Announcing Auditions for THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER

ANNOUNCING AUDITIONS!

HOUSE AT POOH CORNER
Monday, December 18 and Tuesday, December 19 at 4:30pm.

ABOUT THE ROLES:
2 Casts of 11 Roles Available! That’s a total of 22 Roles!
1-8 Males, a total of 2-16 Male Roles (Grades 4 through 12)
3-10 Females, a total of 6-20 Female Roles (Grades 4 through 12)
Many Roles can be either MALE or FEMALE. Even though the roles are typically gender specific in the stories, because of the nature of the characters being “imaginary friends” to Christopher Robin, the gender can be adjusted.
No prior acting experience is required, and novice actors are encouraged to audition. We encourage children of all races to audition and advocate color-conscious casting, in an effort to enrich the experiences of the ensemble and the audience.

The HUMANS:
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, a small boy. He is the only human character in the play. He is a cheerful, friendly little boy who is loving and empathetic. He is admired and respected by all of the other characters and although he is just a child he is by far the wisest.

The TOYS:
WINNIE THE POOH, an anthropomorphic teddy bear. He is naive but extremely friendly, very thoughtful and occasionally profound with great insight. He is always willing to help his friends and always gives of his best. Pooh is motivated easily by his love of honey. This pursuit of honey can often get him into trouble. Pooh is Christopher Robin’s best friend and vice versa.

PIGLET, a stuffed pig. Piglet generally follows Pooh’s lead and seems easily worried and a little timid, but is actually rather brave in crisis situations. When Pooh gives him encouragement Piglet really excels. He is kind, gentle and leans toward shyness. He is also extremely tidy and rather particular.

EEYORE, a stuffed toy donkey. He is an eternal pessimist who is always glum. He has trouble keeping his tail attached to his tail-end. Eeyore is cautious and although not one to follow the crowd rarely speaks up or voices opposition because he does not believe that anyone will listen to him. Despite his negativity Eeyore is much loved by his friends.

TIGGER, a stuffed toy tiger. Happy and exuberant,Tigger’s personality is as bouncy as he is. He can be irresponsible and can get into trouble if not kept firmly in line. Tigger loves bouncing, mostly onto others. He is exceedingly energetic, very outgoing and loves to have fun. Tigger is very confident and believes that any task or challenge is “what Tiggers do best.”

KANGA, a stuffed kangaroo doll. She is a female kangaroo and doting mother to her son, Roo. When they first meet her everything thinks she is going to be rather fierce but they quickly realize she is friendly and become fast friends with her. Kangaroo is generous with an open, giving heart. She is patient and motherly and always ready to listen or give advice as needed. Kanga is almost over-protective when it comes to Roo.

ROO, her child. Energetic and playful, he is always cheerful and adores his best friend Tigger whom he looks up to a great deal almost like an older brother. He is the youngest character in the play.

The ANIMALS:
OWL, a real owl. The oldest male character in the book and is worldly and wise. Extremely talkative, he is a leader and respected mentor although he can sometimes be a trifle stuffy. He has a tendency to be a scatterbrain but both he and all of his friends believe him to be the most intelligent in the group. His speeches can ramble on for hours and Owl will get very testy if he is interrupted. He lives in a tree known as The Chestnuts, an old world residence of great charm much as Owl is an old world, charming resident.

RABBIT, a real rabbit. Rabbit is a friendly character given to occasional irritability. He is always confident that he is the smartest inhabitant of Hundred Acre Wood and consequently believes that his way is the best way to do absolutely anything at all. He has a tendency towards obsessive-compulsive organization and rule-keeping and is very orderly. Although bossy, he loves his friends very much. Rabbit was not based on one of Christopher Robin Milne’s toys but came from AA Milne’s imagination.

EARLY, rabbit’s niece, also a real rabbit.

LATE, Rabbit’s other nieces, also a real rabbit.

ABOUT THE AUDITION:

Parking is free. Obtain a parking pass upon your arrival for our parking lot, adjacent to CTC.

You only need to come to one initial audition, either Monday or Tuesday. Please DO NOT come to both days.

You do not need to prepare anything. We do not need a headshot or resume.

Callbacks will be held on Thursday, December 21 at 4:30pm.

Auditions and callbacks should last between an hour to two hours depending on the number of children who audition.

Your picture may be taken as a part of the audition process. This helps track who has auditioned and gives us a record of proportions compared to other actors who are auditioning.

This is a highly competitive audition, it is understood that if you are auditioning you will accept any role assigned to you. A part of the process of learning about theatre is embracing the role you have been given and making it the very best you can.

ABOUT CONFLICTS:
Please be aware of any date you might have a conflict with our normal rehearsal schedule; Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30-6:30pm.

Rehearsals might begin as early as Friday, December 22 at 4:30pm.

There is a GRAND possibility we will be rehearsing through Christmas Break for Hamilton County Schools, so please let us know at the audition if you have a conflict with those dates. This doesn’t mean you can’t have conflicts with those days, it just means that we will still rehearse and you will be responsible for getting any information you might’ve missed.

