Press Releases | Algonquin Arts Theatre
Algonquin Arts

Press Releases

For More Information
CONTACT:
Shayne Austin Miller, Director of Marketing and Communications
(732) 528-3735
[email protected]

Algonquin Arts, NJPAC And New Jersey Youth Theatre Announce Auditions For Their Summer Musical Collaboration

February 27, 2009

Sweeney Todd: The Musical Thriller

Audition Place: Algonquin Arts Theatre
Audition Time: Sunday, March 29, 2009, Singing Open Call: 1:00 PM-4:00 PM
Contact Algonquin Arts Box Office: 732-528-9211 or [email protected]

�This is not a case of, �Hey, aren�t they great for kids?� These teens and twenty somethings prove that they�re capable professionals. With such astonishing young talent around, New Jersey theater promises a luminous future.� � Peter Filichia, The Star-Ledger, Review of the NJPAC/NJYT production of Ragtime, The Musical

Manasquan, NJ - Algonquin Arts, New Jersey Performing Arts Center�s Summer Musical Program and the New Jersey Youth Theatre Company (NJYT) announce audition dates for their summer musical collaboration on the Tony-Award-winning Stephen Sondheim production, Sweeney Todd, The Musical Thriller. Open call auditions will be held at the Algonquin Arts Theatre on Sunday, March 29, 2009 from 1-4 PM. Auditionees, that is musical theater performers ages 15-25, must prepare a selection from a Stephen Sondheim musical and bring sheet music in the appropriate key, along with a photo of themselves and a resume. An accompanist will be provided. For information, or to register, call the Algonquin Arts Box Office at 732-528-9211. Callbacks will take place at NJPAC and will be scheduled at the open call auditions. The production is scheduled to run in NJPAC�s Victoria Theater July 17-26 and tour to the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ July 31-August 9. Rehearsals for the cast will begin May 14, 2009 during Thursday and Friday evenings and weekends until late June when they will run six days a week until opening night.

The production of Sweeney Todd: The Musical Thriller will feature a multi-cultural cast of 30 talented New Jersey/New York metro area young actors between the ages of 15 and 25. The production will be accompanied by a full orchestra comprised of young student musicians and seasoned professionals.

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a Tony Award-winning musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical is based on 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond. Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 1, 1979 and ran for 557 performances. It was directed by Harold Prince with musical staging by Larry Fuller. It starred Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett.

Sets, props and wardrobe operations, onstage and backstage, will be in the hands of professionals assisted by young technical interns in each area. The actors, musicians and technical interns will come from across the metro-area and participate free of charge in this unique project. Past AlgonquinArts/NJPAC/NJYT Summer Musical productions include Ragtime: The Musical (named by The Star Ledger as �Best Musical 2006�), Guys & Dolls, Anything Goes, West Side Story (recipient of the 2003 Music Theatre International Award of Excellence), South Pacific, and Carousel.

Algonquin Arts was founded in 1992 as a nonprofit organization to provide cultural enrichment and educational enhancement of the highest quality for the residents of New Jersey�s central region. Programming of Algonquin Arts is made possible as a result of the continued philanthropic support of private citizens and organizations such as New Jersey State Council on the Arts, OceanFirst Foundation, New Jersey Cultural Trust, Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, PNC Foundation, Manasquan Savings Bank, Woman�s Club of Brielle, Bank of America, Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Investors Savings Bank Charitable Fund, Verizon Foundation, Janice & Jules Plangere III, as well as many generous individuals and local businesses.