Casting Call for May 25, 2012

Flossmoor native David Mamet penned the play "Oleanna." | AP file photo

Updated: July 2, 2012 9:40AM

Here is a look at open auditions in the Southland. Casting Calls include Spotlight Theater’s “Oleanna.”

APOSTLE CHRISTIAN THEATRE: Auditions for the summer production of “If the Good Lord’s Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise” by Pat Cook will take place at 7 p.m. May 25 at 2250 205th St., Chicago Heights. The show will be directed by Andrea Fleming.

This zany comedy, in the spirit of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, centers on Doc, an eccentric man whose house caters to all sorts of characters. Now a retired judge, he spends his days enjoying life. When he’s not flying around the countryside in his balloon or fishing in a nearby dry riverbed, he works on his books of nonsense.

This prompts his daughter, Charlotte, to decide he’s lost his marbles. So, conspiring with a sly lawyer, she plans to not only become his guardian but also to sell his house and property. Throw in a psychologist on her first case, lovesick teenagers, an irate school bus driver and an occasional artist or two, and it’s a madhouse.

Will Doc be committed or not? Of course he offers his own defense. “You ought to try tilting at a windmill every so often,” he philosophizes. “It’s great exercise and a nice breeze goes with it.”

When he shows up at his sanity hearing dressed as a magician, his daughter and her lawyer think they have their case all sewn up. However, Doc has a few surprise rabbits to pull out of the hat.

Auditions will consist of cold reading from the script. Performances will be on July 20-21 and 27-28 and Aug. 3-4, with one Sunday matinee to be announced.

Information: (708) 267-4409, actonstage.org.

DEMI LOBO’S MOST TALENTED UNDER 12: Registration for nationwide auditions for this national competition can be done at talentunder12.eventbrite.com. Auditions will begin in the Southland at 5 p.m. May 25 at Power of Praise Worship Center, 14323 S. Western Ave, Dixmoor.

Auditions are for ages 5-12 who are singers, rappers, spoken-word artists, dancers, dance groups, musicians, magicians and comedians.

Ages 13-18 are not eligible for the competition but can audition for opening acts. There will be one opening act selected from each location.

Finals will take place on Oct. 7 at Henderson Arena in Atlanta.

Demi Lobo is a pop recording artist and radio personality on WGCI-FM (107.5). Her namesake event is in its fourth year.

Cosponsors include Divine Purpose and 21st Century New Beginnings Foundation.

Information: tfcdpmt21@yahoo.com.

“OLEANNA”: Spotlight Theater will conduct auditions for this controversial drama by Flossmoor David Mamet, the provocative, Chicago-born Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter and director (author of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Speed-the-Plow,” “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,” “American Buffalo,” “A Life in the Theatre,” “Bobby Gould in Hell” and many others).

“Oleanna” is a tour de force for the actors that inhabit its two roles, requiring great focus and depth of understanding in the portrayal of a situation where — through in-depth conversations of intellectual concepts that are batted back and forth like tennis balls in Mamet’s trademark biting, rapid-fire, and quick-witted dialogue — understanding is the desperately-sought-after, and seemingly unattainable, grail.

The play focuses on a professor, John, and a student, Carol, who visits his office to get help with her class work. At first, he, who is in the process of buying a house to celebrate his nomination for tenure, seems distant. As the meeting progresses, they discuss the nature of understanding and judgment in society, and their own natures and places in society, and it seems a bond has been forged.

Weeks later, Carol and John meet again, and it’s revealed that Carol has joined a “group” and filed a report with the tenure committee accusing John of sexual harassment against her during their earlier meeting. They begin to dissect every word and nuance of their first meeting, and everything seems to have been twisted into something else. Or has it?

Eventually, John’s attempts to convince Carol to retract her accusation escalate to a more dangerous level. The third meeting, one the court officers warn against, ends violently and brings the show and the season to an unexpected, emotionally devastating and shattering climax.

A cast of two is required including one role for a woman (character’s age range: 20-24) and one role for a man (character’s age range: 40-48). (Characters’ ages do not have to be actors’ actual ages, and actors of any race and ethnicity are encouraged to apply).

Rehearsals (three per week) and performances are at the troupe’s theater in New Lenox. The rehearsal schedule, based on the availability of those cast, will be announced after auditions. The performance dates are July 20-22 and 27-29 (with the possibility of an extension). Actors will be paid a small stipend.

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. No prepared monologues are required.

Auditions will take place from 6:30-10 p.m. May 29-30 (no appointments are necessary) at Spotlight Theater Studio, 22032 Howell Drive, New Lenox.

Carol is a student who, despite attending an institution of higher learning, feels oppressed to an extent that denies her full education. She is seemingly incapable of synthesis, often consulting her notes to get the facts straight but rarely coming up with an original idea of her own.

