Auditions for the first production in the newly-formed Cullman Community Theatre’s aspiring lineup of year-round plays and musicals begin this evening, when the group welcomes aspiring actors, crew members, technicians, and designers at the Cullman Civic Center.

Auditions for every role in the group’s upcoming presentation of the 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man kick off tonight at 5 p.m. and run through 7 p.m., before continuing Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon.

Organizer Wayne Cook, who also teaches drama at Cullman High School, said people of all ages, talents, and levels of experience are encouraged to audition, as well as to explore all the ways they can get involved in the production behind the scenes.

“We really want people to see this as an opportunity to get involved,” Cook said. “We’d love to have all ages come and try out, or come by and see about being a part of the stage crew or tech crew, as well as people who want to work on sets, costumes, makeup, and a lot of other things.

“The idea is to engage people everywhere throughout our community — whether they live in the City of Cullman or anywhere in Cullman County. We have some great things going on now in both the city and county schools with theatre and drama, and what we really want to do is offer everyone in our community that same kind of opportunity.”

Cook and other organizers are hoping to revive local interest in community theatre, which thrived well into the 1980s before lapsing due to a combination of factors.

“I remember back in the ‘80s, when I was in high school,” Cook said. “We didn’t have a theatre department at Cullman High when I was there. We had a pretty good choral program and a great band program, but it was the community theatre program that provided a niche for a lot of students in our community that we didn’t have at that time in the schools.”

Throughout its annual calendar, the program won’t focus only on elaborate musicals like The Music Man, said Cook. Rather, it’ll stage productions of varying scale and genre that target a broad spectrum of ages and interests.

“It’s probably going to be three to four shows a year, we hope, and maybe even more than that down the road,” he said. “Some will be on a smaller scale; some larger. And they’re not always going to be musicals. We want to do different things to appeal to different groups, and to broaden the perspective of theatre in our community.”

While details are still being ironed out on where and when The Music Man will hit a local stage, the civic center, with assistance from Cullman Parks and Recreation, is serving as home base for auditions and rehearsals. Cook said the goal is to follow up rapidly on this weekend’s auditions by casting the show next week, with rehearsals beginning soon after.

The show itself is tentatively targeting a mid-August debut.

For more information, call the civic center at 256-734-9157.

 

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 145.