Youth Auditions for World Premiere Musical Production!

After the success of last year’s production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the NH Theatre Factory’s Stage Setters Youth Program is back, but instead of a Headless Horseman and ghosts, this year will be all about wild tea parties, growing, shrinking, and of course one very angry Queen. The NH Theatre Factory will produce Lost in Wonderland, a brand new musical adaptation of the famous Wonderland books. “This is an exciting project for us,” remarks Artistic Director Joel Mercier, “not only is it a great show for our youth actors to develop their own characters and continue theatrical training, but it is a world premiere production with potential future plans. Our cast will be the first group of actors to perform this show ever and their images, from photos, audio, and video recordings, will become materials for the piece as it continues to grow and moves to other theatre companies across the country.” Lost in Wonderland focuses on fleshing out the stock characters of the original story, creating some twists and turns in the plot, and utilizing a completely original contemporary musical theatre score. “This is going to be a fantastic production to be a part of,” says Mercier, “we have all sorts of plans with one-of-a-kind costumes, special effects, and even puppetry. Trust me when I say this is not anything like the Disney version.”

Auditions are set for Monday & Tuesday, December 14 & 15, 2015 at the Derry Opera House. Even though the Factory is auditioning early, rehearsals will not start until Sunday, January 31, 2016 and the production goes up at the end of March at the Derry Opera House. The Stage Setters Youth Program is a professional training program for young actors and even though productions are first and foremost about producing a product and experiencing a rehearsal process, they still tie in education at every turn, including special master classes, individual attention, and group exercises that go beyond just rehearsing the show. The shows are staffed with Directors & Master Class Instructors who have professional backgrounds that include theatrical training and education. “We always include two specialty areas of theatrical study in each youth show,” explains Mercier who will be directing the production, “these areas are something we can teach to the whole cast and then utilize in the show. Last year’s Sleepy Hollow included Stage Combat and Dutch Clogging taught by out of state professionals. This year Lost in Wonderland will include Accent Study and Puppetry.”

For more info on auditions and the production, go to www.nhtheatrefactory.org/auditions.html. Any youth actor, age 8 to 19 is invited to audition. Though not required, NHTF would appreciate auditioners signing up for an appointment by sending an audition request to stagesetters@nhtheatrefactory.org.