Deborah Dorman, Director and Producer
It’s time to saddle up and audition for the second production of Theater at the Ranch, a rollicking western comedy radio show in two acts called “Big Guns, or Whose Lily Is She?” By Andrew J. Fenady and Duke Fenady. It is based on an award-winning novella by Andrew J. Fenady, Owen Wister Award Author published in Western Writers of America Roundup. As this is a “radio show,” actors can play any age or gender by using their voices, and will also create characters for the radio actors they portray. They will have the radio scripts in front of them for the performances. Also on stage will be several sound effects folks, who will be creating sound effects with various objects, and several musicians, playing old, standard songs during scene breaks. Additionally, the show will require one or two “stage hands” (non-speaking roles). Performances will be Feb. 2 (7 p.m.), Feb. 3 (7 p.m.), Feb. 4 (3 p.m.), and Feb. 5 (dinner theater, 5 p.m. tba).
Auditions will be held in the Hermosa Ballroom by the stage as follows:
Thursday, Nov. 9.: 3 to 5 p.m., actors for speaking parts
Thursday, Nov. 9: 6 to 8 p.m., actors, sound effects people
Sunday, Nov. 12: 2 to 3 p.m., musicians; 3 to 5 p.m., actors, etc.
If you cannot attend these dates but want to audition, contact [email protected]. No pre-registration is necessary for dates/times listed. Please bring a photo we can attach to your audition form, and your calendar of conflicts/travel through Feb. 5. There will be no rehearsals Nov. 21 through 29 or Dec. 22 through Jan. 1. Sound effects people begin in early December, and musicians begin in January. Rehearsals are generally two hours, two to three times a week until January. Then, all hands on deck! Or should we say, all cowboy boots on the ground?
There is no preparation needed for actors for the audition. You will be asked to read from the script and do an improvisation. Musicians will be asked to play something of their own choosing and may play with others if they wish to come together. Our preference would be for something like “Clementine,” or any easily recognizable standard you might have heard around a campfire in the Old West. Those interested in doing sound effects only will be asked to improvise one or two with props we provide. No parts have been pre-cast. This show was chosen to be as inclusive as possible in casting, as no one has to memorize a full script, and there will be great opportunity for being creative and doing some improvising. The show is a bit shorter than most plays (run time about 90 minutes, according to the licensor), but all involved will be on stage the entire time in the “radio studio,” with one, 20-minute intermission. The final performance on Monday, Feb. 5, will be a dinner theater experience.
So warm up those voices and join us on Nov. 9 and 12 for the auditions! If you are not cast this time, please help us out with the other aspects of a show—props, costumes, makeup, tickets, lights, and more!