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Dickens Christmas Fair 2007 October Missive #2 - More Auditions
(sent October 10th, 2007)

We have many new additions to the missive list, so allow me to welcome you to the happy craziness!  Each week there will be audition notices from directors who are looking for performers. Some shows and groups are already cast, but many will be looking. Remember book character auditions are this evening.  See the past missives at http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html for more information, and if you have a spam filter, please add this address to your "approved" list.

As always, please contact the individual poster of the notices, rather than replying to me.

In This Missive:
God Bless Us Every One!  The Blessed Order of Christmas Keepers Comes to Dickens Fair!
The Pickwick Club is seeking an August Snodgrass
Crummles Mad Melodrama Auditions
Coventry Carollers Auditions
Postcards Auditions - Looking for More Exposure at Dickens Fair?
Scrooge Needs Gigs and Wheels


God Bless Us Every One!  The Blessed Order of Christmas Keepers Comes to Dickens Fair!
As the song says, We need a little Christmas – right this very minute!  The Blessed Order of Christmas Keepers has been developed to help infuse every aspect of the Fair with the glorious and irresistible jollity of Mr Dickens Christmas Sprit.  It's Yule-a-licious!
 
Christmas Keepers will add focus and dimension to the parades and pageants, thereby encouraging greater audience enjoyment (and understanding of what they are seeing).  They will also move about the fair creating Christmas merriment by carrying packages, decorating certain pre-set areas, and generally being obsessively jolly.  This group can be a terrific entry point for people who are new to Dickens Fair, and who want to get a feel for the kind of magic we are creating.  This can also serve as a home for performers who want to participate in the Father Christmas and Toy Parades (those who have participated in some of the larger RenFaires will recognize the model as being related to the guilds of St. Helena and St. Cuthbert)
 
The idea for this group came from our own Therese Porter, and the group itself will be facilitated by Sharon Collier from the Other Books cast.  If you are interested in being part of this infectiously happy holiday group, please contact Therese Porter at mrs.finching@gmail.com


The Pickwick Club is seeking an August Snodgrass
August Snodgrass is a member of the Pickwick Club, and Mr Pickwick's ward.  He is a romantic young man who fancies himself a poet, although he has written no poetry yet.  Something of a dandy, he is described as wearing "a mysterious blue cloak with a canine-skin collar."
James Myers
peers@peers.org


Crummles Mad Melodrama Auditions
In search of two men for the Crummles' mad melodrama:  The Villain's Curse OR the Train of Terror.  We want fast, funny, audience interaction, and a willingness to wear silly outfits, do a dance explaining the facts of life, engage in furious swordplay, swing on a rope, and generally astonish the audience with our show.  We need Mr. Vincent Crummles, our Director and Manager, and a heroic type to play the romantic lead.  E-mail Julie St. Germaine AKA Mrs Crummles at juliestgermaine@mindspring.com or phone me at 510-222-7288 before 10:00 p.m.  Audition notices will be sent out shortly, as needed.


Coventry Carollers Auditions
So you love to sing, read music {and possibly English}, and you want to carol your way through the Fair.  If you are interested in singing 4 part acapella  song  please contact Bob Crabb {Coventry Carolers}  for further information:  btcrabb@pacbell.net


Postcards Auditions - Looking for More Exposure at Dickens Fair?
Open Auditions for Naughty French Postcards will be held on the first weekend of workshops.  This year the theme will concern exotic Victorian fantasies of the fabled Orient.  Horatio Everard and his lovely wife, Letitia, will entertain thoughts of the exciting sights of such titillating locales as Egypt, Morocco, India, the Levant, China, and Japan, as well as more homey reveries.   
 
And for you more modest types, this is your chance to join the show.  Postcards needs people in full attire!
 
Feature Speaking Role available:
Young actress needed to play The Maid.  This year the Everards have a brand new parlourmaid, young and somewhat unsure of herself, and with a rather unsuitable name.  But Mr. and Mrs. Everard soon see to that!  
 
Non-speaking, Dressed Roles:
(a)   We need two or three stalwart fellows in uniform. 
(b)   Exotic Gentlemen.  Robes, turbans, sashes, and featuring Facial Hair extraordinaire!

In particular, people who have (or can achieve) an exotic hue or appearance, and gentlemen with military uniform of the period are encouraged to audition, but all participants over the age of 18 years are welcome to try out for a place in the cast.  For more information, please contact the directrix, Diana Young (dgbyoung@aol.com).


Scrooge Needs Gigs and Wheels
To help make ends meet on this trip, I am looking for extra weekday-gigs during run of Fair, giving my dramatic readings of Dickens own edited down version of A Christmas Carol to schools, libraries, hospitals, nursing homes or corporate events.  It takes roughly one and a half hours, (as shortened from the original three hours,) and I usually encourage Q&A afterwards which always proves to be fun and quite educational for both parties.
 
Take advantage of having a quintessential Kentish Man from the Heart of Dickens Country bring the true Christmas spirit alive for your friends and family. If anyone has any contacts or connections to help me with this, living as I do 6000 miles away, I would be most grateful.

Also I'm looking for help with some wheels while I'm in SF to help me get to all the gigs I have to.   Again any help or suggestions would be most gratefully received, in fact it would be part of the blessings bestowed on me from Jacob Marley's ghost.  Sincerely many thanks for any help you can give.

I am honoured to asked back and look forward with great excitment to working with all of you again.  It's always like coming home for Christmas!

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Martin Harris
martinharrisusuk@hotmail.com



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