(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Oct. 14, 2009.)
On the weekend of Oct. 24 and 25 there will be a casting call for aspiring actors who would like to participate in an upcoming production of Peter Pan.
Following the success of The Wizard of Oz, the inaugural co-presentation between the Huntsville Festival of the Arts and The Rotary Club of Huntsville, the two groups have decided to undertake another major production in the spring of 2010.
The chosen play will be Peter Pan, which will appeal to everyone from ages 2 to 92, just as The Wizard of Oz did. Both are magical stories with terrific sound scores that are guaranteed to draw large audiences. Everyone knows the story and many of the songs, from the original 1951 film starring Mary Martin as Peter Pan.
The element of stage flight in Peter Pan will also be a first for the Algonquin Theatre. The play will run over eight performances between April 15 and April 25 next year.
Like The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan has a large ensemble cast of over 50 actors. This gives more local thespians an opportunity to land a lead role or be a member of the chorus.
The casting committee is looking for up to 10 teenagers from ages 12 to 18 to be cast as the Lost Children in Never, Never Land. The successful actors must have strong singing voices and will be expected to learn simple dance routines.
They are also looking for five very strong teenage actors with a lot of stage confidence, excellent singing voices and a desire to fly on the Algonquin stage to play the young leads: Peter Pan, Wendy, Jonathon and Michael Darling and Tiger Lily.
Unfortunately, auditions will not be available for actors under the age of 12 for this show.
Also required are several seasoned adult male and female actors with excellent singing skills to play the adult leads: Mr. and Mrs. Darling, the Darlings’ maid, Captain Hook, Smee and Tiger Lily’s parents. Additionally, there are two animal roles to cast: the crocodile and Nana the dog.
These great parts will require an exceptional athletic ability. Finally, there is a need for 20-plus adult male and female actors in the chorus. Many will have small speaking and solo parts as Pirates or Indians. There will be one cast for all the shows, although the five teenage leads will have understudies who will also be cast as Lost Children in Never, Never Land.
Signing up for auditions will take place between 1 and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, in Partners Hall of the Algonquin Theatre. Between 2 and 4 p.m. that afternoon, all prospective cast members will be introduced to the various roles and their requirements. At the end of that session, applicants will choose what roles they wish to audition for and will be advised of a time, between 1 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, when they will be auditioning. It is likely that all candidates will be asked to sing a song as well as do readings from the script.
In the words of director Gregg Evans, “Most importantly, we are looking for 50 actors who want to have fun and share a great theatrical experience with their community!”
