Auditions for Antigone and The Producers

Antigone The Producers AuditionsTech Theatre Company

Spring Auditions!

Antigone
The Producers

Auditions
November 30 and December 1, 2014, 7-10 pm
2nd Floor Walker Arts and Humanities Center

Sign Up Now!

Signing up ensures priority audition time. We are looking for actors, dancers, and singers for our two spring productions!*

Performances for Antigone will be February 19-21 and 26-28, 2015.
Performances for The Producers will be April 9-11, 2015.

The Rehearsal schedule may vary but most rehearsals will be SundayThursday, 7:00-10:00 pm.
A finalized rehearsal schedule will be sent out after auditions.

*You must be 16 years of age or older to audition.

Contact Jamie Aneshansel (jlanesha@mtu.edu).

Tips: 

  • Familiarize yourself with the audition material so you understand the plot and characters.
  • Practice so that you can make the most of eye contact when you read with a partner.  (Try to glance at the script and deliver the line to the other person and really listen and respond to them.)

Below are summaries of the plays:

Antigone is chronologically the third part of the Oedipus Rex Trilogy which tells the story of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, after her father’s death. The story opens at the end of a battle between Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, for control of Thebes. Both brothers died in the battle, but Creon, the new king of Thebes, has declared that while Eteocles should be buried with honors Polyneices body should be left unburied. This is a severe punishment for Polyneices since the Greeks believed that one could not go to the afterlife unless one’s body was properly buried. Since she loves both of her brothers, Antigone decides to bury Polyneices in spite of Creon’s order and tries to enlist her sister, Ismene, in the task. Ismene refuses to break Creon’s law. Antigone says the law of the Gods is more important than mortal man’s law. It is ironic that just as Antigone is burying her brother, Creon comes on stage declaring that anyone caught doing so will be put to death.

When Antigone is caught burying her brother, she makes no apology, declaring that she is only doing what is right. Creon is a proud man and no amount of convincing will make him change his mind. The plot thickens as it comes out that Creon’s son Haemon is engaged to marry Antigone. He tries to use reason to convince his father that killing Antigone for burying her brother will make him unpopular and hurt his rule. Creon accuses his son of disloyalty and sends Antigone to be locked in a cave with only limited food and water thus sending her to her death. Finally, Teiresias, the blind prophet who foretold the tragedy of Oedipus, arrives and manages to convince Creon to change his mind by foretelling of the deaths that will come from this Creon’s action, but it is too late. When they get to the cave, Antigone is already dead, a suicide. Haemon also commits suicide and upon learning of her son’s death, Eurydice, wife to Creon, follows her son’s example. Creon is left with nothing but his kingship He had put his pride and his power ahead of his family and angered the gods. Although he kept his kingship it was poor consolation for losing both his son and his wife.

The Producers is based around the character of Max Bialystock, a down and out Broadway producer whose latest work flopped on opening night. Max, plagued by his former success and scrabbling to stay afloat, experiences a change in fortune when downtrodden accountant, Leo Bloom, discovers there is money to be made in Max’s theatrical failure.  As a result, the two formerly defeated business men form an unlikely union with the goal of creating the world’s worst musical. The plot develops as the duo enlists the help of ridiculous and often farcical characters on the way such as former Nazi and on-going Third Reich enthusiast Franz Liebkind, Ulla the blonde bombshell secretary/receptionist and the flamboyant homosexual director Roger De Bris. As a result of the characters combined brainpower and ludicrous behaviour Spring Time for Hitler is born in Broadway.

VPA Holding Auditions for Two Plays on Sunday and Monday

The Department of Visual and Performing Arts is holding auditions for two plays, “Antigone” and “The Producers,” on Sunday, Nov. 30, and and Monday, Dec. 1, from 7 to 10 p.m. each night, on the second floor of the Walker Arts and Humanities Center. Performances for “Antigone” will be Feb. 19-21 and Feb. 26-28, 2015. Performances for “The Producers” will be April 9-11, 2015. Students, faculty and community members are welcome to audition.

To audition for a part in either play, sign up using the Google Form to receive audition material and to ensure priority audition time. After filling out this form, you will receive a contact and information form to fill out, as well as all audition material and what to expect at auditions. You are welcome to audition for one or both plays on the same night.

For more information, contact Trish Helsel at helsel@mtu.edu.

From Tech Today.

Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra Fall Chamber Recital

KSO to Present a Free Fall Musical Recital Thursday

The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra will present a free fall music recital on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. at Portage Lake United Church (PLUC). This recital’s theme, “Night at the Movies,” invites beautiful and compelling vocal and instrumental music, including performances of opera arias and art songs, a woodwind quartet, a string quartet and a premiere of a new composition.