She is full of insecurity, frustration and feelings of helplessness, and is looking for something or someone to make her feel more secure and in control. She is torn between a concern for grades and a desire to genuinely learn, with a degree of self-hatred linked to her lack of scholastic success and possibly other issues as well.

She identifies being upset at her socioeconomic background, resenting the oppression that John and others of his station (an upper-middle-class male in a position of authority) exert, and says she desires understanding yet she keeps herself well-guarded in conversation.

She seems to be primarily concerned with mental things and physically has the appearance of one who feels awkward in her own skin and is very controlled and reserved and introverted in her physicality. However, by the play’s end, Carol, with the support and help of a group of advisers who validate her feelings of resentment and frustration, help give her strength of purpose by supporting her “position.”

She seems to become more confident and reveals herself to be an intelligent woman previously hindered by her insecurities, but has now latched onto a political agenda and draws strength from this, and from her advisers, overcoming her feelings of frustration and helplessness. She even seems to possess and perhaps enjoy wielding a newfound sense of power.

But one senses that the old Carol is still there and should she lose the support of her “group,” she would likely revert to her old self fairly quickly.

John is college professor and a member of the ruling class about to be granted tenure at the college and situated in a very nice cloud of upper-middle-class security. He is, at times, pompous and has a strong sense of entitlement and a confidence that slips into arrogance.

He often will admit when he is wrong (assuming he recognizes it), and he is good at heart, with an honest desire to express his thoughts (which he often thinks quite highly of) to his students. John is very open and honest, sharing his motivations and spelling out his desires, passions and whims. He is also honest in his confusion, exasperation and desperation.

John examines and critiques the institution of higher learning and the system of education in general in his classes and his conversations with Carol, to the mind of some, biting the hand that feeds him. However, for an individual whose primary role is analysis, he turns surprisingly little of this analysis inward to monitor and limit his own behavior.

Caught up in his own affairs, he sometimes fails to notice the effect his words and behavior have on others. John is open and comfortable in his physicality, occasionally touching Carol to comfort her. His physical acts are those of a normal person, one who is not terribly self-conscious of contact and who lives both a meaningful mental life and a physical one.

A rare instance of self-reflection on John’s part later in the play leads him to confront his true feelings, his desires for security and material goods that are somewhat at odds with his teachings, and he slowly moves from vain self-righteousness to a sort of humble modesty.

Information: Spotlight-Theater.com, jeff.gamlin@spotlight-theater.com or (708) 941-8294.

Spotlight Theater is a recognized nonprofit organization.

“PREGZILLAS”: Doron Ofir Casting and a major cable network are conducting a nationwide search for pregnant women with big personalities to share their stories while they are expecting.

The casting company behind “Millionaire Matchmaker,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “RuPaul’s Drag U” and “Jersey Shore” are looking for expectant mothers.

Those selected will take viewers on a journey through the sometimes irrational, decidedly demanding and high-maintenance wonderment of pregnancy while showing the humorous and crazy side of pregnancy.

For the first time, enthusiastic mothers to be and their significant others will get the opportunity to express themselves and everything they go through when expecting in the ultimate video diary through these life-changing moments.

“I think women are the most beautiful when pregnant. It’s with respect and curiosity I chose to explore the madness behind the glow” executive casting director Doron Ofir said.

Females and their partners who appear to be between the ages of 21-35 and want to take part in this new docuseries should apply at pregzillascasting.com.

If selected, the couple will receive an episodic stipend of $5,000.

GRANDE PRAIRIE SINGERS: This group has been making choral music available in the Southland for more than a quarter of a century.

Beginning in 1977 as the Park Forest Singers, the Grande Prairie Singers have grown to include voices from 28 towns.

Members come from all walks of life and range in age from 16 to 80. The group is always looking for new talent to fill the risers.

Vocalists who are age 16 and older need to be comfortable reading music and should prepare a solo selection to sing for the group’s director, Jo Rodenburg.

Appointments: (708) 481-8684.

THE CHANSONETTES: This singing group of south suburban women seeks new members for its new season.

Interested individuals who love to sing can contact Mary Anderson at (708) 748-1438 or Yetta Elder at (708) 799-1474.

OAK PARK CONCERT CHORALE: Auditions are under way for this group’s 2012-13 season.

Compositions ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century as well as works commissioned by the chorale will be part of the 32nd season.

The group is seeking singers for all voice parts (sopranos, altos, tenors and basses). Rehearsals will take place from 7:30-10 p.m. Tuesdays in Oak Park.

Information or audition appointments: (847) 420-9200, oakparkconcertchorale.org.

Billed as one of the Midwest’s leading choral ensembles featuring both a cappella and accompanied performances, the chorale consists of a diverse group of individuals and performs in and around Oak Park.

Led by director Paul Lindblad, the chorale offers artistic performances of varied choral music.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the chorale is partially sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and is partially funded by the Oak Park Area Arts Council, in partnership with the village of Oak Park and the Illinois Arts Council.

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