Auditions for The Parchman Hour presented by The Augusta Jr PLayers

27 Oct Auditions for The Parchman Hour presented by The Augusta Jr PLayers

Posted at 14:13h in Auditions by Pax Bobrow

via augustaplayers.org – “The Parchman Hour commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. In 1961, the original 13 riders boarded a bus in Washington, DC bound for New Orleans via Mississippi and Alabama. Presented in the style of the variety shows of yesteryear, this moving production explores three of the tensest months of 1961.

AUDITIONS:

November 6 and 7
Academy of Richmond Academy
5:00pm-7:00pm
Rehearsals TBA depending on the cast conflicts and availability.

Those auditioning should prepare a 2-3 minute monologue from August Wilson’s Century Cycle plays and prepare a song from one of the following selections;

“Walk Right In” – Roof Top Singers
“I’m On My Way to Freedom Land” – Mahalia Jackson
“Woke Up This Morning…” – John Legend or Golden Gospel Singers

Students who play guitar, piano, drums, or bass guitar are a plus, but not necessary.

This show will travel and students will be required to miss 2 days of school in February.

Production dates are:

January 26 7:00 pm with a panel for talk back
January 27 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm
January 28 3:00 pm at Lakeside High School

The Parchman Hour commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. In 1961, the original 13 riders boarded a bus in Washington, DC bound for New Orleans via Mississippi and Alabama. They barely made it out of Alabama alive. Over the course of the next three months, approximately 300 other riders took up the mantle and followed the path of those first brave few. Mobs brutally assaulted many. Others were arrested and, instead of posting bail, chose to serve sentences in one of the most brutal prisons in the South, Parchman Farm, proving the Freedom Riders and the movement to desegregate interstate travel would not be deterred. Presented in the style of the variety shows of yesteryear, this moving production explores three of the tensest months of 1961.

Originally produced by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and most recently picked up by The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN for a month-long series of performances, The Parchman Hour is a celebration of bravery and a call to action.