THE WEDDING SINGER - The Company Music Theatre Non Equity Auditions

THE COMPANY

A FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE

ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE AUDITIONS FOR 2014 PRODUCTION OF

THE WEDDING SINGER

AT THE LOWRY, SALFORD

FROM THURSDAY 7 TO SATURDAY 9 AUGUST 2014

The Company Music Theatre is delighted to announce its 2014 production of The Wedding Singer, which will play at the company’s North-West home of 4 years The Lowry, Salford from Thursday 7 – Saturday 9 August 2014, with nationwide auditions commencing inFebruary 2014.

Founded in 2008, The Company is a national musical youth theatre whose aim is to provide high-level industry experience to as many young performers as possible, from a range of backgrounds and with mixed levels of experience. The Company’s productions, staged annually at The Lowry, are a fantastic opportunity for young performers to experience being part of a production created for a world-class professional stage. Productions are cast at auditions across the UK, with residential rehearsals taking place in school and college holiday periods. All residentials are fully supervised by qualified teachers and provide a safe and creative environment in which performers can develop and collaborate.

The Company’s recent alumni include Stewart Clarke, who made his West End debut in Loserville at the Garrick Theatre and is currently starring as Sam Wheat in the UK Tour of Ghost The Musical, and Charlotte Wakefield, whose many professional credits include the Original London Cast of Spring Awakening and Sophie in the International Tour ofMamma Mia!.

The Company’s 2014 production of Broadway musical comedy The Wedding Singer will be cast through nationwide auditions taking place throughout February and March:

London, Sunday 2 February 2014

Manchester, Sunday 9 February and Saturday 15 February 2014

Newcastle, Sunday 23 February 2014

London, Sunday 2 March 2014

Birmingham, Saturday 8 March 2014

Auditions are open to young performers aged 13-23, and can be booked by visiting
www.thecompanymusictheatre.org.uk.

The London auditions on Sunday 2 February will also include a Q&A session with West End performer Hannah Levane, giving applicants the opportunity to gain a valuable insight into the industry. Hannah’s recent credits include the UK Tour of Sister Act, Flashdance at the Shaftesbury Theatre, We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre and Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre.

The Wedding Singer is the story of rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart, the life of the party until his own fiancee leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own, until he meets Julia, a winsome waitress who soon wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.

The Wedding Singer will be lead by a professional creative team including director Tom O’Brien, choreographer Lee Crowley and musical director Huw Evans, and followers The Company’s hugely successful and critically acclaimed productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Into the Woods, Parade, Merrily We Roll Along and The Rose and the Ring.

“I honestly think this is not only one of the best productions of the year

but one of the best I’ve seen”

WhatsOnStage (on Parade)

The Company is supported by The Mackintosh Foundation, Arts Ed, John Lewis, The Brit Trust and Clifford Chance.

www.thecompanymusictheatre.org.uk

Twitter: @TheCompanyMT

For further press information please contact Mark Senior

on 07446 169 997 or
mark@markseniorpr.com

Tom O’Brien - Director

Tom is Artistic Director of The Company Music Theatre and Creative Projects Associate at The Northampton Royal & Derngate Theatre.

Directing credits include: 21st Anniversary Production of Philip Ridley’s The Fastest Clock In The Universe (The Old Red Lion Theatre), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (The Lowry), Our Friends, The Enemy (Theatre 503, Edinburgh Festival), Judy The Righteous (Trafalgar Studios/King's Head) and Out of The Kitchen (Waterloo East).

Assistant Director credits include: Martina Cole's Dangerous Lady (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Thoroughly Modern Millie (The Watermill), Merrily We Roll Along (Clwyd Theatr Cymru), Ruben Guthrie (New Wimbledon Studio), Little Women (LOST Theatre), Buried Child (Upstairs at the Gatehouse) A Clockwork Orange (Edinburgh Festival).

Upcoming projects for 2014 include: Merrily We Roll Along (BOA) and Our Friends The Enemy (UK Tour).

Lee Crowley - Choreographer

Lee is a co-founder of The Company and has choreographed all The Company’s shows.

Stage credits include: Mansfield Park (2012 tour), Rapunzel, Cinderella and the Glass Slipper, Puss in Boots and Black Eyed Susan, for the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, several productions for the Salisbury Playhouse, A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the British Shakespeare Company, Little Me (Bloomsbury) and Fiddler on the Roof (Bridewell) both for the National Youth Music Theatre, The Perfect Wife in association with Perfect Pitch and Spend, Spend, Spend at the Birmingham Old Rep Theatre.

Huw Evans – Musical Director

Huw read music at King’s College London, gaining a Bachelor of Music degree whilst simultaneously studying piano with Elena Vorotko at the Royal Academy of Music. He then trained as a Music Director at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts where his credits included: A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening, and West Side Story.

Credits include: Evita (National Tour), Oliver! (Sheffield Crucible), Alice By Heart (National Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (White Bear Theatre),Merrily We Roll Along (Theatre Clywyd, Cymru), Hairspray (Aberystwyth Arts Centre) and Rent (Greenwich Theatre) for which he was awarded 'Best Musical Direction' in the BroadwayWorld Awards 2012.