Kidz Theatre Kompany

High School Musical Jr Auditions Coming at the end of January!

 CALLING ALL PRESENT & FUTURE KTK KIDS! 

It's Audition Time!

We hope you all had a wonderful break and holiday season but we miss you all, so break time is over!   We are ready to kick off the 2024 year with a fan favorite- High School Musical Jr. Dust off those dancing shoes and pump up your basketball because this show is gonna be a blast for all.  From thespians to jocks, brainiacs to cheerleaders- High School Musical has a spot for you!  Of course, like all of our spring & fall shows, this will be a show for any kid currently in grades K-12.  *Yes, little ones can be in High School Musical- it's theatre, so on stage, you can be anything!

Listen up Students to the following Audition Information:


Auditions will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 30th and Wednesday, Jan. 31st.  You only attend one of those days.

Auditions start at 6:00pm (for kids in grades K-2) and at 6:30pm for all others.  *If you have a little one that has to come after 6:30- that is ok, still bring them.  We try to group kids together with other kids of the same age.  The little ones' auditions go quickly and so ideally we have them go first so they can leave sooner.  Auditions run until every kid there has had a chance to audition.  In the past they tend to be finished between 8:00-9:00, depending on how many kids show up.  We recommend arriving before 7:30, at the latest, to ensure you have time to fill out an audition form, etc. 

Auditions are located at the Fenton Village Players theatre located at 14197 Torrey Rd. Fenton.  You can park in the back parking lot and enter into the door at the back of the building.  Once inside you will go to the registration table, fill out an audition form, get an audition number and wait to be called into the audition room.


We recommend parents coming in to help fill out forms and receive information.  We also encourage you to stay until your kid is finished auditioning so that they can check out and leave right away once they are done.  *Parents are not able to watch the audition because we do "closed auditions".  This means the kids do not audition in front of a big room of people but instead only in front of a casting panel, which is 4 of our production team members as well as the other 4-5 kids they are in a group with. 


We know auditioning can be very scary for a lot of kids (and adults) so we want them to be as prepared as possible for what to expect.  As a production team we try to make this as unintimidating and positive of an experience for them as possible.  Here is what they will need to do for their audition- They will start off by simply saying their name and age and then they will sing (acapella) by themselves a 1 minute prepared song.  This is the hardest part for most so we do it first to get it over with.  This can be any song- songs from High School Musical are great but not required.  Songs they are familiar with, know the words to, and show off their vocal range are what we recommend.  After that we may ask them to sing some scales with our vocal director (this is more for kids auditioning for a part that would sing a solo so we know their vocal range).  Then we move on to cold reading some scenes from the show.  We will give them some sides (scenes from the play) and ask them to read for certain parts.  We are looking for them to act it out, show character, and have a lot of fun with this part!  Once that is over, we may ask a few questions then they are finished and sent back out to check out and are good to leave with you.  All in all each audition group takes about 10-15 minutes. 


Once both nights of auditions are completed- we cast the show.  All kids are offered a spot in the show.  Emails will get sent out to everyone (usually by the end of that weekend, so around Sunday, Feb. 4th) with their offer and then we ask that you either accept or reject the part by emailing us back as soon as possible. 


For all those accepting their spot in the show- there will be a Parent Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 7th at 6:00 that we HIGHLY recommend attending, even if you are not new to our group, it will still be beneficial.  This will be the night we will collect payment (info to follow), emergency contact information, and pass out scripts and links for the music so the kids can start learning right away.


Rehearsals will start on Monday, March 4th.  There will be rehearsals on M, T, W, & Th each week.  Depending on how many kids audition, we will have anywhere from 2-4 casts.  Your kid will either be on a M / W cast and will rehearse only those two days or a T / Th cast and only rehearse those two days.  Rehearsals run from 6:00-7:30 and then at some point in April times will switch to 5:45-8:15.  *More information on how this works and what you do if your kid is only available on certain days will be provided on audition night and will be talked about at the parent meeting.

Performances will be the weekends of May 10-12 & May 17-19.  Each kid usually has around 3-4 performances so they do not necessarily have to be available every single one of these days but again this will be talked about more at the parent meeting.


Cost- there is no cost to audition.  If you accept your role in the show the costs are as follows- $25 family membership (good for the whole year and only one per family collected if you have multiple kids in the show).  $75 production fee to be in the show (If you have more than one kid in the show, it is $65 per kid after the first one).  We will also collect a separate $40 (one per family) volunteer participation payment that is returned to you at the end of the show, as long as you sign up to volunteer at least two times.  *We will discuss this a lot more at the parent meeting.  So, an example of a family with 2 kids would be- one check for $165 (25, 75, 65) to be in the show and one check for $40 (that will be returned at the end).  This cost includes your kids' script, music access, show t-shirt, and costume (full disclosure that you may need to purchase shoes, some costume pieces, hair and make-up supplies for the performances). 


If your kid wants to audition and is not available on either of our audition days, please have them record a video of them singing, reciting a monologue (if older and wanting to audition for a speaking role) and email that along with their information to producer@kidztheatrekompany.org prior to our auditions.  *We start the casting process on Wednesday evening so we will need to receive it before this time in order to consider them for a role.  


When deciding if auditioning is right for your kid and your family- keep in mind that theatre is a ton of fun but it also is a time commitment.  We want all kids to be involved in theatre and we do what we can to make it flexible, knowing that your kids are also probably involved in other activities as well.  With that said, in order for it to be the best experience possible for all involved we do want you to talk with you kid and make sure that they will be available to commit the time needed to be a part of the show.  We only have 2.5 months to put on this show and it goes fast!  When kids miss a lot of rehearsal time, it stresses them out because they feel unprepared, not knowing the choreography, blocking, etc.  It is also stressful to their castmates that they are performing with, as well as the production team because we may not have time to re-teach things that were missed.  Also, there is no way for the kids to only rehearse 3 hours a week at the theatre and be totally prepared.  There will need to be a lot of at-home time required to practice their songs, dances, lines, etc.  We don't say this to discourage anyone from auditioning but to ensure that everyone fully understands what they are signing up for so everyone involved can have the best experience possible!


We can't wait to see you all in a few weeks!  Please let us know if you have any other questions.  And remember- "We're all in this together!"  This will be stuck in your heads from now until middle of May- you're welcome! 


 

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