 4th and 6th at Columbia High School, 962 Luther Road in East Greenbush.   Audition sign-in begins at 7pm, with a starting time of 7:30pm.  Adult male and female actors should prepare 16 bars of a song and come prepared to read from the script.

The Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith. Each act has its own storyline, but all three are tied together by a common and common references.   The first act is based on Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam and Eve; the second act is based on Frank R. Stockton's The Lady or the Tiger?; the third act is based on Jules Feiffer's Passionella.

The musical opened on October 18, 1966, at the Shubert Theatre in New York City and ran for 463 performances, closing on November 25, 1967. It was produced by Stuart Ostrow, directed by Mike Nichols and starred Barbara Harris, Alan Alda, and Larry Blyden. Harris won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The Apple Tree also received several other major Tony nominations: Alda for Best Actor in a Musical, Bock and Harnick for Best Composer and Lyricist, Nichols for Best Direction of a Musical, Lee Theodore for Best Choreography, and the show itself for Best Musical.

The Roundabout Theatre Company mounted a revival that ran from December 14, 2006 until March 11, 2007 with Kristin Chenoweth in Harris' roles, Brian D'Arcy James in Alda's roles and Marc Kudisch in Blyden's.
 
Spotlight’s production will be a Director’s Showcase, with three different area directors doing one act apiece.  Spotlight Players President Ferne Dutkin says, “This is an exciting opportunity for Spotlight.  We’ve been looking for an opportunity to introduce new Directors to our company, and we’re thrilled to have attracted three very accomplished theatrical directors to this project.”

Directing Act I will be Barbara Mahlmann, Kim Orlando will tackle Act II, and Sky Vogel will bring Act III to life for performances February 14-16, 2008.

For additional information regarding auditions, please contact producer Michael McDermott at 518-669-5414.