Auditions Held For New Line's THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE 5/11,18

Auditions for New Line Theatre's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will be held on two successive Monday nights, May 11 and 18, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington University South Campus, 6501 Clayton Road (formerly CBC High School), 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 July 16-August 8, 2009. For details about the show, visit New Line's Spelling Bee webpage at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/spellingbeepage.html

New Line is looking for a multi-racial cast of 9 adult men and women, six of whom will play children. We will 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 not be a dance audition. Performers may also be asked to sing from the score.

Four roles in the show have already been cast: Miss Peretti, Mr. Panch, William Barfee, and Leaf Coneybear. All other roles remain open and will not be cast until after auditions.

We may also be casting at this time for our fall show, Love Kills.

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.

Spelling Bee places us at an actual spelling bee -- surely the fiercest and cruelest of America's gladiatorial arenas -- complete with a few audience members among the spellers. But underneath the biting comedy, there's an insightful, sometimes difficult look at the dark side of American ambition and competitiveness, and the insecurities and fears we all face every day.

The New York Times wrote about the show, "It's the more private but enduring triumphs -- the connection finally made with a member of the opposite sex, the discovery of previously unknown pockets of self-esteem -- that are really being celebrated. . . . Spelling Bee is not extravagant in its aims, but it lives up to its goals in a way that the season's bigger, glitzier and more ambitious musicals mostly don't. Gold stars all around!" The Boston Globe said, "Spelling Bee has everything a rollicking musical should have: wit and grace, heart and soul, charm and a bit of a bite." SPELLING BEE won two Tony Awards, two Theatre World Awards, and three Drama Desk Awards.

Rehearsals start June 1st, on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m., a few Sunday afternoons, and 2-3 Wednesday nights early on (to Make Up For a shortened rehearsal period), as well as 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, just east of Big Bend. 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 very eager to find a multi-racial cast.

For more info about the company, visit www.newlinetheatre.com/auditions.html