Ever wanted to star in a full-blown production of a classic American musical? Now you can, but don't forget your checkbook if you want to win a part in Victory Gardens' 2005 Casting Auction production of "Hello, Dolly!" More than 50 starring, supporting and children's parts to the beloved Broadway musical will go up for sale via live and silent auction, at Victory Gardens' 24th Annual Casting Auction, Friday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. The event takes place at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., and just as it has for 23 years, the mainstage will be filled with amateur actors, musical theater enthusiasts and Victory Gardens supporters, all eager to be the highest bidders for the most sought-after roles.
Admission is $35 ($20 is tax deductible), and includes an open bar and pre-auction buffet. No on-stage experience (or even talent) is necessary to win a part — just a desire to be a star, and a positive balance in your checking account. Victory Gardens also accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. For tickets and information, call (773) 549-5788, ext. 105.
"Hello, Dolly!" has music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart, and is based on the play "The Matchmaker" by Thornton Wilder. It's the beloved Broadway musical about Dolly Levi, a New York-based professional meddler and matchmaker who merrily arranges things...like furniture and daffodils and lives. A widow, she has found herself in love with Yonkers merchant Horace Vandergelder, so she proceeds to weave a web of romantic complications involving him, his two clerks, a pretty milliner and her assistant. Eventually, of course, all is sorted out, and everyone ends up with the right person.
Here's how the Victory Gardens Casting Auction works: dozens of supporting, chorus, and children's roles will be sold via silent auction during the opening reception. Then, the crowd — lawyers, doctors, housewives, people from all walks of life — moves into the Victory Gardens Mainstage, where celebrity auctioneer Aaron Freeman always leads a raucous live auction for the most coveted starring roles. Minimum bids are $500. In years past, candidates with sufficient drive and/or funding have arrived with a pre-assembled crowd of "bidding backers," instructed to bid whatever it takes to win the part.
Once bidding begins, Freeman often asks up to three hopefuls to sing the character's signature song, or execute some fancy footwork. Fear not, though, Victory Gardens is a professional theater, so some of Chicago's most talented musical theater actors will appear in cameos to demonstrate how favorite musical numbers like "It Takes A Woman," "Motherhood March," "It Only Takes a Moment," "Before the Parade Passes By," and of course, "Hello Dolly!", should be done.
In the end, the auditionee with the highest total bid in his/her name wins the role. All is done in fun, and bids are fully tax deductible.
And what exactly does a top bid buy? In the months following, the all-amateur company will have the opportunity to rehearse "Hello, Dolly!" under the professional direction of Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek. Rehearsals start during the holiday season. After New Year's, rehearsals intensify and backstage camaraderie grows as Feb. 18 and 19 approach. Those are the dates for the two-nights-only engagement of Victory Gardens' Casting Production of "Hello, Dolly!" at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre, where the company will enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, a fabulous time, and the thrill of a lifetime — starring in a full-blown production of their all-time
favorite show.
Last year's Casting Auction and subsequent public performances of "My Fair Lady" raised more than $60,000 for the theater, celebrating its 32nd season as home to more world premiere mainstage productions than any other Chicago theater. Other memorable Casting Auction productions include "Grease," "Guys and Dolls," "Kiss Me Kate," "Damn Yankees," "Once
Upon a Mattress," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Gypsy," "The Music Man" and "Annie."
For complete information, visit www.victorygardens.org. |
