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Arts & Entertainment

Open Auditions for LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, A HOLIDAY PANTO

The Town Players of New Canaan Announces Open Auditions for

Little Red Riding Hood, A Holiday Panto

To Be Held on Sunday, October 23rd and Tuesday, October 25th

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At the Powerhouse Theatre, Waveny Park, New Canaan, CT

      Producer Sheri Dean has announced that the Town Players of New Canaan will hold open auditions for Little Red Riding Hood, A Holiday Panto, written by Tina and Robert Burbidge, on Sunday, October 23rd and Tuesday, October 25th at the Powerhouse Theatre, Waveny Park, New Canaan (3/10 mile north off Merritt Parkway Exit 37).  On both days auditions for youth, ages 10 to 17, will be held at 6:30 PM and auditions for adults 18 and older will take place at 7:30 PM with possible callbacks on Saturday, October 29th, at a time to be determined. This will be Patrick Kiley and Ken Knox’s sixth Family Holiday Show collaboration as director and musical director with choreography by Marta Backman. Juli McGrath is stage manager. Performance dates for Little Red Riding Hood, A Holiday Panto are Friday, December 9 and 16 at 8PM and Saturday and Sunday, December 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 2:30PM.  Continuing a 29-year holiday tradition with Toys For Tots®, the Town Players and the U.S. Marine Corp will collect gifts for children age six months thru twelve years old at the Saturday, Dec. 10th matinee and the price of admission for children at this performance is one unwrapped toy. 

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      “Little Red Riding Hood has many fun, comedic roles for adults and children ages 10 and up,” explains Mr. Kiley. “We will be reading sides from the script and everyone will be asked to sing a simple song which we will provide. No need to prepare a song or monologue. Musical theatre experience is a plus, but is absolutely NOT necessary. We are looking for actors with spunk and personality who can carry a tune (or have fun trying).”

     The characters include Red Riding Hood, a young girl; Dame Robyn Hood, her widowed mother, the traditional male, dame role; Jack, a carrier of water; Jill, his sister; Wolf, a wicked carnivore (male), Fairy, a helpful supernatural protagonist (female); Laurence, first little pig, the clever one (M or F); Llewellyn, second little pig, not quite so clever (M or F); Bowen, third little pig, not blessed with intelligence at all (M or F); Woodcutter, a cutter of wood (M); Billy, his son, Principal Boy role, (M or F); Granny, Red’s adventurous grandmother (F).  There are also ample roles for a Chorus of Villagers, played by children.  

     For theatre goers unfamiliar with British Pantomime (or panto), it has nothing to do with French actors with their faces painted white trying to escape from invisible boxes,” says Mr. Kiley. Panto is a 300 year old theatrical tradition with roots in the Italian commedia del'arte and the British music hall. Family friendly entertainment, it is a blend of fairy tale, farce, melodrama, musical theatre, slapstick, vaudeville, Benny Hill, Monty Python, and Looney Tunes, filled with singing, dancing, slapstick, audience participation, and topical jokes, which young children will enjoy at face value, while teen agers and adults will pick up the double entendre and clever innuendo. In a panto there is always the Dame, a dim-witted but lovable female lead played by a man in colorful, ridiculously garish drag. The role of the principal boy is traditionally played by a woman in shorts, fishnet stockings and boots (think Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan). For more details, contact Patrick Kiley at (203) 763-9416, or check out tpnc.org.

 

 

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