Please read this full page for audition details, COVID safety information, and the ICCT casting statement.
Auditions for Judy’s Scary Little Christmas
September 11th 6-9pm, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, choir room
September 12th 2-6pm, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, choir room
Callbacks
September 14th 6-9pm, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, choir room
Please sign up for an audition slot at the link below. Walk ins are welcome, but priority will be given to those who sign up.
Audition Sign Up
The audition will include dance portion, a vocal portion, and a reading portion.
- Auditioners should prepare a 16-32 measure vocal audition. While we will accept all vocal auditions we would prefer to that they are selected from stage musicals or musical films prior to 1958
- Auditioners will learn a short dance combo and then perform it for the director, choreographer, and music director.
- Sides will be handed out following vocal auditions for the reading portion.
Video auditions will be accepted. Please send videos/links of auditions to aarontodd11@gmail.com. Submissions should be sent in by September 10th. Please include the following in the video:
- A comedic monologue
- A dance reel
- A vocal audition (per the instructions above)
St. Andrew Presbyterian church is located at 140 Gathering Place Ln, Iowa City. To get to the choir room park and enter on the lower level, the choir room will be on the left hand side as you enter, someone will be there to check people in for auditions.
You can listen to music from the album here: https://music.apple.com/us/album/judys-scary-little-christmas-original-l-a-cast-album/544957645 or https://open.spotify.com/album/0vqpK2hn2ZG2rKEBDVO7v4
Directed by Will Asmus, Performances December 4-13 at the James Theater.
Book by David Church and Jim Webber
Music and Lyrics by Patrick Joe Ward
Judy Garland is primed for her biggest comeback ever – the dazzling star of her own TV special, broadcast live on Christmas Eve, 1959. Judy’s guests include Bing Crosby (making some holiday “grog”), Ethel Merman (plugging her Hawaiian album) and Liberace (with a handsome sailor in tow). However, mysterious snafus behind the scenes and cameo appearances by commie-baiting Vice President Richard Nixon (who performs a magic act) and blacklisted writer Lillian Hellman, (who’s forced to read “Children’s Letter to Santa” with a puppet) throw Judy’s program off course. The surprises climax when the arrival of Joan Crawford is interrupted by the spectral figure of… Death. The evening takes a detour into the Twilight Zone as the celebrities are forced to confront the lies behind their legends
ROLES
JUDY GARLAND – The beloved show business icon of The Wizard of Oz and A Star Is Born. Judy is nervous and neurotic, but remains wildly talented and is fully primed for her biggest comeback ever.
BING CROSBY – The avuncular but alcoholic crooner of “White Christmas” whose greatest triumphs are behind him, and he knows it.
LIBERACE – The flamboyant Las Vegas entertainer who brought highbrow music to lowbrow audiences. “Lee” is a smarmy mama’s boy who masks the truth of his personal life with layers of camp.
ETHEL MERMAN – The bombastic star of Annie Get Your Gun and
Gypsy whose belting voice and brassy manner accentuate her blunt ego.
RICHARD NIXON – A winner with flop sweat. The current Vice President is conniving, fearful, strangely sympathetic and completely out of place in this entertainment milieu.
LILLIAN HELLMAN – The chain-smoking playwright of The Little Foxes who was blacklisted as a Communist during the McCarthy era. Anger is both her tonic and her Achilles heel.
JOAN CRAWFORD – Hollywood’s greatest self-made star who has gone from ingenue to leading lady to caricature and now is barricaded from reality as an ageless legend in her own mind.
SAILOR – Handsome, clean-cut, observant, empathetic, – and not altogether who he appears to be.
DIRECTOR – An off-stage voice, focused, businesslike.
PUNCH – A goofy dragon hand-puppet.
ENSEMBLE – An attractive, effervescent group of 4-6 singers/dancers.
Additional non-speaking roles to serve as stage crew.
Keep an eye on this page for additional audition information as it becomes available.
COVID Health and Safety
With the return to live theatre, the ICCT board has voted to take the following precautions with our in-person productions:
- All cast and crew involved with a production are asked to be up-to-date on COVID vaccinations for the health and safety of their fellow volunteers.
- Mask requirements will depend on community transmission level. If high, masks will be required (except for cast during tech week and during performances). If medium, masks encouraged. If low, masks optional.
ICCT Casting Statement
All performers are encouraged to audition for any production.
Almost all of our characters can be played by anybody.
Some roles require skills or attributes which are assessed through an audition process. In limited cases, the licensing contract may require that a character be played by a performer meeting a specific description; when this happens they will always be clearly marked.
Final casting decisions will depend on audition attendance, and the organization bears the responsibility of reaching out to bring a diverse representation of the community to audition. Each director will exercise his or her own discretion in choosing the performer who is the right fit for each role. Where licensing requirements permit, creative casting decisions can be made to allow performers who do not fit the character’s description to play the role. While this type of creative casting is encouraged where appropriate, ICCT commits to casting roles specifically written for members of underrepresented communities as accurately as possible. In situations where such a role cannot be cast from the audition pool, the show director will consult with the ICCT board to determine a solution, possibilities including, but not limited to, adding additional audition dates or selecting an appropriate performer without an audition. Such decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
These decisions are not taken lightly, are the responsibility of the show’s production team in collaboration with the Board of Directors, and frequently are made specifically to highlight or contrast human elements of the show.