Casting can depend on conflicts, if you miss too many rehearsals then we can’t help you prepare and it puts your fellow cast mates at a disadvantage as well. But let us be the judge of that, it never hurts to audition.

When preparing your conflict list, include conflicts with sports, school activities, vacations, holidays, doctor appointments (avoid orthodontist appointments during tech and show weeks), birthday parties and other activities. Help your child decide which activities are priorities to him/her. Also, pay close attention to the “mandatory” rehearsal dates such as technical (tech) week rehearsals, dress rehearsal, and show days.

Be certain there are no conflicts with performances or tech week. ***We are moving to a new tech week schedule, we will be “teching” 4:30-7pm during the week prior to opening, including Wednesday of that week, BUT we will be ADDING Sunday, February 11 from 1:30-5:30pm.

Please check with teachers and administrators to make sure that there isn’t some conflict with your child’s school.

A full potential rehearsal/performance schedule can be obtained at the audition.

ABOUT PERFORMANCES:
The HEFFALUMP CAST~
Public Performances: Friday, February 16 at 7pm, Saturday, February 17 at 2:30pm, and Saturday, February 24 at 7pm and Sunday, February 25 at 2:30pm.

with School Performances: Wednesday, February 21 and Friday, February 23 at 10 & 11:30am.

The WOOZLE CAST~
Public Performances: Saturday, February 17 at 7pm, Sunday, February 18 at 2:30pm, Friday, February 23 at 7pm and Saturday, February 24 at 2:30pm
with School Performances: Tuesday, February 20 and Thursday, February 22 at 10 & 11:30am.
Thank you and hope to see you there!

F.A.Q.
“Where do I park?”
You can park in the lot right across from the Theatre Centre. It is free to park there, though you will need to pick up a parking pass inside and place it in your car before you audition. We recommend that you pull up to the Circle Lobby doors and obtain the pass from the greeting station set up at the concession stand, before parking in the lot.

“There are two days of auditions, do I come to both?”
The short answer is: “no.” You can come to either Monday or Tuesday, whichever works best for you. Please don’t come to both audition days, it doesn’t help your chances of getting a role. However, the Callbacks for the show will be held on the Thursday immediately following the audition, so if you have a conflict with that day, please let us know at the audition.

“Is it okay to arrive at 4:30pm for the audition?”
Sort of. Yes, if you have to hurry from school and/or work to get here by 4:30pm; that is fine. Just be aware that there is an audition form that must be filled out before you can audition, so if you can arrive 15-30 minutes early, it would be less stressful for you and more helpful for us if you can have that done by 4:30pm.

“How old do I need to be to audition?”
The Youth Theatre is recommended for students in grades 4 through 12. It is recommended that you be in 4th grade to audition, though many times young actors aren’t quite ready and more likely to be cast as 5th graders. We are committed to non-traditional casting, or color-conscious casting of ethnic minority actors in roles where race or ethnicity is not germane. Which means young actors of all races are encouraged to audition.

“Do I need to prepare a monologue?”
No, we will play games and maybe have you read a poem. If there is a scene we want you to read, we will provide that too. You do not need a headshot or resume, while we appreciate your previous experience, all actors are auditioned on equal footing. The only preparation necessary is that you have a list of ANY conflicts you might have with rehearsal. This is vital! We MUST know any days you will miss in ADVANCE of casting.

“Is there a fee or what does it cost to audition or perform?”
Participation at CTC is COMPLETELY FREE! You don’t have to purchase a script, or your costume…there are no fees…nothing! All we ask is that you commit to arriving to scheduled rehearsals on time and agree to attend all the rehearsals and performances that are required!

“What does “Double Cast” mean?”
We will cast two kids in each role. We do this so that the children who are cast don’t miss excessive amounts of school for those daytime school performances. It also gives us a back-up, should someone get sick, the other child cast can substitute for them. The casts also rotate performances. For this show that performance schedule will look like this:

The HEFFALUMP CAST~
Public Performances: Friday, February 16 at 7pm, Saturday, February 17 at 2:30pm, and Saturday, February 24 at 7pm and Sunday, February 25 at 2:30pm.
with School Performances: Wednesday, February 21 and Friday, February 23 at 10 & 11:30am.

The WOOZLE CAST~
Public Performances: Saturday, February 17 at 7pm, Sunday, February 18 at 2:30pm, Friday, February 23 at 7pm and Saturday, February 24 at 2:30pm
with School Performances: Tuesday, February 20 and Thursday, February 22 at 10 & 11:30am.

“Where do I find out if I have a callback?”
Like our Facebook page and look for notices. If you don’t have Facebook, you can check our website: TheatreCentre.com. We typically announce callbacks on the Wednesday (December 20, in this case.) immediately following the Monday and Tuesday auditions. Callbacks are usually at 4:30pm on Thursday (December 21, in this case.) of that same week. If your name isn’t on the callback list, you might still be cast, so check back for a complete cast list.

“When is the cast announced?”
Usually a cast will be posted on our Youth Theatre Facebook, or Theatre Centre Facebook page or TheatreCentre.com on Friday (December 22, in this case.) of the same week as the audition.

“Where is the play performed?”
This show will be performed on the MainStage at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.

Thank you and hope to see you there!