Auditions for the St. Louis premiere of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY will be held on two successive Monday nights, October 12 and 19, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend, in the second floor theatre. This is NOT on the Washington University main campus. Performers need to come to only one of the dates. The show will run April 22-May 15, 2010. For details about the show, visit New Line's Wild Party webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wildpartypage.html.
New Line is looking for a multi-racial cast of 14-16 adult men and women (one woman will play "a minor"). We do not cast anyone under 17. New Line is looking for intelligent singing actors who are willing to take risks onstage. Performers are asked to bring a prepared contemporary theatre song, with printed piano music for our pianist (no tapes and no a cappella). There will be a dance audition. Performers may also be asked to sing from the score. Three roles in the show have been cast, including Queenie, Burrs, and Kate. The other 11 roles will be cast through the October auditions.
The Wild Party is based on the infamous Jazz-age poem about a decadent and deadly all-night party in 1920s Manhattan. With an unflinching eye, this powerful, riveting musical shows us two lives spiraling downward, filled to the brim with meaningless sex and casual drug abuse. In a relationship marked by vicious recklessness, vaudeville dancer Queenie and vaudeville clown Burrs decide to throw a party to end all parties. As the guests arrive, we meet an assortment of people living on The Edges of society, and after a long night of decadence, Burrs' jealousy erupts and ends in tragedy. In the stark light of a new day, Queenie moves out into a brighter world, although not necessarily a brighter future, leaving the passed-out revelers in her wake.
The New York Daily News called the show “sizzling, vital and groundbreaking.” The New York Times said, "Its strong suit is summoning the anxious restlessness behind the hellbent hedonism of the days of Prohibition." The legendary Beat writer William Burroughs said of the original poem, "It's the book that made me want to become a writer."
NEW AUDITION POLICY: If you have performed with New Line Theatre during the last eighteen months, you don't have to audition. Instead you just have to contact artistic director Scott Miller before the last night of auditions to tell him that you want to be considered. On the other hand, if you want to be considered for a role that's very different from what you've done for us before, then you are more than welcome to audition and show us how perfect you are for that role.
Rehearsals will begin in late February, on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m., and also Sunday afternoons for choreography, plus every night the week the show opens. Rehearsals are at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in St. Louis Hills. Performances are at the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road. Performers will share a guaranteed 10% of box office receipts. Call 314-773-6526 or email NewChaz64@aol.com for more information. No appointments are necessary. All performers should arrive for the audition before 7:00 p.m. New Line is a non-union professional theatre company and is always very eager to find a multi-racial cast. To read New Line's Diversity Statement, go to http://www.newlinetheatre.com/diversity.html
