TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
CONCORDIA COLLEGE
MOORHEAD MINNESOTA
Concordia College Theatre in Moorhead, MN seeks a motivated and collaborative individual to serve as Technical Director and facilities manager for the Frances Frazier Comstock Theatre. Primary responsibilities include scenic designs and supervision of students for set construction, props and sound for all main stage productions.

This is a full-time, nine-month position beginning Aug. 15, 2008.

For a complete job description and to apply online, please visit http://hr.cord.edu

SPCO Anniversary Chorale
Auditions for The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary Chorale to be held on May 17,19,22,23,24, 2008 with callbacks on May 29, 2008. Previous chorale experience required. All voice parts. Submit vocal resume to SPCOChorale@spcomail.org. SPCO Chorale members will receive financial compensation.

MODELS/ACTORS
M & F, ages 0-75+, all sizes, needed for TV, mags, etc. P.T. flex hrs. We pay $50+/- per hr. No exp. req. Jobs start May. Bring snapshot to Country Suites, 155 Coon Rapids Blvd. Coon Rapids, Wed. May 7th, 7pm-10pm, OR Best Western Kelly Inn, 2705 Annapolis Ln, Plymouth, Fri May9th, 7pm-10pm. Under 18, bring parent.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatres
Auditions May 13 for The Producers Equity and Non-Equity. All ethnic backgrounds strongly encouraged to attend. Please call 952-934-1502 for appt between 9:30-3:30 M-F

NEXT NEW BOY BAND
Auditions are being held in Minneapolis for the next new boy band. To audition you must be an AMAZING SINGER or MUSICIAN between the ages of 12 and 21. For more information go online at NextNewBoyBand.com

ENTERTAINERS WANTED
DEJA VU NIGHT CLUB
Immediate start. no contests. no dance exp nec. Indep contractor status. FT/PT. Must be 18yrs. 315 Washington Ave N. Mpls. Call 612-333-6333

GUTHRIE
seeks non-union boys ( 9-12 ) for upcoming productions. Details at guthrietheater.org/opportunities/auditions

AUDITION Stages Theatre Company auditioning youth actors and orchestra, ages 10-21 for summer production of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Auditions May 5 & 6 by appointment only. 952-979-1135.

OPEN AUDITIONS Shakopee H.S. 100 W 17th Ave. Shakopee, 5/5 & 5/6, 6-9pm for Roomers by Neil Simon. Mono optional. 952-451-9956 or tba@integra.net

AUDITIONS
Disney’s
BEAUTY And The BEAST mvct.org

LEAD BOY 8-12yrs old for Little Lord Fauntleroy musical. FMI tctheatreandfilm.org or 763-535-1162

So today I was perusing BroadwayWorld.com because apparently I’m super gay, and I noticed this wonderful story about our very own Laura Osnes.

It looks as though little Laura wants all optometrists to join Optometry Giving Sight’s World Sight Day Challenge to help give sight to the estimated 300 million people who are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses.

Says our very own little Laura:

“It would be difficult, if not impossible, for any of us to learn, read, do our jobs or support our families without our vision.”

In a related story, “Fuck you, Laura.” said all the blind people who currently learn, read, do their jobs, and support their families.

FYI — If you LOVE FringeFamous (and you know you do), you now have a perfect way to show it. Take a visit on over to the FringeFamous Shop. There, you’ll find all sorts of things to spend your money on…like a FringeFamous coffee mug, for example.

Remember all those times when you were drinking coffee and you thought to yourself “Jeez. I wish this coffee mug reminded me of my favorite Twin Cities theatre blog.”?

Problem solved.

Dear God,

In the future, please help me resist the urge to post something as absolutely uninteresting to the general public as the cast list for Enchanted April at the Jon Hassler Theater. The director of the show actually posted this on The Callboard and I…well…I just couldn’t help myself.

I had a terrific showing of excellent actors, a good many of whom I could easily imagine in these roles. I had many wonderful options to choose from; this is the option I chose:

Lottie……….Ellen Apel

Rose……….Karen Weber

Mellersh……….Dale Pfeilsticker

Frederick……….Alan Sorenson

Caroline……….Katie Guentzel

Wilding……….Dan Hopman

Mrs Graves……….Randy Sue Latimer

Costanza……….Meri Golden

If you auditioned, thanks again! I hope you can make it to the show. And obviously, even if you didn’t audition, we’d love to see you there. Happy Summer, all!

