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Audtitions set for spring theater

| January 27, 2006 1:00 AM

The Alpine Theatre Project will hold preliminary local auditions for its 2006 season on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Whitefish Methodist Church, 1150 Wisconsin Ave. in Whitefish.

Artistic director Betsi Morrison with co-founders David Ackroyd and Luke Walrath, and musical director Mike Eldred are looking for actors of all ages for their productions of "Camelot" and Steve Martin's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" to be performed in July and August of 2006. Callbacks will be scheduled later.

Actors interested in "Camelot" should prepare a classic musical theater song, and bring sheet music, as an accompanist will be provided. A capella auditions are not encouraged.

Actors interested in "Picasso" should prepare a short comedic monologue and be ready to read from the script.

The Alpine Theatre Project ws founded by Broadway veterans, Morrison, Ackroyd and Walrath. Its mission is to celebrate the power of theater by creating professional, diverse productions, featuring nationally recognized talent. Last year's productions of "My Fair Lady" and "K2" played to sold-out houses.

Please contact the Alpine Theatre Project office at (406) 862-7469 with questions.

Whitefish Theatre Company announces auditions for the Tony-Award winning play, "Dancing at Lughnasa" by Brian Friel.

The auditions are open to anyone and will be held at The O'Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish on Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The play, which was also made into a movie starring Meryl Streep, is the story of five unmarried Irish sisters eking out a living in a small Irish village during the 1930s. It is the time of the old Celtic festival of Lughnasa with its bonfires, drinking and dancing. But, as the sisters prepare to celebrate, emotional and economic storms threaten to tear the family apart.

The cast includes five women ages 21 to 60, and three men ages 21 and up. Scripts are available for perusal at the Whitefish and Kalispell libraries. Ask at the reference desks. The production dates are March 24-April 2. Nancy Nei will direct.

Flathead Valley Community Theatre will hold auditions for Martin McDonagh's "The Cripple of Inishmaan" on Feb. 6-7 at 6 p.m. in the Learning Resource Center, room 123A on Flathead Valley Community College's Kalispell campus.

The bleak but uproariously funny play is set in 1934 in a tiny town on the coast of Ireland. In the play, the local population learns that a famous Hollywood director is coming to a neighboring island to film a documentary.

No one is more excited than Cripple Billy, an orphaned boy whose chief occupation has been gazing at cows and yearning for a girl who wants no part of him. He is determined to cross the sea and audition for the Yank, and as news of his audacity ripples through his rumor-starved community, "The Cripple of Inishmaan" becomes a merciless portrayal of a world so comically cramped and mean-spirited that hope is an affront to its order.

Available roles include: Kate - 40s to 60s; Eileen - 40s-60s; Johnnypateenmike - 40s-60s; Billy - Late teens/early 20s. Crippled Bartley - Late teens; Helen - Late teens/early 20s; Babbybobby - 20s-30s; Doctor - 30s-40s; and Mammy - early 90s.

Performances will take place on April 21-23 and 28-29.

Rehearsals will begin Feb. 20.

For further information, contact David Ackroyd at 756-3382.