Nominated for seven Academy Awards and winner of an Oscar for Best Score, the 1954 screen classic “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” reigns as one of the most beloved musicals in the history of film. Now, hopeful actors from Hernando County are encouraged to join the production that has established itself as a tradition.
Open auditions for the Live Oak Theatre production of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” are happening now; everyone interested in auditioning must email their video auditions to [email protected] by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, November 25th.
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” a stage production based on the 1954 CinemaScope feature of the same name (which in turn was inspired by a short story), is the story of a family of lumberjacks in desperate search of brides. The filmed version featured performances by screen luminaries such as Jane Powell, Howard Keel and Russ Tamblyn, and was a launching pad for the career of “Catwoman” Julie Newmar, credited in the film as Julie Newmeyer. This rich cornucopia of music, dance and humor will be performed from late March to early April 2024 at Live Oak Theatre, a not-for-profit 501 (C) (3) repertory company of local artists, located at the Carol and Frank Morsani Center for the Arts, 21030 Cortez Boulevard, Brooksville. The Live Oak Theatre Company exists to enrich families, individuals, and the community as a whole by providing positive artistic experiences in the Performing Arts – including excellent, affordable, and edifying family-friendly entertainment, performance, and educational opportunities for Theatre patrons and participants of all ages.
“We are doing this because we believe that we can!” explained Vince Vanni, Live Oak spokesman. “The show requires talented triple threats (singers/dancers/actors). The conservatory has made it possible for us to train young adults.”
Through these open auditions, Live Oak seeks to broaden its talent pool–for this and future productions.
“The open audition is because we are looking for as many young males as possible who would like to join our company. We were very successful in obtaining some terrific cast members for Fiddler on the Roof. We feel that we can be successful again. This is a show that is a big fan favorite but is rarely performed because of the talent that’s required. We are really excited that Kaiden Rossiter and Ben Staley are co-directing. Both are in their early 20s, but have been trained by us and have experience in directing musical theater productions,” said Vanni.
Everyone interested in being considered for this show must record a video of themselves performing a pre-specified monologue, song and dance number from the production. They should upload their audition as an unlisted YouTube video, with their name and song/dance/monologue in the name. They can submit their audition as one video or separate videos for the song, dance and monologue.
All interested should state their name, age and role(s) they’re interested in being considered for at the beginning of the video. The audition callback date is Saturday, December 30th. Male auditioners will be asked to perform the first minute and 35 seconds of the song “Sobbin’ Women,” recite a short monologue spoken by the character Adam, and perform the challenge dance—a signature of this production.
Those auditioning for mothers, fathers and townspeople don’t need to submit a dance video.
Female auditioners will be asked to perform the first two minutes of the song, I Married Seven Brothers, a short monologue for the character of Milly, and The Challenge Dance.
For additional details regarding the audition process for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, visit https://www.facebook.com/LiveOakTheatre.
For more information about the Live Oak Theatre Company, including sponsorship and audition opportunities, call 352-593-0027, email [email protected], or go to www.LiveOakTheatre.org. Visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/liveoaktheatre.