Also see what you can do to keep my cat from walking on my face when I’m sleeping.

Amen.

Two “theatres on the fringe” grabbed some much deserved recognition today when the City Pages published its annual Best of the Twin Cities issue.

Minneapolis Musical Theatre’s Jerry Springer The Opera was named “Best Comedy” while Open Eye Figure Theatre grabbed the title of “Best Theater for Drama”.

This is the portion of the post where I usually write something smarmy and rant about how much the StarTribune sucks or how disgustingly huge the Children’s Theatre Company’s budget is…but…I think I’m okay today.

The Children’s Theatre Co.

YOUTH AUDITIONS

Madeline and the Gypsies
Directed by Peter C. Brosius

Girls and Boys 10-17 years old. Boys and girls must not be older than seniors in highschool for Fall 2008. Open to those who were not at the March auditions. Audition appointments are limited and assigned on a first-come, first-served basis until filled. Group style auditions. Please be prepared to sing, dance and do cold reading. Dress for movement. Auditions on 4/28/08 @ 4pm-9pm. Callbacks on 4/30/08 @ 5pm-9pm. Youth of all ethnicities are strongly encouraged to audition. Please call 612-872-5395 to schedule an audition appointment. EOE/AA

FamTastic Auditions
FamTastic a 30 minute family production held at Horizons Community Church. 10 recurring characters, plus additional story teller roles available. FamTastic runs Sunday mornings, potential of 2 performances beginning fall of 08. 12 month paid contract with 1-4 Sunday performances per month. Must be 18 years or older. Prepare a one minute monologue, a short resume and a list of known conflicts between 6/08 and 6/09. Email and internet access required. Auditions held 5/2 at 6pm and 5/3 at 12 noon. Call to confirm audition with Sarah Glader at 763-413-7210 ext. 117

Park Square Theatre
Defiance by John Patrick Shanley. AEA+NON. Auds 5/4 & 5/5 6p-9p. Reh 9/23/08. Day and eve perf run 10/24/08-11/9/08. Dir Jon Cranney. 4M 20-35. 1 Af. Am. M. Appt. 4/29 1-a-1p & 4/30 6p-9p, call 651-767-8491 Info. parksquaretheatre.org

Theater Latte Da
Casting AEA and non-union for Old Wicked Songs at the Guthrie. Aug 12-Oct 5. 1M 55-70, 1M 20-30. Mail head shot and resume to Theater Latte Da, 1614 Harmon Place, #230, Mpls., MN 55403 or email kristen@latteda.org

GREASE
Auditions for young adults, age 16+ will be held Sun. Apr 27 at 4pm, Mon Apr 28 and Th May 15 at 7pm at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, WI. Wkend perfs July 11-Aug 3. 715-386-2305 or ThePhipps.org

SteppingStone Theatre
Needs Actors, Singers, Dancers: Boys and Girls age 10-13 and Teens 14-19 for Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood. Aud. April 21-22. Perf. in July. Call 651-225-9265 for appt.

ENTERTAINERS WANTED
DEJA VU NIGHT CLUB
Immediate start. no contests. no dance exp nec. Indep contractor status. FT/PT. Must be 18yrs. 315 Washington Ave N. Mpls. Call 612-333-6333

AUDITION Stages Theatre Company auditioning youth actors and orchestra, ages 10-21 for summer production of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Auditions May 5 & 6 by appointment only 952-979-1135

OKLAHOMA Audition Off-Broadway Musical Theatre. April 26, 1-4pm & April 27 3-6pm. 8 & up. Firestation, 4251 Xylon, New Hope. 763-553-9532 or obmt.org

MODEL Open Model Call - All ages Sun. April 27 modelintegrity.com

I read this two days ago and decided to sit on it for a while because a.) for a blog dedicated to independent theatre, we’ve been talking about the Guthrie a lot lately, and b.) it was so ridiculous that I needed 48 hours to get over the mild heart attack I had after reading it.

To the left, you’ll see a photo of Andrew Wade. Wade is the voice and language coach for the Guthrie’s current production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the most recent Star Tribune/Guthrie Theater love fest, Wade offered some insight on how best to tackle The Bard’s work.

In Shakespeare, Wade said, there’s a great temptation to make it make sense, to make it sound like chatter at Starbucks. An actor has to rely on Shakespeare’s language being greater than the sum of its lines. “There is so much in the music of it,” Wade said. “You can trust it to make sense.”

