[Cast from our Snow White show from 2018]
JACK is back for 2023! And he’s full of beans!
New Stagers invite you to audition for our January 2023 pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk!
When Jack sells the farm's only cow for a bag of beans, little does he know that just around the corner lies a showdown with the fearsome Giant. With Dame Tessa Trott, Fairy Strange, and a host of fun characters in tow, Jack sets out to defeat the Giant, while avoiding the clutches of the evil Wizard Wheeze and his cronies...
How to audition
Auditions will be taking place on Sunday 9th October, from 6pm to 8pm at:
St. Anne's Church Hall
182 St Ann's Hill
London
SW18 2RS (the hall is adjacent to the church).
To prepare, please take a look at the character list below, have a look at the relevant audition materials and check you are free to attend all the rehearsals. You can also check out our auditions page for more information about our auditions and what happens if you are cast.
The Characters
The show will be directed by Paul Johnson and Keith Barnes, and the plan is for Keith to play the role of Dame Tessa Trott, and for Paul to play Wizard Wheeze. Because of this, there are eight additional roles to be cast, including our hero Jack.
JACK A hero (m/f)
JILL A last-minute stand-in and not altogether familiar with her lines (f)
PATRICIA the COW A cow (m/f x2) *
FAIRY STRANGE A fairy whose magical powers seem to fade at just the wrong time (f)
SIR SLUGGESLEY FORTESCUE-PHIPPS A farmhand and upper-class misfit (m)
MUDBATH MARY A rustic, down-to-earth farmhand (f)
MINNIE The Giant’s normal-sized spouse (f)
MR CREEPER and MR FUNGUS A baddie's hapless helpers (m/f)
* This is a two-person skin costume with no spoken lines except for various inflections of ‘moo’, so the role cannot be selected by audition. Please contact email chair@newstagers.co.uk if you are interested in the Patricia role, and what it entails. (En-tails… geddit?)
Audition materials
To prepare, you can download a copy of the script and take a look at the relevant scenes you want to audition with.
Audition pieces will include, but not necessarily be limited to:
SLUG/MARY pp.3-4 from ‘ladies and gentlemen’ to ‘unsuitable for anything’
CREEPER/FUNGUS/SLUG pp.17-18 from ‘someone’s coming’ to ‘- good day to you!’
JACK/JILL/FAIRY pp.20-22 from ‘does she give milk?’ to End of Scene
MINNIE/JACK pp.31-32 from ‘thought I heard voices’ to ‘prefer to eat Englishmen’
CREEPER/FUNGUS p.39 from ‘we are the assistants of the great Wizard Wheeze’ to ‘well, you think of something’
MINNIE/JACK pp.42-43 from ‘oh, Jack! All these people!’ to ‘my husband is listening’
You can download a breakdown of each of these character's appearances below:
Rehearsal schedule
The rehearsal schedule is below. It is most important for this ensemble show that cast members are available for all of these dates, particularly those on 1st and 8th January, in the run-up to tech and dress. The shows themselves run over the last two Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the month. You will be committing most of your January to the show, so please consider carefully your availability before committing to audition.
Tue 1st November 20.15 – 22.15 Read-through
Sun 6th November 16.00 – 20.00 First rehearsal
and every Tuesday and Sunday (except December 25th) until:
Tue 27th December 20.15 – 22.15
Sun 1st January 14.00 – 20.00
Tue 3rd January 20.15 – 22.15
Sun 8th January 12.00 – 20.00 double run
Tue 10th January 20.15 – 22.15
Sat 14th January 10.00 – 18.00 tech rehearsal
Sun 15th January 12.00 – 20.00 dress rehearsal
(Tue 17th January 20.15 – 22.15) (if required)
Fri 20 January 19.30 show one
Sat 21 January 14.30 and 19.30 shows two and three
Sun 22 January 13.00 and 17.30 shows four and five
Fri 27 January 19.30 show six
Sat 28 January 14.30 and 19.30 shows seven and eight
Sun 29 January 14.30 (until 20.00) show nine and de-rig