What: Open auditions for The Great American Trailer Park Musical, with music and lyrics by David Nehls and book by Betsy Kelso. Directed by Jill Sorensen.
When: 1 p.m., Saturday, June 15.
Where: Pentacle Theatre
324 52nd Ave. NW, off Highway 22
About 6 miles west of downtown Salem, Oregon
Casting: Five females, two males. For a full list of roles, genders and ages, please scroll down this post..
Things to know:
- Doors open at 12:30 p.m. and open auditions for all roles begin promptly at 1 p.m.
- Plan to arrive early to fill out an audition form. We encourage you to download a copy and complete it in advance. Please write clearly, especially your contact information. Headshots and resumes are not required, but always appreciated.
- Bring your calendar and provide a complete list of your conflicts through Sept. 28. If you have a conflict on the audition date, please contact the director, below.
- Prepare a song from a Broadway musical other than The Great American Trailer Park Musical that best showcases your vocal range and fits the style of character you are interested in auditioning for. Limit your selection to 1 minute, or about 32 bars.
- An accompanist will be available, or you may provide your own. Please bring sheet music for the accompanist.
- Using a CD or smartphone recording of your accompaniment is OK.
- Absolutely no A Cappella singing will be allowed.
- Please dress comfortably and be ready to move and dance.
Callbacks: TBA if needed.
Rehearsals: Generally, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays beginning June 17 at Pentacle Theatre’s rehearsal studio in downtown Salem. The director will set weekend rehearsals and work sessions as needed.
Rehearsals will be scheduled to make the best use of everyone’s time, especially for actors in school. Only actors needed for scheduled scenes will be required at rehearsals, and we’ll release actors as early as possible. As we get farther into rehearsals, we’ll need everybody there so we can run the whole show. If you have questions or concerns about rehearsals, please contact director Jill Sorensen, below
Show dates: Friday, Sept. 6 – Saturday, Sept. 28.
Cast members may be required to make special appearances for marketing purposes in the weeks before the show opens.
About the show: An all-American musical odyssey through agoraphobia, adultery, hysterical pregnancy, strippers, huffing, electric chairs, flan, roadkill, toll collecting, spray cheese, guns and disco.
There’s a new tenant at Armadillo Acres — and she’s wreaking hurricane-like havoc all over Florida’s most exclusive trailer park. When Pippi, a stripper on the run from her unhinged ex-boyfriend, comes between agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth collector husband, the storms begin to brew.
A Greek chorus-like trio of trailer park women guide the narrative, playing many characters genders while breaking the fourth wall at whim to air their own dirty laundry. Beyond broad comedy and Jerry Springer-worthy confrontations, the show is about rising above our impulses, mistakes and surroundings to make a future we can believe in, despite the past. — Sources: trailerparkmusical.com and Dramatists Play Service
Suitability: The Great American Trailer Park Musical contains crude language, adult situations and is perfect for raucous mature audiences ready to laugh their tails off.
Casting call: Seven actors able to play the following roles, ages and vocal ranges:
- Jeannie (30s-50s) — Married her high school sweetheart, Norbert, in a shotgun wedding at 17. She hasn’t left her trailer house in nearly 20 years, after a really bad perm distracted her and Norbert long enough for their 5-year-old to get kidnapped.
VOCAL RANGE: (Belt and mezzo-soprano) strong low F to Db on the staff. - Norbert (30s-50s) — A rugged, former high school football star with a job as a highway toll collector who’s fed up with his agoraphobic wife. Sparks fly when he meets Pippi, a stripper at a local club, The Litterbox Show Palace.
VOCAL RANGE: (High baritone) Strong low A to Eb above middle C. - Pippi (20s-30s) — Armadillo Acres’ newest resident, she’s a stripper on the run from her ex. She’s trying not to make bad choices — like coming between Norbert and Jeannie.
VOCAL RANGE: Big belt — low F to high F on the staff. - Duke (20s-30s) — Pippi’s marker-sniffing ex-boyfriend, who’s hellbent on finding her after she ran out on him in Oklahoma City without a word or a forwarding address. Mayhem could be his middle name.
VOCAL RANGE: Rock tenor — D in the bass clef to G above middle C. - The Girls: Betty (30s-50s), Lin (30s) and Pickles (late teens) — The bottle-blonde, Greek chorus-like trio that guides the narrative, playing various characters and genders while breaking the fourth wall at whim to air their own dirty laundry.
VOCAL RANGE: Betty: Rough belt — low F to Db on the staff. Lin: Belt — strong low G to E on the staff. Pickles: Belt — low A to strong high F on the staff.
Information: If you have questions or a conflict on the audition date, please contact director at Jill Sorensen or 503-983-0429.
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