The Drayton Entertainment Youth Academy is pleased to announce Children’s Chorus auditions for Cinderella: The Panto and Evita, which will take place at the Huron Country Playhouse (70689 B Line, Grand Bend) on Sunday, March 30 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. Registration begins at 12:30 pm. Cinderella: The Panto will be on stage this June in Grand Bend and Evita will be on stage this July in Grand Bend.
Aspiring young performers ages 8 to 15 are encouraged to attend the auditions. Dancing, singing, and acting experience are an asset and preferred. Hopefuls are asked to learn the song indicated on the audition registration page online. The young performers will also be taught a dance combination at the audition, and then perform the dance in small groups for Artistic Director, David Connolly. For complete details or to register, please visit https://www.draytonentertainmentyouthacademy.com/auditions.
“It is our pleasure to showcase the vast young talent in this community,” says David Connolly. “We look forward to giving many aspiring young performers the chance to be on stage and learn from professional artists.”
The Children’s Chorus will offer 100% barrier-free access to unite youth from different backgrounds, identities, cultures, abilities, and interests, completely free of charge.
To provide opportunities for as many youth as possible, the chosen performers will be divided into teams and will perform in the Children’s Chorus on a rotating schedule with professional actors in the lead roles.
The Creative Team for Cinderella: The Panto is led by Director and Choreographer David Connolly, who helmed last year’s production of Peter Pan: The Panto. The Creative Team for Evita is led by Director and Choregrapher Michael Lichtefeld.
Connolly is joined by Music Director Steve Thomas, Set Designer JC Olivier, Costume Designer Rachel Berchtold, Lighting Designer Jeff Johnston-Collins, Stage Manager Amber Archbell, Assistant Stage Manager Nazerah Carlisle, and Apprentice Stage Manager Vivi Valo. Cinderella: The Panto is written by Caroline Smith.
Lichtefeld is joined by Music Director Jeannie Wyse, Set Designer Sean Mulcahy, Costume Designer Ivan Brozic, Sound Designer Allan McMillan, Lighting Designer Kevin Faser, Stage Manager Ricardo Alvarado, and Assistant Stage Managers Frances Johnson and Kathryn Urbanek. Evita is originally directed by Harold Prince with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Rehearsals for Cinderella: The Panto will begin mid-May. The production will run from June 4 to June 21. Rehearsals for Evita will begin in June. The production will run from July 9 to July 26. Children cast in the production must attend all rehearsals and performances assigned to their team.
Pantos are a popular form of family theatre in the UK based on fairy or folk tales, and encourage audience participation. With its winning combination of popular songs, energetic dancing, tongue-in-cheek humour, double entendres, innuendo, pop-culture references, and outrageous costumes, Cinderella will cast its magical spell and have you cheering for the heroine and her friends and booing the evil stepmother and wicked stepsisters.
Evita charts the meteoric rise of Argentina’s infamous Eva Perón – who at one point was considered to be the most powerful woman in South America. Experience some of the best loved songs in musical theatre such as “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” “Buenos Aires,” and “High Flying, Adored”.
Cinderella: The Panto is proudly sponsored by Re/Max Bluewater Realty Inc. Media Sponsors are Fresh Radio 103.1 and Cool 106.3. Evita is proudly sponsored by Commercial Print Management Inc. Media Sponsors are FM 96 London, The London Free Press, and My FM 90.5.
Regular performance tickets are $59.50 for adults, $36.50 for youth under 20 years of age. Tickets for select Discount Dates and groups of 20 or more are $48.50, and small groups of 10-19 are $54.00. HST is applicable to all ticket prices. Tickets may be purchased by calling toll free at
1-855-drayton (372-9866), or online at www.huroncountryplayhouse.com.