Sansami will have auditions for performers age 12 and older for its “Pardon Our French: A Fourth Season of Firsts” series of two sketch comedy shows and a production of “Figaro.”
Auditions will be 5-8 p.m. Thursday, May 11, and Friday, May 12, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at County Building of Champaign County, 1512 U.S. 68 in Urbana.
Those auditioning are asked to prepare a performance of two minutes; memorization is not required. It can be a monologue, a dramatic or artistic interpretation of song lyrics a poem or any piece written for performance.
Sansami’s shows include “Spotlight Tonight,” original family-friendly sketches that will be presented 7:30 p.m. June 9-10 at LoCo Art Spot in Bellefontaine and June 16-17 at The Grove in West Liberty; “Spotlight: Late Nite!,” adult-oriented humor humor aimed at ages 17-older, 10 p.m. June 9-10 at LocCo Art Spot and June 16-17 at Plank’s Pizza, West Liberty; and “Figaro,” 8 p.m. July 21-22, 28-29 at The Hub at Urbana University.
“ ‘Spotlight Tonight!’ will touch on current events. It’s meant to touch on current events in a satirical way, but not to offend anyone,” Shafer said.
While not wanting to give any of the surprises away, Shafer hints at the Broadway smash “Hamilton” getting its due among the sketches.
“Spotlight: Late Nite!” will be in the spirit of “Saturday Night Live,” where everything from Greek gods to the president will make the stage.
“We even have a sketch on fishing,” Shafer said. “You wouldn’t necessarily think of fishing as a comedy sketch, but even fishing can go awry.”
Sansami will team with Urbana University for “Figaro.” While people may associate the show with opera, Shafer, who will direct, is mining the comedic aspects and will give it more of a John Hughes approach to make the classic more relatable to a modern audience.
It’s that sensibility Shafer wants Sansami to represent to both audiences and performers.
“We did a lot last year to find what area audiences respond to. We want to test the waters with titles people may or may not know to find what concepts the public enjoys,” Shafer said. “We have a lot of long-terms plans.”
Contact this contributing writer at bturner004@woh.rr.com.
How to go
What: Sansami Creative Works auditions
Where: County Building of Champaign County, 1512 U.S. 68, Urbana
When: 5-8 p.m. Thursday, May 11, and Friday, May 12; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13
Admission: Free
More info: www.sansamicw.com
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