Thank god someone was around to help the actors resist the urge to make Shakespeare make sense. Everyone knows that Shakespeare is at its best when you can turn to the person next to you and whisper “Excuse me. Do you know what the fuck is going on?”

To say that you can just trust Shakespeare to make sense is to admit that you are completely out of touch with the average Joe. My plumber is probably not going to understand most of Hamlet without a lot of help. And chances are he’s not going to like it unless the actors make it feel a little more like chatter at Starbuck’s, and a little less like a 400 year old play.

But kudos to the Guthrie and to Wade. The show looks very expensive…and let’s face it, that’s the only thing the Guthrie crowd really needs to understand.

Word on the street is that Tom Mustachio, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre’s musical director since forever, has resigned.

Although this is big news if you’re into musical theatre or if you’re a fan of the Chan, the only thing I could think of when I started writing this is — why would you grow a mustache if your name is Mustachio? It’s like something you’d do if you were 8 years old…and could grow a mustache. It’s like if I changed my name to Jay Jay Bigpenisio. Does it have a nice ring to it? Sure. But I’m just not that silly.

The Guthrie’s Big Blue Blog is back and it’s just as stupid as ever. I’ve posted some highlights below. Feel free to punish yourself with the entirety of it by clicking here.

Ian Holcomb (Mustardseed)

Q: Favorite movie?

A: Gosford Park (ed. note — Adorable.)

Q: What’s the last book you read?

A: This will sound nerdy…but it was A Life in the Theater, by Sir Tyrone Guthrie. I highly recommend it. (ed. note — In the words of Flavor Flav, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.)

Q: Shaw or Chekov?

A: Depends on the day…but generally I’m a bigger Chekov fan. (ed. note — Only the Guthrie would ask this question. If I was having a conversation with someone and they asked me “So…Shaw or Chekov?” I would immediately punch them in the face.)

Mike Rasmussen (Moth)

Q: What is always in your dressing room?

A: Ghetto Blaster. My guitar. Harmonica. Computer. Briefcase. (ed. note — He forgot the most recent issue of Douche Bag Monthly.)

Q: Favorite place at the Guthrie?

A: Onstage. There’s nothing like it. (ed. note — I believe at the Guthrie, it’s pronounced “stahge”…but I could be wrong.)

Q: Is there a local actor you haven’t worked with, but want to?

A: Jim Lichtscheidl, Dean Holt, Stacia Rice, Joe Dowling. (ed. note — Jim Lichtscheidl is playing “Peter Quince” and Joe Dowling directed the show.)

Brandon Weinbrenner (Cobweb)

Q: What’s the most cringe-inducing thing you’ve ever said or done in front of Joe Dowling?

A: I was drunk during a graduation ceremony senior year in the BFA program and I said something to the extent of… “okay, so now you HAVE to cast me.” (ed. note — See this post.)

URANUS
Directed by Jeremy Pickard

Two young backpackers find themselves lost on a planet made entirely of Earth’s waste. William Herschel is discovering a planet, but he thinks it’s a comet, and he’s fallen in love. The mythological mother of all things, abandoned to haunt the rotten depths of Uranus, relives her progeny’s tragic descent.

And the Herschel Family Band plays on.

Performance Dates

Thursday June 12 8:00
Friday June 13 8:00
Saturday June 14 8:00
Sunday June 15 2:00
Thursday June 19 8:00
Friday June 20 8:00
Saturday June 21 8:00
Sunday June 22 2:00

Auditions for Uranus will be held on May 3rd from Noon-6

• Auditions will be done in groups and will take approximately an hour.

• You will not be asked to prepare anything, but we do ask that you dress for movement. You will be asked to read from the script.

• Rehearsals begin May 12. We will be rehearsing Monday-Saturday each week. Saturday rehearsals will last most of the day, but will include training in Viewpoints and Suzuki methods.

• This rehearsal process will BLOW YOUR MIND!

Auditions will take place at the Tilsner Artist Co-op in Downtown St Paul at 300 Broadway St Paul MN 55101

To set up time please call Upright Egg at 651-292-0179 or e-mail us at uprightegg@gmail.com

About the Show

URANUS is an experiment in storytelling and a launching pad for what we like to call “green theatre”, in which every production element is recycled, found, or donated.

More info at uprightegg.com