Festival Description
Welcome to the Colorado New Musical Festival! We are excited to announce auditions for Year 3! a 3 night event of staged readings of new musicals! Artists of all backgrounds, ages, gender-identities, and ethnicities wanted and needed for each reading, in addition, performers with one or more disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are encouraged to audition.
Not all actors will be involved in all readings (based on casting needs and availability), so when submitting your audition materials, please let us know which shows you would prefer or if you are open to any role Rehearsals will be minimal (June - July) and will be worked around actor schedules - We are blocking out Wednesdays at 6pm & Saturdays at 10am for rehearsals. We may want to add a couple Sunday or Monday evenings as needed by cast.
(Strong music background and sight reading preferred, but not required.)
Wellspring by BST complies with the Colorado Theatre Standards.
Night 1 - Showcase - Tuesday, July 19
This is a tasting of scenes and songs from a variety of new musicals, Featuring:
Jiijaale - Elias Matthews & Seth Butler
Astrology - Joel Paszkowski
All the Time In The World - Noah Carlson
Scarlet Heel - Preston Adams & Kelly Bidstrup Graham
Night 2 - Showcase - Thursday, July 21
This is a tasting of scenes and songs from a variety of new musicals, Featuring:
#Blessed - Adrien Loehring & Vince Learned
ELLIPSES - David Quang Pham
My Curiosity, An American Genius Reinvented - John Pesaniello
Night 3 - Showcase - Saturday, July 23
This is a tasting of scenes and songs from a variety of new musicals, Featuring:
Extended Stay - Jenny Stafford & Scotty Arnold
UNION MOTHER - Kirby Gosnell
The Door - Elle Tyler
WHEN ARE AUDITIONS?
June 18th - Live Auditions are Drop-in at Backstory Theatre (555 Burbank St. Broomfield, Unit Q) from 10am - 12:30pm
Virtual Auditions due June 17th by Midnight MST
COMPENSATION
Non-Equity Production
Actors are UNPAID at this time. We are working on how our organization can provide a small honorarium for participants based on donations. (Legal paperwork. Ugh).
AUDITION MATERIALS
Needed: Headshot, Resume and List of major conflicts through July, (Particularly, Wednesday Nights and Saturday Mornings)
Perform or Submit: 16 to 32 bars of a song that showcases your strengths and a 1 minute monologue that you love to perform. We will accept acapella, (For in person auditions an accompanist is available, there is also a sound system).
Submit your audition here!
REHEARSALS
A schedule will be worked out with actors based on their availability and which pieces folks are performing in. For each performance reading, there will be roughly 3-6, 2-4 hour rehearsals, with 1 full dress rehearsal. All rehearsals will be at Backstory Theatre (555 Burbank St. Broomfield Unit q), primarily on Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings, not all actors will be needed at all scheduled rehearsals. Our goal with the festival is we want great actors, and we don’t want them to miss doing another show for rehearsal or performance of these readings.
PERFORMANCES
All performances will take place at the Brunner Farmhouse in Broomfield. Audiences will experience each show under the stars! Bring a blanket and bring your friends!
ROLES
You must be 15+ to audition. Diverse actors needed for a wide variety of roles! (Several shows need specific ethnicities, body types, and ages). We are looking to have a large company of diverse and wonderful actors join us in celebrating new, original theatre right here in Denver!
For more information or questions email Kelly Bidstrup Graham at CoNewMusicalFest@Gmail.com.
July 19th Showcase Shows & Roles:
We intend to cast 10-15 performers who will cover multiple roles for this evening, as each is a song or scene from a larger show, everyone who is not featured in a particular piece may double as ensemble.
Jiijaale - Time: 1939 Place: Jiijaale, a beautiful island that has been conquered and
reconquered about twenty times.
Carlea Macan: 22F, island native who dreams of adventure.
Ernest Hughes: 29M, botanist who lacks self-confidence, rule
follower.
Leonard Gray: 29M, anthropologist who likes to have fun,
sarcastic.
Mantu Macan: 28M, island native who will protect his sister no
matter the cost.
Astrology - 14 Member Ensemble Performing opening scene/song - Broad Story Outline:
At the ‘Belief systems conference’, after Astrology has given their presentation, ‘Science’ (who’s
say holds much weight at the conference) takes the stage to announce that ‘Astrology’ will be
joining their list of beliefs that are no longer scientifically viable, and thus are henceforth,
ineffective. In response to this news, the 12 star signs are incensed, and compelled to prove that
they are still relevant in the world today. Their ‘efforts’ would take them into the ‘human realm’ on
earth, their signs personified, and would take up a fair chunk of the first act. In trying to prove their
relevancy, they soon realise that trying to maintain the worlds belief in astrology is futile, and all
arrive at the more pressing realisation, that they no longer have to uphold the values and
characteristics that their given sign dictates. Aries doesn’t HAVE to be brash, Cancer doesn’t
HAVE to care so much. They can be whatever they truly want to be.
All The Time in the World - Time: The Present
Place: Somewhere Dark and Secluded
Carl - Late 40’s, Male. Poor and
depressed. Divorced. Is a bus
driver.
Michael - 21, Male. Enthusiastic but has
regrets. A little naïve. College
student. In love with his best
friend.
Jessica - 27, Female. Single mother grieving
the recent loss of her husband.
Has a three week old new born.
Faith - 17, Female. Suicidal teenager.
Rejected by family. Runaway.
