Picnic Callbacks Part 2

Hi Guys!

You all did a great job today at callbacks! However, after we finished reading the initial group of actors, we needed to see some sides again. Unfortunately, many of you had already left and in fairness to everyone auditioning, we cannot make an informed casting decision at this time. There will be a 2nd round of call backs on Monday after school for the following characters:

Flo with Madge
Madge with Millie

Thank you for your flexibility and understanding in this situation. We look forward to casting the show Monday evening, immediately following call backs.

Picnic Callback Groups

Hi Guys,

Here is who you will be reading with. Break a leg!

Rosemary and Howard CB

Tim and Emmie

Thomas and Caroline

Jimmy and Racheal

Tim and Julia Rutman

Thomas and Lily Rutman

Madge and Flo CB

Taylor and Emmie

Camille and Caroline

Taylor and Camille

Taylor and Julia Rutman

Camille and Lily

Alan and Hal CB

Owen and Donovan

Donovan and Owen

Jimmy and Owen

Bomber CB (plus Madge and Millie)

Kolter Erickson

Rylen Johnson

Brad Modzelewski

Irma and Christine CB (plus Flo and Rosemary)

Madeline and Brooke

Emmie and Gretchen

Koko and Racheal

Maeve and Julia Rutman

Lauren and Madeline

Millie and Madge CB

Madeline and Taylor

Taylor and Camille

Emmie and Taylor

Gretchen and Camille

Maeve and Taylor

Lauren and Camille

Mrs. Potts CB (and Rosemary and Flo)

Emmie

Racheal

Maeve

Julia Rutman

Genevieve

Madge and Hal CB

Taylor and Owen

Camille and Donovan

Taylor and Donovan

Camille and Owen

Picnic Callbacks and Sides

Picnic Callbacks

Thank you to everyone who auditioned.  As usual, you have made our jobs very difficult.  Please check the list below carefully for your name.  If you do not see your name below, you are still in the running for the show, so please be sure to check back here on Friday night or Saturday morning the latest.

To all of those who have been called back:  Callbacks will be Friday, September 15th starting at 3:00 in the PAC. We hope to be finished between 5 and 6:00.  We will be using the sides posted on the blog.

Congratulations on a great audition :)

Hal Carter

Owen Harrison

Donovan Kazakoff

Alan Seymour

Owen Harrison

Donovan Kazakoff

Jimmy Waltman

Howard Bevans

Tim Granzow

Thomas McLaughlin

Jimmy Waltman

Bomber

Kolter Erickson

Rylen Johnson

Brad Modzelewski

Madge Owens

TaylorRae Carter

Camille Ladendorf

Flo Owens

Emmie Collins

Caroline Herbert

Camille Ladendorf

Julia Rutman

Lily Rutman

Millie Owens

Madeline Carleton

TaylorRae Carter

Emmie Collins

Gretchen Cyracius

Maeve Merzena

Lauren Wendt

Rosemary Sydney

Emmie Collins

Caroline Herbert

Racheal Lee

Julia Rutman

Lily Rutman

Mrs. Potts

Emmie Collins

Racheal Lee

Maeve Merzena

Julia Rutman

Genevieve Shaftel

Irma Kronkite and Christine Showenwalder *If you are a 1, please be prepared to read for Irma, if you are a 2, please be prepared to read for Christine.*

1. Madeline Carleton
2. Brooke Cohen

     1.Emmie Collins

     2. Gretchen Cyriacus

1. Koko Kovalev
2. Racheal Lee

     1. Maeve Merzena

     2. Julia Rutman

     1. Lauren Wendt

Please check the sides below carefully-some characters will need to read multiple sides.  If you are called back for a role that is in parentheses for a scene, the side is for the other character listed previously, and you may not be asked to read (or the reading may be done by an audition reader for the sake of time).  Please let me know if you have any questions!


Mrs. Potts CB (and Rosemary and Flo)
Madge and Hal CB
Rosemary and Howard CB
Madge and Flo CB
Bomber CB (plus Madge and Millie)
Alan and Hal CB
Irma and Christine CB (plus Flo and Rosemary)
Millie and Madge CB

Picnic Audition Form

In order to audition for Picnic on Wednesday, September 13 or Thursday, September 14, you must fill out our online audition forms ahead of time.

Here is the link: Click Here For Picnic Audition Forms

Please note that you will only need to attend one of the audition days.

Callbacks will be held after school on Friday, September 15th.  You will be notified here on the blog on Thursday afternoon regarding whether or not you will need to attend callbacks.

Break a leg, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Ms. R

Picnic Character Descriptions

Auditions for Picnic are just around the corner!

Don't forget to attend the lunch time meeting on Friday, September 8th in the PAC for more information.

