Wheaton Drama

Wheaton Drama, Inc. (WDI) is pleased to announce auditions for the 2012 fall family musical, The Sound of Music. This Rodgers and Hammerstein classic will be performed from November 9 to December 9 at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale Street in downtown Wheaton, IL.

James A. Liesz is directing, assisted by Susan Carr. Joni Kotche is the musical director. Choreography is by Barbara Giblin. Rebecca Poole is the production manager.

Download the Sound of Music audition sheet

The director will be casting the following roles:

Maria Rainer  –  late 20’s-30’s
The Mother Abbess –  age open
Sisters Berthe, Margaretta, and Sophia –  ages open
Captain Georg von Trapp –  40’s-50’s
Franz, the butler –  age open
Frau Schmidt, the housekeeper – age open
The children (all ages are approximate): Liesl – 16; Friedrich – 14; Louisa – 13; Kurt – 11; Brigetta – 9; Marta –  7; Gretel – 5
Rolf Gruber, telegram messenger –  teens-20’s
Elsa Schraeder, the Baroness – 30’s-40’s
Ursula, a maid –  age open
Max Detweiler,”Uncle Max” – age 30-60
Herr Zeller – age open
Frau Zeller, his wife – age open
Baron Elberfeld –  age open
Baroness Elberfeld –  age open
New Postulant – teen-20’s
Admiral von Schreiber –  40-60
The Nuns and Postulants, any ages (would like to cast 25-30 women)
Neighbors of the von Trapps, Festival Contestants (cast from men and nuns)

There will be a “Visiting Nuns Chorus” for all women wishing to audition for this production. Due to the time of year and many holiday conflicts, women can be cast in the show and still miss occasional performances due to family/personal conflicts. Once music and blocking is memorized, we will have different configurations of our “Nuns Chorus” nightly. Mother Abbess and Sisters Margareta, Berthe, and Sophia must attend all performances.

Children’s Auditions (includes all seven von Trapp children and Rolf) will be at Playhouse 111 on Saturday, September 8, from 10am-4pm and Sunday, September 9, from 6:30-9pm.

Children’s Saturday auditions are by APPOINTMENT ONLY. Contact the director at 630-291-5757 or via jaliesz@hotmail.com to request audition appointments. Children’s audition times will be in 45-minute increments with 12 children in each timeslot.

There will be no timeslots for Children’s Sunday auditions, but SIGN-UP is still REQUIRED. Auditioners will be called in to audition in the order of sign-up. Please sign-up via email to jaliesz@hotmail.com.

All children auditioning need to prepare 32 bars of a song that showcases their voice. The song should NOT be from The Sound of Music. Please bring sheet music marked appropriately for the accompanist. Dress comfortably for movement; no flip-flops, please. Children will be asked to sing, read from the script, and do some basic movement

Children’s Callbacks are scheduled for Tuesday, September 11, at Playhouse 111 from 6:30-8:30pm.

Adults’ Auditions will be at Playhouse 111 on Sunday, September 16 from 7-10pm and Monday, September 17 from 7-10pm.

All adults interested in “named” characters are requested to prepare a vocal selection from The Sound of Music for their audition. Adults should be prepared to sing at least one verse plus a chorus. Adults will learn some movement and most will read from the script. No monologues are required.

Adult women only auditioning for the Nuns Chorus may sing 32 bars from any vocal selection; it does not need to be from The Sound of Music.

Adult auditioners singing from The Sound of Music MUST sing in the original keys of the Broadway musical; we will not be transposing orchestrations for the Julie Andrews “movie” keys.

Adults’ Callbacks will be Wednesday, September 19 at Playhouse 111 from 7-10pm.

Questions? Please contact the director, at 630-291-5757 or jaliesz@hotmail.com

The Sound of Music has music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Suggested by “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers”. The show is licensed by R&H Theatricals. Performances are at 8pm Thursdays-Saturdays; 3pm Sundays. Tickets are $18 for Thursdays; $21 Fridays-Sundays.

Wheaton Drama’s upcoming shows are: Broadway Ballot (August 17-19); It’s A Wonderful Life (radio show December 14-16); Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (January 25-February 17, 2013); Full Circle (March 15-April 7, 2013 – confirmation of rights pending) and Into the Woods (May 17-June 9, 2013).

Visit the Ticket section of this website, or call 630-260-1820 for tickets. Follow on Twitter at WDIpublicity.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Director: Marge Uhlarik-Boller
Publicity: publicity@wheatondrama.org
Tickets: http://www.wheatondrama.org or call 630-260-1820

Wheaton Drama Casts The Heiress

Wheaton Drama, Inc. (WDI) has cast its first show of the 2012-2013 season, the Tony® Award winning drama, The Heiress.

The cast is: William Austin as Arthur Townsend; Lisa Baggott-Miller as Elizabeth Almond; Larry Boller as Dr. Austin Sloper; Ellen Daschler as Maria; Sean Ogren as Morris Townsend; Lisa Schmela as Catherine Sloper; Megan Skord Campbell as Marian Almond; Annie Slivinski as Lavinia Penniman; Joann Smith as Mrs. Montgomery. 

Set in New York City in the 1850s, The Heiress is the Ruth and Augustus Goetz adaptation of Henry James’ novel, Washington Square. The play is the story of shy and plain Catherine Sloper. Raised by a cold, difficult physician father who finds her lacking in every way, Catherine is lonely and socially unsophisticated. When a young man finds his way into Catherine’s heart, her successful father is sure he is a fortune hunter. Catherine’s search for herself and her place in society, as well as her relationship with both of these men, is at the heart of The Heiress.  

Marge Uhlarik-Boller, assisted by Barb Giblin, directs The Heiress. Mike Boyna is the production manager. Jackie Haiser is the stage manager.

 Performances of The Heiress are September 7 through September 30, 2012. Shows are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. The Heiress is licensed by Dramatists Play Service. Tickets are $13 for Thursdays; $16 for Fridays-Sundays.

Wheaton Drama’s upcoming shows are: Broadway Ballot (August 17-19); The Sound of Music (November 9–December 9); It’s A Wonderful Life (Radio Show December 14-16); Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (January 25-February 17, 2013); Full Circle (March 15-April 7, 2013 – confirmation of rights pending) and Into the Woods (May 17-June 9, 2013).

For show tickets and information, please visit http://www.wheatondrama.org, or call 630-260-1820.

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In our eagerness to share our 2012-2013 season brochure with you, we erroneously picked up last season’s pricing. Since we have two musicals in the 2012-2013 season, $80 is the correct pricing for the regular subscription and $70 is the correct pricing for the Thursday performance subscription. These are still greal deals for five shows! Thank you for your understanding and support.

As of July 2, 2012, Wheaton and surrounding areas are recovering from the severe weather of July 1. We hope everybody in our community is safe and receiving the assistance needed to clean up after the storms. While the Playhouse does not have power at the time of this note, tickets can still be purchased via our website and our upcoming production is set to open as planned.

NEWS:  Power was restored to the Playhouse on July 3. 

Hansel and Gretel will open July 6 as planned!

Remember when the playhouse was dark during the hot months of summer, and your only hint of activity was the arrival of the season brochure in the mail? Now it’s hard to know when our exciting 2011-2012 season ended and our brand new 2012-2013 season began! One thing remains the same: a new season means a new season brochure. Just in case you can’t want to get it in the mail, it’s right here for your downloading delight…. (more…)