SATB Ensemble
July 21st - Showcase Shows & Roles:
#Blessed: A new full-length musical currently in development. #blessed tells the
story of Tom, AJ, and Marion who are all at different stages in life. Tom a
newlywed, AJ adopting a baby, and Marion as she sends her daughter off to
college.
TOM
The male lead. 20-30. Tom is a confident and cocky but also very charming. He likes to
poke fun at the obvious and is easy to both love and poke fun back at. Tom has lived a
fairly charmed life and not dealt with much adversity. Tom goes through a transformation
discovering life didn’t turn out as he expected.
JILL
Female lead. 20-30. Jill is a perfectionist who always needs a plan. She can be a know it
all, but does so with the best of intentions. She has a strong desire to control situations,
most often when she herself feels out of control. She longs for unattainable ideal, even if
she isn’t sure what that looks like for her.
TERRY
Male 25-40. Terry is an outgoing ham that thinks everyone else takes things to seriously.
He is fiercely loyal, and also fierce. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder that keeps him
from letting others into his pain. His wall is firmly up when it comes to others. Always
sassy he finds comedy helps him cope with his biggest fears.
AJ
Male 25-40. AJ is reserved and fairly quiet. He is a private person and he prefers to keep
most things to himself. He doesn’t have a large social circle and prefers it that way. He
often wonders about the purpose or meaning behind things but is often hesitant to share
those questions. A true introvert he mostly prefers solitude in times of great stress.
JR
Female 18-25. Jr is young and an idealist. She sees the world the way it should be as
opposed to the way it is. She hasn’t had an easy road, but she is always waiting for
‘things to get better”.
MARION
Female. 45-65 Marion is wise, kind hearted, and always ready for a joke. She
is a mentor, and advise giver, and always willing to help give others a new perspective.
She is much more interested in others, sometimes to her own detriment. She is rarely will
to ask for help and prefers independence above all else.
ELLIPSES: Spend an eternity in the family musical of epic proportions: ELLIPSES is a cosmology mythology that stars the Galaxy family and their dog Gravity as they sing and dance their way out of a life-changing event known as the Big Bang.
SINGULARITY, adult, a single parent of six Galaxies
GRAVITY, a dog
SPT0615-JD, young adult, Singularity’s oldest child
CARTWHEEL, teen, Singularity’s child
WHIRLPOOL, teen, Singularity’s child
TRIANGULUM, teen, Singularity’s child
ANDROMEDA, teen, Singularity’s child
MILKY WAY, preteen, Singularity’s youngest child
My Curiosity, An American Genius Reinvented: An exuberant celebration of imagination, perseverance, and invention in the life of an American genius whose extraordinary gifts transformed the world. Thomas Edison’s insatiable curiosity, tireless nature, and singular definition of the word “failure” fortified him against the challenges and setbacks that would have easily defeated others. Instead, his boundless energy, and steadfast belief that persistence is the precursor to success, propelled him forward from one great invention to the next.
SATB Ensemble of 12 - 15
July 21st - Showcase Shows & Roles:
Extended Stay: Owen checked into an extended stay hotel in Mishawaka, Indiana, five years ago—and has not beenable to convince himself to leave his room since. Plagued by both fear and ennui, Owen findshimself stuck in every sense of the word. When the new front desk clerk, Emma, arrives, she isdesperate to pull herself out of her own “stuckness” after a massive life failureand dark past. Shefinds herself befriending both Owen and his adventurous buttroubled friend, Ethan. As these threebroken people come together, will they help each other or harm each other?
OWEN--Male, twenties, baritenor. Quiet, friendly, a dreamer who sees the beauty in small, simplethings. Deeply damaged, masking insecurity.
EMMA--Female, twenties, mezzo. A recovering alcoholic. Aspiring songwriter. A dreamer whodreams of seeing the world, but finds herself too traumatized by her past to summon the courage.
ETHAN--Male, twenties, baritenor. Lives on the road scouting land for pipelines, intentionally cutoff from everyone. Lives for adventure, and adventure on his Instagram feed.
MRS. MCGORTY--female, fifties, mezzo. Manager of the hotel. Wry, sarcastic, dry sense ofhumor. Despite her crusty exterior, she cares deeply about Emma and is her AA sponsor.
The Door: Everything on the island of Jessa seems perfect–the inhabitants are happy, living in harmony with each other and the earth. Everyone has exactly what they need…or so it seems. But under this surface of perfection, Jessa itself is beginning to fail. The sea is growing cloudy, and the stars are starting to dim. The only hope for help lies through a mysterious Door that few know of and no one is able to open. No one, that is, except the two beings on Jessa who have magical powers. One is Synda, a youth who desires more out of life than what Jessa has to offer. The other is Frell, whose very existence on the outskirts of the island causes the inhabitants fear and disgust. The two form an unlikely pairing as they seek to save–or destroy–Jessa forever.
SYNDA: youth, impetuous, adventurous, big-hearted. Medium high
voice
FRELL: grand-elder, sly, self-serving, cold, an outcast. Medium
low voice
Union Mother - Although most people today think that the primary goal of labor unions is wage increases, they served a very different function 100+ years ago: unions had to pressure the business operators and lobby the government for basic health and safety regulations that were nonexistent in industry at the time.
Mary "Mother" Jones, an historically significant union activist, who is the show's throughline and namesake
Union Men 1-2-3 (Tenor-Baritone-Bass), who are coal miners in Act One, and cotton mill workers in Act Two
Union Women 1-2-3 (Soprano-Mezzo-Alto), who are brewery workers in Act One, and sweatshop workers in Act Two
Operator (business owner) and Operator's Wife