Though tickets are free of charge, a $5 donation toward the KSO and PLUC will be accepted at the door. A reception will follow the performance.

From Tech Today.

VPA in Michigan Tech News

Art and Science Join Hands to Prevent Bird-Window Collisions
February 2, 2016
Tech Alumnus Helps Create Award-winning Video Game
January 25, 2016
Michigan Tech Rises in NSF Research Expenditure Rankings
December 2, 2015
From Meru to Mavis: Something for Everyone at the 41 North Film Festival
October 16, 2015
Neves Conducts in China
August 7, 2015
Soundscape Brings an Auditory Aesthetic to Forestry Atrium
January 15, 2015
The Day of Pictures
December 20, 2014
2D Designs Become a 3D Reality on the Tech Trails
December 11, 2014
German Exchange Programs Broaden 3 Tech Students’ Horizons
November 4, 2014
Students Researching How to Prevent Bird-Window Collisions
November 3, 2014
Quantifying the Qualitative: Tony Orrico’s Artistic Works Push the Envelope of Art and Science
March 6, 2014

New Faculty Member Lisa Johnson

 

Lisa Johnson
Lisa Johnson

Lisa Johnson, MFA
Lisa Johnson joins the Department of Visual and Performing Arts from the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.

Johnson received an MFA and an MA with a focus in sculpture from the University of Iowa.

Johnson has been involved in projects like Place-Map-Place, Trench(era), The Eva Luna Project and Kotcich. She also has experience with digital, audio and video production; performance development; woodworking; figure modeling; plaster casting and mold making; and papermaking.

Read more at Tech Today.

Joel Neves Places Third for The American Prize

Joel Neves
Joel Neves

Joel Neves, assistant professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, was awarded 3rd place in The American Prize in Conducting – College/University Orchestra Division. The submission included videos of him conducting the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra in Brahms, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Shostakovich.

The American Prize is an annual national music competition for American musicians and musical organizations, ranging from opera companies to choirs to bands to composers to conductors. Joel’s division includes conductors of college and college-community orchestras.

KSO director wins award

Winning this prize is merely a side effect of all the passion Neves puts into his work. “I love music, it’s in my DNA and I love people. Being able to work with people to make music is a glorious calling. I go home happy,” said Neves. He has been conducting for 13 years now and has taken KSO to many new places during his career at MTU.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Andrea Spencer.

Merit Response for Baby with the Bathwater Production

Baby with the BathwaterBaby with the Bathwater,” a Michigan Tech Theatre Company production, received its Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival response last week. The respondent is awarding the following:

  • Certificate of Merit in Lighting Design—Jason Scott
  • Certificate of Merit in Sound Design—Steve Green
  • Certificate of Merit in Music Composition—Ben Holtz
  • Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Nominations—Dollcie Webb and Scott Murphy

Additionally, the respondent nominated scene I-2 with Helen, John and Nanny to be considered for the Region III festival. (“Rose and the Rime,” which was presented by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts last February, is also under consideration.) Results will be announced after the first weekend in December.

The respondent also noted the strength of the production in technical direction (Josh Maiville) and in the system sound design (Jason Pew). The stage managers were recognized in the response.

“Baby with the Bathwater” is directed by Associate Professor Patricia Helsel, with set and costume design by  Professor M. C. Friedrich (VPA).

The show plays today and tomorrow and contains adult language and situations.

From Tech Today.

KSO Fantasies and Fairy Tales on Thursday

KSO Music RecitalKeweenaw Symphony Orchestra Fall Recital Series
Fantasies and Fairy Tales
Thursday, October 16, 2014, 7:00 pm
Portage Lake United Church

“The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra presents a free Fall Music Recital. This recital’s theme—Fantasies and Fairy Tales—invites beautiful and compelling vocal and instrumental music, including performances of Canadian fiddle, opera arias and art songs, woodwind quartet, string quartet, piano solo, and flute solo.

There is no ticket price for the recital, but a $5 donation toward the KSO and PLUC is accepted at the door. There will be a nice reception after the performance.”

Meyer and Plummer Host Suzuki Performance

Two VPA Instructors to Perform at PLDL Tomorrow

Visual and Performing Arts instructors Libby Meyer and Amanda Plummer will host a Suzuki stringed-instrument performance, “Big Violins for Little People,” Tuesday, September 23, 2014, at the Portage Lake District Library, from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

Children will enjoy an hour of music-making, dancing and learning about what makes these instruments so much fun to play. Children of all ages are encouraged to attend. After the performance, participants will also have an opportunity to try out the instruments as part of a big violins “petting zoo.”

Library presentations are free, and everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, call the library at 482-4570 or visit Portage Lake District Library.

From Tech Today.