Performance auditions this weekend include Polar Express, 'A Christmas Chaos'

Aspiring young actors have two audition opportunities in Carson City and one in South Lake Tahoe beginning this weekend.
Today, Saturday, at 10 a.m. the BAC will hold auditions in the Performance Hall for the Polar Express holiday train along the historic V&T Railroad. Organizers are looking for actors, singers and dancers ages 13 to adult to fill roles of Santa Claus, elves, and chefs. These are compensated positions. The performances are aboard the Polar Express train and are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three trains per night.
The Polar Express train rides are based on the holiday feature film from Warner Bros. Pictures and the beloved children’s book, by Chris Van Allsburg, about a doubting young boy who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. The Virginia & Truckee Railroad has partnered with Rail Events Inc. (through Warner Brothers Consumer Products, Inc.) to bring the officially licensed train ride event to Carson City this holiday season.
Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, actor will guide pajama clad passengers in reliving the magic of the story as this nighttime train whisks families away for an unforgettable ride to the North Pole. During the journey, the Conductor will punch tickets and chefs and elves serve hot chocolate and cookies, followed by a reading of Van Allsburg’s classic. At the North Pole, Santa will board the train and greet the children.
Run dates are from November 23-Dec. 23, 2012. Contact Tami Castillo Shelton, Director; tami@breweryarts.org (775) 883-1976, ext.114.
Meanwhile, the Proscenium Players, Inc. of Carson City, currently in its 47th season, will hold auditions for “A Christmas Chaos” Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and again Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Silver State Charter School Performance Arts Building, 900 Mallory Rd. in Carson City.
“A Christmas Chaos” is a hilarious romp of everything that can go wrong in front of and behind the curtain of a community theater production. When the Royal Shakespeare Company – slated to perform the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol” – is waylaid, the local troupe is forced to rewrite, rehearse and perform a replacement.
The flexible cast of 16 includes four adult females, four adult males, a female youth, a male youth and six roles of either gender. Prospective cast members will be asked to read from the play’s script. A script preview is available here.
Performance dates are Nov. 30, Dec. 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 at the Brewery Arts Centers, 449 W. King St., Carson City.
For more information, call Monty at 276-1308 or visit the Proscenium Players website at www.prosceniumplayers.org.
A bit further in South Lake Tahoe The Lake Tahoe Community College Theatre Arts Department celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the longest-running show of any play in history with Agatha Christie's "The Mouse Trap." Auditions are on Sunday Sept.16, Tuesday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Duke Theatre. Casting 8 men and women of various ages.
This mega-hit from the Queen of Mysteries, brings together a group of strangers stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions that are in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, than the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer’s pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons. Of course, the play ends with another famous Agatha Christie switch finish.
The Casting is for:
Mollie Ralston – late 20s-early 30s; Proprietor of Monkswell Manor, and wife of Giles; tries hard to please; has a secret.
Giles Ralston – late 20s-early 30s; Husband of Mollie who runs Monkswell Manor with his wife.
Christopher Wren – 20s; wild-looking neurotic young man; peculiar; artistic; has secrets.
Mrs. Boyle – 50s-60s; a retired judge; critical older woman who is pleased by nothing she observes.
Major Metcalf – 50s-60s; Retired Army Major; solid, patient man.
Miss Casewell – 20s; A strange, aloof, masculine woman; mysterious.
Mr. Paravicini – A mysterious man whose age is hard to pinpoint, as he appears to be artificially aged with make-up; has a foreign accent.
Detective Sergeant Trotter – 20s; the policeman who arrives to protect the people in the house; investigating a murder.
British accents preferred.
Scripts are available on reserve in the Library and audition sides are available at the Theater Department callboard. It is highly recommended that you read the script(there is also a movie version) and prepare the sides for the characters you are interested in.
Opportunities to work in the scene shop building sets or to be on backstage crew are also available.
For more information, call the Theatre Department at (530) 541-4660, ext. 240.