HCCT-01-19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HCCT AUDITIONS MONDAY, OCT. 21
FOR THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!

Cast tryouts seek 8 boys, 9 girls, 10 adults for hilarious tale

COTTONWOOD SHORES, TEXAS (Oct. 15, 2002) -- Hill Country Community Theatre will hold auditions at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 21 for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! one f the most popular holiday productions of the past 20 years.

The play, based on a 1972 best-seller by Barbara Robinson, is the second of six in HCCT’s 17th season, which opened Oct. 17th with Bell, Book & Candle. The playhouse is located at 4003 FM 2147 West in Cottonwood Shores – between Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay.

Pageant is about the Bradleys, a young couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant. They are faced with casting the Herdman kids – probably the most inventively awful kids in history! When the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head-on, the mayhem and nonstop fun commence. HCCT Executive Director Bruce Hennie, who has been with the playhouse for four years, will direct the production.

Cold readings will be from the script, which is available for checkout and review during office hours at the theatre. If a child can’t read yet, he or she will be given some simple direction and lines to act out. The large casting requirements for this play are:

• Grace Bradley, mid-30s, trim, attractive;
• Beth Bradley, 10-12 years old, narrator, strong voice;
• Mrs. Armstrong, 50-60 years of age, large, imperious;
• Imogene Herdman, 10-12, bossy, sneak, loud;
• Alice Wendeiken, 10-11, a prim pain-in-the-neck;
• Gladys Herdman, 7-8, small, wiry, feisty;
• Four women, 35-70, the church ladies,
• Bob Bradley, 35-45, solid family man;
  Ralph Herdman, 12-13, ragged, slouchy and “cool;”
• Leroy Herdman, 10-11, tough
• Claude Herdman, 8-9 and looking for trouble;
• Reverend Hopkins, 45-70;
• Two firemen, 25-45;
• 5 girls, ages 5-12, different types; and
• 4 boys, 5-13, different types.

HCCT has an open casting policy. No experience is required. All parts require some basic stage movement. The HCCT Audition Policy does not allow pre-casting. Everyone, regardless of experience, is encouraged to try-out.

Rehearsals begin Monday, Oct. 28, and there will be no rehearsals the day before or day Thanksgiving. If scheduling permits, rehearsals for school kids will be as early in the afternoon or evening as possible, and may entail a Saturday or two to accommodate school schedules.

For more information on the current performances or tickets, membership, volunteer opportunities (box office, costumes, make-up, props, lighting, set building and painting), auditions or script checkout, please contact the HCCT Box Office at 830-798-8944, or Executive Director Bruce Hennie at 830-693-2474.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS:
Preston F. Kirk, APR
HCCT Governor
Spicewood, TX
830-693-4447;
F 693-9898,
kirk@281.com

Bruce Hennie, Executive Director
Hill Country Community Theatre
Cottonwood Shores, TX,
830-693-2474
bruce@hcct.org