Auditions: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – The Musical”

Ramona Hillside Players will hold open auditions for “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – The Musical”.
Written by Jahnna Beecham & Malcolm Hillgartner
Directed by C.A. Conn

Auditions October 2 – 3, 2017
Auditions begin at 5:00 PM for children & teenagers.
Auditions begin at 7:00 PM for adults.

For our younger performers, we are looking for roughly 8 – 14 year olds.

Performance dates are December 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, & 10, 2017 @ RHP in Hemet

The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. Please come prepared with a resume, head shot, pen/pencil, and list of conflicts.

You can bring 12-16 measures of a song (accompaniment on cd), but it isn’t a requirement. There will be songs to sing, and dances to dance.

Rehearsals are still in the planning stages, but will most likely start at 5:30pm for young people, and possibly 7pm for adults. A 5-rehearsal-a-week schedule would mean that pretty much everyone would be in rehearsals 3 days a week.

PLOT:
The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world–so when they crash Sunday school and demand parts in the Christmas pageant, the whole town panics. There’s not supposed to be fighting or cigar-smoking in Bethlehem, and while these kids have never even heard the Christmas story, they definitely have rewrites! Soon everyone from the terrified pint-sized shepherds to the furious church ladies are calling for first-time director Grace to cancel the whole thing. But it’s up to her and the Reverend to help their community see the Christmas story and the Herdman kids through new eyes in this buoyant musical adaptation of the funny and touching holiday classic. Silent night? Not a chance. But sometimes a little joyful noise is just right for Christmas.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

*** All Ages are Relative ***

Grace Bradley: 30ish-Mother of Beth and Charlie, and new director of the Christmas pageant. She’s determined to make the pageant the best one ever, even with the Herdmans.
Mr. Bradley: 30ish-Grace Bradley’s husband, is your average American father, but doesn’t want to go to the pageant almost as much as the kids.
Helen Armstrong: 50ish-In charge of the Potluck supper, Bazaar, and Christmas Pageant, until she broke her leg, and then everything went to the dogs, er, Herdmans.
Charlie Bradley: 8-9-The cute younger brother that could never do anything wrong, until that fateful day Leroy stole his lunch… (serves as most of the comic relief in the play version)
Beth Bradley: 10-11(Narrator in the play version) the oldest Bradley child, who is somewhat like the voice of reason, at least a little bit.
Alice Wendelken: 10-11-The goody-two-shoes girl that the adults love. Alice is just considered to be annoying to her peers, including her best friend Beth. She’s always Mary in the pageant, but Imogene Herdman made her change her mind…
Maxine: 10-11-The narrator in the pageant, not the brightest bulb in the bunch.
Beverly: 7-8-The girl who, according to Gladys Herdman, “got sick”
Elmer Hopkins: 12-13-Son of the reverend, perfect kid, an example to his fellow students, and is hating every second of it. He’s always Joseph, but he’s too afraid of Ralph Herdman to argue.
Hobie Clark: 9-10-The kid with all the excuses. He’s the personification of the attitude of the kids; he was already bored with the pageant, but now he has to share it with the worst kids in the world.
Mrs. Slocum: pleasant, motherly woman 35-60
Mrs. Clark: 35-60
Mrs. Clausing: 35-60
Mrs. McCarthy: a younger, less imperious version of Mrs. Armstrong- 40’s
David: 8-9
2 Firemen
Shirley: 5-6
Juanita: 5-6
Doris: 9-10
Reverend Hopkins: 40ish-Elmer’s father, basically doesn’t want anything to go wrong, and can see nothing but that happening if the Herdman’s are involved.
The Herdmans…
Ralph: 12-13-The biggest, and probably the dumbest. He’s Joseph, but he doesn’t really know or care what that means.
Imogene: 11-12-The leader of the Herdmans. She tells them what to do, and they listen because, well, she’s Imogene. She’s Mary, and that’s the way she likes it. She blackmails fat, skinny, smart, dumb, tall and short kids to obtain wanted items. She smokes cigars during practice of the best Christmas pageant ever.
Leroy: 10-11-The guy who always steals Charlie’s lunch. He heard about the refreshments at Sunday school and passed the information on to his siblings. Although he’s sort of like a thug, he gives the gift of a Ham to Jesus.
Ollie: 8-9-A Imogene Wannabe, Ollie is sort of in-charge of Leroy and Claude.
Claude: 9-10-Just goes with the flow, well, the Herdman flow anyway.
Gladys: 7-8-She’s the smallest, but she’s fast, and she’s mean, and she bites. Gladys is now the Angel of the Lord, who she thinks is her favorite comic book character, the Mighty Marvo.

27402 Ramona Bowl Road
Hemet, CA 92544

https://www.facebook.com/ramonahillsideplayers