AUDITIONS – “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “A Nice Family Christmas”

The Company OnStage is excited to announce that we are hosting auditions for “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Renee Calarco, adapted from the traditional Christmas song, and “A Nice Family Christmas” by Phil Olson.

Auditions will take place on Sunday, September 15th, and Monday, September 16th, 2024 beginning at 7pm at 5720 Bellaire Blvd, Suite G, Houston, TX 77081. We ask that participants arrive 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork and introduce yourself to the stage managers. If you have a headshot and resume, please bring it (not required). There are no audition appointments, and actors will not need prepared monologues. The evening will cover the auditions for both shows, beginning with the Young Audiences Production. During each show’s audition, all actors will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a group setting with the director selecting sides and combinations of participants to read together or independently. Please be prepared to move and make bold choices!

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YOUNG AUDIENCES PRODUCTION – “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Renee Calarco, adapted from the traditional Christmas song

Directed By Mackenzie Faris

Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois

First Rehearsal: Sunday, October 6^th, 2024

Rehearsal Schedule: Sunday and Tuesday Evenings Beginning at 7pm. (Additional Dates may be added, if needed)

Performance Dates: Saturdays December 7^th, 14, and 21st 2024 at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 15^th at 2 p.m.

Strike Date: Sunday, December 22^nd, 2024

CASTING REQUIREMENTS:

Total Number of Actors: 11

Age Range: 16 – 60

Number of Women: 7

Number of Men: 4

All ethnicities are welcome.

Actors must be comfortable with playing multiple high energy roles and some roles incorporate dancing at an amateur level. Some roles will also ideally incorporate generic British and French accents. Some roles will also include an amateur “rap battle”.

There are no roles for anyone under 16 in this production.

LIST OF CHARACTERS, AGE RANGES, AND GENDERS:

SHIRLEY: Female; 17-25 Years Old

ALYSSA / DOT: Female; 20-30 Years Old

MOM: Female; 30-50 Years Old

GRAMMY: Female; 40+ Years Old

GREAT GRAMMY: Female; 50+ Years Old

CHRISTMAS HORDER: Male; 20-60 Years Old

CLOTHILDE / CALLING BIRDS 1 / FRANCES: Female; 17-30 Years Old (Must Be Able to Move and Dance(ish))

SOLANGE / CALLING BIRD 3 / SAMANTHA: Female; 17-30 Years Old (Must Be Able to Move and Dance(ish))

RICKY / CALLING BIRD 2 / TYLER: Male; 17-30 Years Old (Must Be Able to Move and Dance(ish))

HENRI / NICK: Male; 17-30 Years Old (Must Be Able to Move and Dance(ish))

FARMER / CALLING BIRD 4 / HOST: Male; 17-30 Years Old (Must Be Able to Move and Dance(ish))

SYNOPSIS:

Christmas is just around the corner, and Shirley the Partridge is a bit nervous because it’s her very first time carrying out the ancient family tradition—gathering the French Hens and the Calling Birds and … oh … everyone—for the official singing of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” With strict instructions from her mom, Grammy and Great Grammy to guard the Five Golden Rings, Shirley sets off on a quest to find the song participants. But there are some bumps in the road. The sweet and sappy Turtledoves get injured while doing their adorable mating dance. The manic and overworked Calling Birds decide to postpone Christmas until spring when shipping and fuel costs are lower. The Six Geese a-Laying have flown south to Florida for the winter, taking most of the Seven Swans a-Swimming with them. And just when things can’t possibly get any worse for Shirley, the evil Christmas Hoarder steals the Five Golden Rings, adding them to his growing holiday collection of Christmas ornaments, Hanukkah menorahs, Kwanzaa fruits, Diwali candles … and entire Thanksgiving dinners. But things begin looking up when Alyssa—a super-cool steampunk swan—befriends the grumpy Shirley and joins her on her quest. Will they be able to save Christmas? Or will they decide to break with tradition and “mix things up a little?” With fresh dialogue and vivid characters, The Twelve Days of Christmas is a playful, modern interpretation of the classic Christmas song.

AUDITIONS FOR THIS PRODUCTION WILL CONSIST OF COLD READINGS FROM THE SCRIPT (INCLUDING THE GENERAIC BRITISH AND FRENCH ACCENTS), A “RAP SESSION”, AND PYSICALITY.

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EVENING THEATRE PRODUCTION – “A Nice Family Christmas” by Phil Olson

Directed by Mark Carrier

Produced by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

First Rehearsal: Monday, October 7th, 2024

Rehearsal Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday Evenings Beginning @ 7pm.

(Additional Dates may be added, if needed)

Performance Dates: Fridays and Saturdays, December 6^th, 7^th, 13^th, 14^th, 20^th, and 21st, 2024 @ 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, December 8^th, 2024 @ 2:00 p.m.

Strike Date: Sunday, December 22^nd, 2024

CASTING REQUIREMENTS:

Total Number of Actors: 7

Age range: 20’s to 80’s

Number of Women: 4

Number of Men: 3

All ethnicities are welcome.

There are no roles for anyone under 18 in this production.

LIST OF CHARACTERS:

CARL: Male, 20’s to 30’s – The middle brother. Grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, the doctor. Has a little inferiority complex brought on by Michael. He writes a column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.

MOM; Female, 50’s to 60’s – Very nice. Always putting on a happy face, her goal is to keep the peace and get through the family event without incident. Mom’s husband, Carl (senior), died three years ago. She’s doing her best to get over the loss and keep everyone happy.

GRANDMA: Female, 70’s to 80’s – A real character. Grew up in a one-room house with ten brothers and sisters on a farm in northern North Dakota. Had a very tough life growing up. She is tough as nails, and wants everyone else to be, too.

MICHAEL: Male, 20’s to 30’s – The older brother. The doctor. A little nerdy. Wears a bow tie. The favorite son, at least at first. He’s a little self-absorbed, a little blind to what he needs to do to keep his marriage to Jill intact.

STACY: Female, 20’s to 30’s – The younger sister. Nice. Kind of a wholesome midwestern innocence. Overlooked, but not angry about it.

UNCLE BOB: Male, 50’s to 60’s – A partier. Fun-loving. Has an agenda. Everyone has a crazy Uncle Bob.

JILL: Female, 20’s to 30’s – Michael’s trophy wife. Emotional from being hormonal. Sometimes a little spacey. The only one who understands Grandma’s crazy sayings. Wants to make her marriage work with Michael if he can prove he loves her.

SYNOPSIS:

It’s Christmas Eve, and a young newspaper reporter on the brink of being fired has been assigned a last-chance story about a typical family Christmas – his family’s Christmas. He goes home to his recently widowed mother, his crazy uncle, his eccentric grandmother, and his battling siblings and their neurotic spouses, who provide no shortage of material. One by one, we learn each family member’s secrets, problems, and dysfunctions, and when they learn that he’s writing an article with some very personal family information, the fruitcake hits the fan. The question is, will the magic of Christmas bring this family back together?

AUDITIONS FOR THIS PRODUCTION WILL CONSIST OF COLD READINGS FROM THE SCRIPT.

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The Company OnStage, Inc. (COS), is an all-volunteer Texas nonprofit corporation with tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and can be reached by visiting www.companyonstage.org or by calling 713-726-1219 and leaving a message.