Open auditions for young singers/dancers

HACKETTSTOWN — On Saturday, March 31 the Centenary Stage Company will be hosting open auditions for the New Jersey Youth Theatre’s production of “Smokey Joe’s Café," which will be performed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, followed by performances at the Lackland Center for the Performing Arts in Hackettstown. Auditions for the open dancing call will be held from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and the open singing call will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Both open calls will be located in Centenary Stage Company’s new David and Carol Lackland Center. Set in the 1950s, Smokey Joe’s Café centers around the rock ‘n roll style music composed by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and deals with the themes of love’s gains, losses, and fantasies incorporated with humor and blended with emotion. Smokey Joe’s Café revolves around the quartet of characters modeled after The Drifters. Auditions will be held for the following roles: 1) Ken — the smoothie, who, along with Victor, Adrian and Fred makes up a quartet modeled on The Drifters (must have ballet training) 2) Adrian — the velvet baritone 3) Victor — the preening bad boy and comic actor 4) Frederick — the implacable bass of the quartet 5) Michael — genuinely suave and impressive, evokes the memory of Elvis. 6) B.J.— inspired by the titanic rhythm and blues shouter Big Mama Thornton 7) Brenda — a combination of savvy, wit, brains and beauty (must have ballet training) 8) Pattie — the throaty voice of experience 9) DeLee — suggests the innocence of teenage girls, but with a wild streak. 10) Male and female dancers Dedicated to the emerging performer, auditionees for this NJYT production should be between the ages of 15 and 22. Performers should be prepared to sing a song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, preferably from the score. The Smokey Joe’s Café score will be available at the day of the auditions. Female performers must be able to belt to an E above C. Performers should bring appropriate sheet music in the correct key, and a photo and resume. Dancers should come prepared for dance of the 50s and 60s, with ballet skills. Rehearsals for “Smokey Joe’s Café” will run from May 19 to July 17, six days per week from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will be held in NJPAC’s Victoria Theater. Performances will be July 18 through July 22 in NJPAC’s Victoria Theater in Newark. David and Carol Lackland Performing Arts Center rehearsals will run from July 24 to July 25 with performances July 26 through July 29 at the Lackland Center on the campus of Centenary College in Hackettstown. For additional information, call 908-233-3200 or 973-353-8009 or visit www.njyouththeatre.org or www.njpac.org. The New Jersey Youth Theatre is a critically acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the highest quality theatre arts education and on-stage experience at little or no cost to aspiring young performers and technicians interested in entering the professional arena. Performances at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible through the support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ Council of the Arts, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and Centenary Stage Company and members, including Premier Sponsors Fulton (formerly Skylands) Community Bank and Health Village Retirement Community, as well as Hackettstown Regional Medical Center and Mama’s Café and Bacci.