Annie Cast List Posted Today

Last night we had callbacks for Rooster and Lily and now have most of the characters in the show filled. We still have a few TBAs, but I'm not too worried about those. The cast is being posted today and now all I have to do is wait for confirmations to come in. All confirmations have to be in by Wednesday, December 2nd.

Last night was fun seeing a rough performance of the Easy Street scene - over and over again. I can't wait for rehearsals to start so we can really flesh out those characters.

Second Night of Auditions

On Tuesday we held the second night of auditions. About 20 kids showed up that night and a good number of adults. We will be calling back a few adults on Sunday afternoon and hopefully we'll have the cast list fleshed out completely. We're posting it on Monday the 30th! I don't want to get into specifics since the list isn't finalized or made public yet, but I'm very excited about the caliber of talent we have.

Auditions - Day 1

Wow! One day of auditions are now completed. What a great turnout for the kids auditions, we saw 31 local children and expect the numbers to be high again tonight. I would like to see more adults though, especially the guys - male actors, where are you??!!??

Most of the kids had prepared songs - all had to sing Happy Birthday. I had them sing the song in a style opposite of what there first song was, to see if they could take direction and could perform different emotions. I loved hearing Maybe and Tomorrow performed quite a few times. I also had an auditioner perform Johnny One Note. I don't think she had any idea that Andrea McArdle had auditioned for Annie with that song, but it gave me a nice touch of nostalgia. After all had sung, we had them do a movement audition. I'm loving my choreographer, Jenny Morris. She's got a firm grasp of the style of the show, knows the style of the 1930s and I can't wait to see her dances. She' also a huge fan of the show.

I'm excited for tonight's auditions. Sing for me!

First Meeting

Whew! I met with Jeff, Ben and Mare on Tuesday to go through some ideas and have my questions answered. Things have changed since the last time I was involved in any Firehall production - for the better. I'm so glad I have people to help out with this production. It's going to be GREAT! I can't wait to have auditions and have the show cast. I want to be so organized so I don't drive myself crazy come the week we go into the Empire. Wish we had the scripts, but I'll just have to be patient and wait.

One thing we decided is we are going to have one Annie and double cast the orphans and the rest of the children. We're also going to involve the kids who aren't cast as orphans in the Hooverville, NYC and New Deal for Christmas scenes so they will have an opportunity to shine as well. It'll also be great for them to perform with seasoned adults so the kids can learn from them.

Well, now to break down the character list and be prepared for the auditions Monday & Tuesday.

Jumpin' Grasshoppers!

I'm directing "Annie the Musical"! This will be the place for me to express ideas, thoughts, activities and keep track of the progress on this wonderful new journey I've begun.

Tonight a meeting with Jeff & Ben to discuss auditions, set design and dozens of ideas and questions floating through my head at this time.

Here's a list of questions so far:

1. Orphan Cast - should I have two teams of the principle orphans, an Annie understudy & two swings, or just one cast of the main orphans - all of these include masses of orphan extras to give as many kids as possible the exposure to the wonderful world of theatre

2. Can I include these questions on the audition sheet:

Are you willing to shave your head (for Warbucks)

Are you willing to cur & dye your hair (for Annie)

3. When do we have Sandy auditions? Can we involve the humane society to provide walk -on roles for dogs up for adoption in the dogcatcher scene?

4. Will the principles have mics?

5. Musical director at the auditions?

6. No fly-loft in our venue. Can have one backdrop. How about wagons? Grand Staircase - do we have a budget for it?

7. Scripts - are they in? Have we secured the rights?

8. Tech week - when do we get to move into the Empire?

9. Collection Display?

10. When should the cast list go up?

11. When should 1st rehearsal start?

12. Do I need to include behavior guidelines when handing out the audition forms?

13. Suggest "Annie Warbucks" for next year

14. Casting myself into the show?

15. Start a contact list of the creative team

16. Who will do marketing, media, publicity, promos, fundraising?

This is just a start - many more to come.