Auditions

The Big Bad Musical Auditions

August 3rd - 5th

Tuesday & Thursday, August 3 & 5 at 6 p.m.
For students entering grades 7 - 9

The Phipps Children’s Theater will hold auditions for area students entering grades 7 through 9 for the fall production of The Big Bad Musical on Tuesday and Thursday, August 3 and 5 at 6 p.m. in the Black Box Theater. Callbacks will be held on Saturday, August 7 at 10 a.m.

All will be asked to read from the script and sing a few bars from a song of their choice. Those auditioning should also bring a list of conflicts they may have during the rehearsal period.

Rehearsals will be held most weekdays and some weekends beginning Monday, August 9. Five performances will be given September 30 through October 3 on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., as well as Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Black Box Theater.

A courtroom has never been more lively and fun than in The Big Bad Musical. The jury - the audience - must decide the outcome of the biggest trial ever in the fairy-tale world. The notorious Big Bad Wolf is being slapped with a class-action lawsuit by quirky storybook characters who want to get even: Little Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother, the Three Little Pigs and the Shepherd in charge of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. With Sydney Grimm as the commentator on live Court TV, the two greatest legal minds in the Enchanted Forest - the Evil Stepmother and the Fairy Godmother - clash in a trial that will be remembered forever after. As the wronged fairy tale characters testify, the Wolf seems deserving of all that’s coming. Yet, even though the infamous Evil Stepmother resents doing pro-bono work on such an obviously futile defense, Mr. Wolf makes a good case for himself. Was he born a criminal, or made one?

Director Kasey Jean Tunell staged The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Steel Magnolias, and The Cemetery Club for The Phipps, the female version of The Odd Couple for River Falls Community Theatre, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella for Theatre of the Spirit. She has a B.F.A. in theater management and direction from UW-Superior and has worked as a director and stage manager in the Twin Cities area and the Duluth area during the last 13 years.

Annie - Audtions

Book: Thomas Meehan, Music: Charles Strouse, Lyrics: Martin Charnin; Based on the Tribune Media Service's Little Orphan Annie
August 30th - September 1st

Director Randy Winkler will hold auditions for Annie, with the book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin, based on the Tribune Media Service comic strip Little Orphan Annie, on Monday through Wednesday, August 30 through September 1.

Girls ages 6 – 12 may audition from 6 to 7:30 p.m. any evening and adults age 16 and older may audition from 7:30 to 9 p.m. any evening. Callbacks will be held on Thursday, September 2 from 6 to 9 p.m.


All auditioning should come prepared to dance and sing 32 measures of a prepared song. An accompanist will be provided.

Rehearsals for this community theater production will begin September 13 and be held during the evenings and on some weekends. Fifteen performances will be given from October 29 through November 28 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. as well as Sundays at 2 p.m.

Annie is a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents, who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and finds a new family and home with the big-hearted billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

As a freelance director and choreographer for over 25 years, Winkler has directed and choreographed over 400 shows at the Minnesota Opera, North Star Opera, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Theatre in the Round, Troupe America, Fargo Moorhead Civic Opera, Park Square, as well as at numerous community and university theaters. His credits at The Phipps include Evita, Guys and Dolls, The King and I, and The Secret Garden.

Melissa Huber is the choreographer and Ruth Ashwood is the music director.