Children’s Stage Adventures seeks 40 Antrim area youngsters to be cast in Arthurian Legend Auditions for the Children’s Stage Adventures production of “The Sword Called Excalibur”.
Auditions will be held at 3:15 p.m., Monday, Nov. 11 at the Antrim Town Hall. Immediately preceding the audition, at 2 p.m., will be a theatre workshop open to all participants at no additional cost. Approximately 40 local children, grades kindergarten through 8th, will be cast to appear in the show with CSA Actor/Educators Johnny Gordon and Heather Cooperman. The performances will take place at the Antrim Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The play begins as a group of hard working villagers and neighboring forest creatures hails the arrival of the troubadour. The troubadour begins a tale, which magically transports the village back in time. The story comes to life as the young local actors take on the roles of wizards and knights. They will become Sir Ector and his subjects, Morgan Le Fay and her scheming partners, young Arthur, young Kay and their trusty dog, Cabal. The play continues with forest creatures teaching Cabal lessons about curiosity, Merlin and his apprentice wizards training Arthur to be king, and a group of bandits living in Sherwood Forest showing Kay a thing or two about fairness.
A tournament and festival carry the story to its end when Arthur draws the sword from the stone and is crowned king. Children planning to audition should arrive by 3:15 p.m. on audition day and plan to stay for the entire two-hour session. No advanced preparation is necessary to take part in the auditions. Children planning to participate in the theatre workshop beforehand should arrive by 2 p.m.
Rehearsals will be conducted from 3:45 to 8:15 p.m. every day the week prior to performances. Although not all cast members will be needed at every session, those auditioning must have a clear schedule for the entire week, and if selected, be able to attend all rehearsals for their role. A detailed rehearsal schedule will be distributed at the conclusion of the auditions. The first rehearsal will begin about 30 minutes after the auditions.
Cooperman, from Columbus, Ohio, and Gordon, from Westfield, Massachusetts, will be this year’s team of Actor/Educators from Children’s Stage Adventures. This is Children’s Stage Adventures 21st year touring across the northeast US and Canada, with 70-plus residencies scheduled. Based in Sullivan, CSA is a nonprofit organization supported in part by charitable donations.