AUDITIONS: HOW I BECAME A PIRATE
Sail off on a fantastic musical excursion when a band of comical pirates land at North Beach looking for an expert digger to join their crew. Braid Beard and his mates enlist young Jeremy Jacob to help find the perfect spot to bury their treasure. Jeremy finds that adventuring can be lots of fun, but also learns that love and home are treasures you can’t find on any map!
Book, Music and Lyrics by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman
Based on the Book Written by Melinda Long and Illustrated by David Shannon
Director/ Choreographer: Daxton Bloomquist
Music Director: Anne Gesling
Producers: Maggie Cope, Eve Keller, Elizabeth Michalak
INTRODUCING Daxton Bloomquist to our directing team
Daxton has appeared on Broadway in the Book of Mormons as well as starred as Elder McKinley on the National Tour for 2.5 years. Daxton has taught many master performance classes and directed a production of Seussical The Musical at his almamater, Wichita State University. He has appeared in Physical Season 2 on Apple TV, Blindspotting Season 2 on Starz, 1923 on Paramount. Daxton recently produced and starred in the short film Murrays Home for Moving, currently submitted to the festival circuit.
All actors must be fully vaccinated
or provide a doctor’s certification of a vaccination waiver.
AUDITIONS
Auditions will be held on:
Wednesday, February 1 from 4:00 to 6:30pm
Thursday, February 2 from 4:00 to 6:30pm
No appointment needed. Actors only need to attend one day of auditions.
CALLBACKS on Saturday, February 4 starting at 1:30pm.
**You will be notified by email on Friday, February 3 if you will be needed for callbacks and given a schedule.
All auditions, and any necessary callbacks, will be held at the
2627 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA
Street parking available.
Venice Family Clinic’s parking lot is available on weekends and on weekdays after 6 p.m. Do not park at our neighbors AAMCO/Viking Motors or SGI or you will be towed.
PREPARE
Prepare 32 bars (a verse and chorus) of an up-tempo song in the standard musical comedy style with accompaniment on a CD, Iphone, Ipad or the Android equivalents. Please do not sing pop songs, liturgical music, or country western.
Be prepared to dance.
COVID SAFETY INFORMATION
The work of being in a production is dependent on the health of the actors. The actors cast will perform unmasked, but all rehearsals will be held in masks until the final two of weeks of rehearsal when masks will still be required when off stage but actors will be maskless on stage. Prior to the final two weeks, actors will occasionally be asked to remove their masks in rehearsal only if properly distanced and only in order to work facial expressions and projection. Any portion of rehearsal that is held without a mask will not exceed 15 minutes. The production will determine if testing is needed for the run of the show.
PERFORMANCE DATES
March 18 through April 2, Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 am with school show performance at 9:15 am and 11:00 am on Tuesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 30.
School shows will require actors to miss their morning classes, but they can often receive community service credit. Please note that actors MUST be available for all performances, including any school show. This is non-negotiable!
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will begin on Monday, February 6th. Rehearsals will be held Monday through Friday’s from 4:00 to 6:30pm and Saturday afternoons and Sunday early evening depending on cast and theatre schedules. Actors are not called for all rehearsals, only ones where they are being used for a scene. Typically, large cast rehearsals are held on Saturdays. We will try to limit most actors to 4-5 rehearsals a week until we reach the last few weeks. Rehearsals will be worked around actor schedules as much as possible and also work around youth workshop commitments. As always, we consider homework a priority.
BRING
A printed copy of your vaccination card to leave with us, a picture (school picture or snapshot is fine), resume or list of shows done, and your conflicts for the rehearsal period. All conflicts MUST be submitted prior to callbacks. Please check with your school choir/band/theatre director, your soccer/baseball coach, or any other adult who schedules your time, about all conflicts PRIOR to auditioning. If additional conflicts arise after casting, it may result in an actor being replaced.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
In reference to the character descriptions that follow, our casting seeks to be as inclusive as possible and we invite gender non-conforming, genderfluid, transgender and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with.
We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities; we encourage Arab, Asian, Black, Caucasian, Latino, Native, and Multiracial actors to audition for all roles. In addition, we will list disability when specific to a character, but are otherwise seeking actors with disabilities as well as non-disabled actors for all roles. Please let us know if you have any questions, or if there are any accommodations we can provide.
We are actively committed to casting an inclusive show that reflects the community.
Jeremy Jacob: alto, gender open, 9 to 12. Adventurous, imaginative, and energetic spirit with a positive attitude. Seeking performer who can think quickly on their feet and has strong improv skills.
Braid Beard: baritone/alto, gender open, 12-18. The pirate captain. grounded, aggressive, commanding. Seeking performer who makes committed choices. Strong improv skills needed and strong mover a plus.
Swill the Pirate: baritone/alto, gender open, 11-18. Braid Beard’s right hand mate. Goofy, silly but intellectual and always gets blamed for everything that goes wrong. Strong improv skills and physical comedy a plus.
Sharktooth the Pirate: bari-tenor, gender open, 12-18.By first looks Sharktooth is one of the scariest pirates on the ship, but in reality is the most sensitive and kind pirate of them all with a grounded presence.
Pirate Pierre: baritone/alto, gender open, 11-18. The pirate chef. Quirky, expressive and animated. French accent is a plus or willing to learn. Strong mover and physical comedy a plus.
Max the Pirate: baritone/alto, gender open, 11-18. Simple, naive, kind and a little bit aloof. Keeps a stuffed parrot on shoulder, but no one has the heart to say it’s not real. Strong mover.
Pirate Seymour Branschwagger: baritone/alto, gender open, 11-18. Committed to all the rules and follows every direction of Captain Braid Beard. An A plus student. Strong mover.
Pirate Scurvy Dog: baritone/alto, gender open, 11-18. Energetic yet grounded, lovable and playful. Strong physical actor a plus.
Ensemble/Pirates: all genders, all vocal types, 8-18. Strong dancer/movers. Tricks (splits, cartwheels, handstands, ect) a plus. Ability to make strong committed choices.
Non-Equity, there is no pay.
Questions? Contact producer Eve Keller at eve.keller@morgan-wixson.org.