Auditions for the ETSU/Milligan
College collaborative production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of
Penzance” will be held Jan. 12-14. The first two nights of auditions will take
place in the Bud Frank Theatre at ETSU. The final night, auditions will be held
in SUB7 in the McMahan Student Center.
Auditions are open to any ETSU or Milligan student and no previous experience is
necessary. Performances will be April 1-4 at the VA Memorial Theatre in Johnson
City.
Auditions will be conducted in groups of eight, and a sign-up list is posted on
the theatre callback board on the first floor of Derthick Hall. Each auditionee
will be asked to sing 32 bars of a prepared song (an accompanist will be
provided), do a cold reading from the script and perform a short dance
combination that will be taught during the audition time.
Callbacks will be Jan. 15, 7-9 p.m. Rehearsals will begin Jan. 22.
The Pirates of Penzance
Press Release
East Tennessee State University Division of Theatre (Bobby Funk, chair) and
Department of Music (Dr. Mary Dave Blackman, chair), in collaboration with
Milligan College Theatre (Richard Major, chair) and Music (John Wakefield,
chair), will conduct auditions for the Gilbert and Sullivan classic “The Pirates
of Penzance” on Monday, January 12, Tuesday, January 13 at the Bud Frank Theatre
on the ETSU campus and Wednesday, January 14 in SUB 7, located in the McMahan
Student Center on the Milligan campus. Auditions are open to any ETSU or
Milligan student and no previous experience is necessary. Auditions are also
open to members of the community with the understanding that in all cases
preference will be given to ETSU and Milligan students.
Auditionees will audition in groups of eight and must sign up for an audition
time. Auditions will be from 7:00 p.m.- 10:30 p.m. each evening. Sign-ups are
posted on the callboards outside the Bud Frank Theatre and on the first floor of
Derthick Hall at Milligan. Callbacks will be on Thursday, January 15 from 7:00-
9:00 p.m. in the Bud Frank Theatre. Each group of eight will be given one hour
to do the following: sing 32 bars of a prepared song (an accompanist will be
provided), do a cold reading from the script, and a short dance combination that
will be taught during the audition time. Two copies of the script have been
placed on the reserve shelves at the ETSU and Milligan libraries and will be
available after December 1 for auditionees to peruse.
Rehearsals will begin Thursday, January 22 and production dates are April 1-4 at
the VA Theatre. The production will be under the direction of Richard Major,
Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Area of Performing, Visual and
Communicative Arts at Milligan. Choral direction will be by Dr. Oliver Lo,
Assistant Professor of Music at ETSU; Principal Vocalist Direction will be by
John Wakefield, Associate Professor of Music at Milligan; Musical Conductor will
be Dr. Roxanne Haskill, Assistant Professor of Music at ETSU; and the
choreography will be under the direction of Pam Hurley.
Additional assistance with the orchestra will be provided by Dr. Kellie Brown of
Milligan. Scenic design will be by Melissa Shafer, costume design by Karen
Brewster, and lighting design will be by Scott Hardy.
Milligan College and East Tennessee State University do not discriminate on the
basis of race, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, religious or political
affiliation.