Wheaton Drama

Wheaton Drama proudly announces auditions for ROALD DAHL’S WILLY WONKA on Sunday and Monday, July 22 and 23, with callbacks scheduled for Thursday, July 26. No appointments will be taken nor are they needed; auditioners will be seen in groups within the time frames shown below. Performances are scheduled September 14-October 7, 2018, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 8PM; Sundays @ 3PM. Auditions & performances will take place at Wheaton Drama’s Playhouse 111, located at 111 N. Hale Street, Wheaton, IL 60187.

Audition Schedule:

Sunday, July 22:

1-2:00pm Children 7-9 years of age

2:30- 3:30pm Children 10-14 years of age

4-5:30pm Adults

Monday, July 23:

4-5:00pm Children 7-9 years of age

5:30-6:30pm Children 10-14 years of age

7-8:30pm Adults

Thursday, July 26:

6:30-8:30pm Callbacks by invitation

Audition requirements: Director Maria Bakalis is seeking to cast a group of 24 imaginative, flexible, playful adults and children. Auditions will consist of learning and singing a 16-bar music selection, not from the show, along with cold readings of short scenes, also not from the show. Children will be taught some simple movement steps. All roles are available. Please bring a recent photograph; a selfie or snapshot is fine.

Character Descriptions Available HERE

Please contact director Maria Bakalis with questions at wheatondramawonka@gmail.com.

Download Audition Forms here to complete in advance:

Wonka Audition Form Children

Wonka Audition Form Adults

Production Team:

Director: Maria Bakalis
Production Managers: Kate Quan and Katy Smith
Music Director: Bryan McCaffrey
Assistant Director: Krystyn Wells

This is a non-Equity production; there is no pay.

ROALD DAHL’S WILLY WONKA is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

STUDENTS “ACTING IT UP” AT WHEATON DRAMA

Classes for Grades 1-8;
Fall session: Sept. 5 through Oct. 10
(Make-up date, if necessary: Oct. 17)

This six-week workshop is designed to strengthen acting “muscles.” Through acting games and exercises, students will work each week on a different aspect of acting technique including: movement, voice, characterization and pantomime. Teamwork, focus and listening are added benefits that youngsters can derive from this workshop.

To apply the skills they’ve learned, students will also rehearse a short 15-minute skit to be performed at the end of the final class.

New sessions will be posted throughout the year as registration opens (roughly a month before the class starts).

All sessions will be on Tuesday afternoons at these times:

Grades 1–4: 4 p.m. to 4:55 p.m.
Grades 5–8: 5 p.m. to 5:55 p.m.

Tuition: $100 per session per child

Note: Classes are subject to change based on enrollment. Registration for each class will be open one month before the class begins. If there are not enough students enrolled in any given session, the class may be canceled. Notification of a canceled class will be sent out one week prior to the start of class; all money will be refunded.

Staff: Cindy Bolds is excited to join us again this year as our after-school instructor. Cindy is a longtime WDI member who taught most of the after-school classes last year. She is a certified teacher’s aide.

All instructors undergo an extensive background check.

For more information, please contact Elyse Willis at wdieducation@wheatondrama.org, or call 630.260.1820 and leave a message about registration.

Kindergarten Through Eighth-Grade Classes

A fun experience for all!

Young performers will learn basic onstage and acting techniques while they develop their imagination and creativity. All children will have a blast as they explore acting through a series of theater and improvisational games.

This ensemble-building class will foster each student’s self-esteem and help him/her become an independent thinker both on and off the stage. This year our fall class will be a steppingstone to a more in-depth winter class and a final production at the end of the winter session.

Six-week sessions will be offered this fall at Wheaton Drama.

Fall 2016 session: Sept. 13 – Oct. 18  (Note: Classes are subject to change based on enrollment.)

All sessions will be on Tuesday afternoons at these times:

Grades K – 4: From 4 p.m. until 4:55 p.m.

Grades 5 – 8: From 5 p.m. until 5:55 p.m.

Cost: $100 per session per child (You can sign up here.)

This fall’s class will be taught by Mackenzie Grattan. Mackenzie is a veteran teacher of the Wheaton Drama Summer Workshop for the past several summers. We are excited to welcome Mackenzie to this new venture at WDI.

Contact Elyse Wadzinski for more information at wdieducation@wheatondrama.org or call 630.260.1820 and leave a message about registration.