Here are the characters in the show, and a brief description:

Flo Owens: The single mother of Madge and Millie, Flo wants her daughters to enjoy a happiness and success in love and marriage that she herself never had, yet she has very traditional and conservative views about what and who will be able to provide that happiness. 

Madge Owens: The older of Flo’s two daughters, Madge is considered by everyone to be the prettiest girl in town and is a model of politeness and class. She works at the local “dime store” and is the sweetheart of Alan Seymour, the most successful and promising young man in town. Yet deep down she wonders whether her supposedly perfect life is what she actually wants and yearns for an identity beyond the beauty for which she is known. 

Millie Owens: Madge’s younger sister and, on the surface, at least, her polar opposite. Millie is bookish, a bit crass, and a tomboy, and she distinguishes herself from her older sister by consciously eschewing what she perceives as superficial prettiness. But will Hal’s arrival inspire Millie to think differently about love and beauty? 

Rosemary Sydney: A school teacher who is defiantly independent and unmarried, Rosemary rents a room in Flo’s house. She proudly calls herself an “old maid” and maintains a casual dating relationship with Howard Bevans. 

Mrs. Helen Potts: Eloped with her young flame, only to have her mother annul her marriage the very next day. She now takes care of her mom, who has grown elderly and dominates her life. To cope with her loneliness, she often takes in boarders, especially wandering, virile, young men, like Hal. 

Mrs. Potts’ Mother: We never see the older Mrs. Potts, but her voice from off stage, constantly interrupting her daughter’s conversation, suggests her crotchety nature—which means that no nursing home will taker her in, leaving the task of caring for her to her daughter. 

Hal Carter: The latest in a series of handsome young men Mrs. Potts has taken in to work odd jobs, Hal spends the day cleaning her garden in exchange for home-cooked meals. He was a football star in high school and college, yet remains poorly educated. He projects a roughness developed by having a father with a drinking problem who died in jail and a mother who wants nothing to do with him. Inside he’s lonely and unsure of himself, ashamed of the unsophisticated upbringing that will always tag him as an outsider. His many wild stories involving women don’t help his longing for true love and normalcy. 

Alan Seymour: Gentle and polite, Alan is Madge Owens’ boyfriend and comes from the richest and most prestigious family in town. He is about to go away for his final year in college, where he was a fraternity brother of Hal. 

Howard Bevans: A businessman from a nearby town who stops in to see Rosemary, whom he dates casually. Mr. Bevans enjoys relaxing with some nice whisky and fun company. 

Irma Kronkite: A local school teacher and friend of Rosemary. 

Christine Schoenwalder: The high school’s new “feminine hygiene” teacher. 

Bomber: The paperboy, constantly making fun of Millie and asking Madge for a date.

Fall Play Auditions

Auditions for the fall play, Picnic are just around the corner.  Just in case you'd like to start preparing ahead, here is some important info for you.

Audition Dates and Times:  Wednesday, September 13, and Thursday, September 14 in the Choir Room at CHS.  You only need to attend one day.

Callbacks: Friday, September 15th in the PAC.

What to prepare:  Please prepare a brief (approximately 1 minute) monologue in the style of the show, i.e., Great American Drama.  Pick a piece that is close to your age and character type, that you enjoy performing.  It should be memorized.  Your audition selection may be from Picnic, but you may also find that looking at similar playwrights (or William Inge's other plays) may be helpful. Some playwrights to check out may include Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, etc. The piece should be performed with an American accent. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me!

What is the best thing I can do right now?  READ THE PLAY!  I am attaching it in PDF form here.  Get familiar with the show and the characters so that you can prepare to show yourself in your best possible fashion.

Anything else:  There will be more information posted here in the days to come, including a more detailed character breakdown and the audition sign up sheet, so please check back here regularly.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and enjoy reading PICNIC!  See you all very soon!

Ms. R

Click Here for Picnic Script

Hopewell Valley Central High School

Performing Arts Season 2017-2018

 

Our Fall Play this year is William Inge’s classic drama, Picnic.  From the Roundabout Theatre Company revival: The ladies of a small town in Kansas are getting ready for their annual picnic on the last day of summer when a handsome drifter named Hal suddenly appears and captures the attention of the town’s female residents—especially the young, beautiful Madge. Madge and Hal try to fight their attraction, which threatens to throw Madge’s family and future into a wicked spiral. Will Madge choose her safe, sensible boyfriend or the dangerous drifter with a questionable past?

Audition Dates: September 13-14, 2017

Callbacks: Friday September 15, 2017.  

Performance Dates: November 3-4, 2017.

 

The 2018 CHS Winter Musical is The Drowsy Chaperone.  With the house lights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.

Audition Dates: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, November 27-29

Callbacks: Friday December 1, 2017.  

Performance Dates: March 2-3, 9-10, 2018.