Tune up your vocal chords as the music of one of the biggest songwriting duos in Broadway history needs strong voices.
The Ohio Performing Arts Institute will have community auditions for its upcoming production of “A Grand Night for Singing,” noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at its campus at 1616 E. High St.
The auditions are for 20-30 performers ages 16-adult for an ensemble effort in a musical revue of the timeless music of Rodgers and Hammerstein for a dinner theater event at OPAI in late August.
Experience isn’t necessary, although some singing, dancing and acting stage experience is preferred. Those auditioning should prepare a song in the style of Rodgers and Hammerstein and bring the sheet music with them.
An accompanist will be provided, but recorded accompaniment is strongly discouraged. A brief dance movement audition will also follow.
“We’d thought about it and just said ‘let’s do it,’ and put it together,” said D. Scot Davidge, OPAI’s artistic director as well as the show’s director and choreographer. “I love Rodgers and Hammerstein. This is good old classic Broadway.”
Davidge credits colleague Jay Hale, music director on OPAI’s most recent productions, with suggesting “A Grand Night for Singing.”
“It’s a journey through love, all the stages of it,” Hale said of the show, which includes songs from classics such as “Oklahoma,” “State Fair,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific” and several others.
The show will be a fundraiser for OPAI spread over two nights. More information about “A Grand Night for Singing,” including the dates and times, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Davidge said these types of performances will be more frequent at the OPAI in its upcoming season.
Contact this contributing writer at bturner004@woh.rr.com.