Auditions for SCP Presents: A Christmas Story!

Southgate Community Players is excited to announce auditions for our December show, the stage play version of the holiday classic A Christmas Story!
Auditions will be held Saturday, September 19 at 1 PM and Monday, September 21 at 7 PM at the SCP Corner Playhouse, located at 12671 Dix-Toledo Road in Southgate, MI. Pre-registration is preferred at the link below or at www.scponstage.com, but walk-ins are welcome. Please contact [email protected] with any questions about the auditions or production.
Click here to pre-register: http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ByU82JexY45eC8X21gCX1Zhw_Hm5ljAODZWbtvDfG4A/edit?usp=drivesdk
This is the stage play version of the show, it is not the musical. Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script. Links to the audition sides will be available soon if you’d like to familiarize yourself with them in advance, but no memorization is required. Please indicate your preferred character(s) on the audition form. You may be asked to read any role at the auditions, but you will primarily be considered for the roles you specify. Please indicate on the form whether or not you will accept any role; the production team would rather have this information upfront than have a cast member decline a role after the fact because it wasn’t what they wanted. We appreciate your honesty!
Humorist Jean Shepherd's memoir of growing up in the midwest in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself at Higbee's Department Store. The consistent response: "You'll shoot your eye out!" All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family's temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys' experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a net stocking; Ralphie's fantasy scenarios and more. A Christmas Story is destined to become a theatrical holiday perennial.
Adapted for the Stage by Phillip Grecian
Directed by Wendy Peets and Mike Stec
Producer Pending
DIRECTORS' NOTE: We intend A Christmas Story to be a true family show by encouraging parents to audition with their children. Both of us have children who do theatre, and we understand what a unique and special opportunity it is to share a stage with them. There are roles available for any level of experience for both children and adults. If you or your child has never been on stage before, or if you’ve just always wanted to do a show together, this is the perfect opportunity to give it a try! Of course, you and your child are also welcome to audition on your own.
CHARACTERS:
Characters are listed here in order of role size. Age when provided is approximate. You may audition for any character you identify with most, but the character will be played as written. Genders shown are how the character presents.
ADULTS:
RALPH PARKER (M, 50+): The grown-up narrator. Wise, witty, nostalgic. Ralph will appear on stage for the majority of the show.
MOTHER (F, 30-45): Ralphie and Randy’s mother. Loving, devoted, worrisome, playful.
THE OLD MAN (M, 40-50): Ralphie and Randy’s father. Gruff, stern, heart of gold.
MISS SHIELDS (F, 30-55): Ralphie’s teacher.
SANTA CLAUS (M, 40+): The Santa at Higbee’s department store. Loud, a bit scary, possibly intoxicated.
Several small roles including TREE LOT OWNER, DELIVERY MAN, BLACK BART and his DESPERADOS, as well as several offstage characters. Can be played by adults of any age or gender.
CHILDREN:
RALPHIE PARKER (M, 9 years old): Our hero. Wide-eyed, driven, charming.
RANDY PARKER (M, 6-7): Ralphie’s little brother. High energy and spirit. Whiny and stubborn as little boys can be sometimes. A bit of a pest, but loves and admires Ralphie and his friends.
FLICK and SCHWARTZ (M, 8-10): Ralphie’s best friends.
ESTHER JANE and HELEN (F, 8-10): Ralphie’s classmates.
SCUT FARKAS (M, 10-12): The local bully.
EXTRAS (age 5+) of any gender to portray classmates and neighborhood kids. Minimal to no scripted dialogue.
MANDATORY DATES:
Tech Sunday: 11/29
Tech Week: Monday 11/30 through Thursday 12/3 (dark night likely 12/2 or 12/3, but full availability required just in case an additional tech rehearsal is needed)
Performances: 12/4, 12/5, 12/6, 12/11, 12/12
Hold: 12/13, 12/14
NOTES:
If you or your child are cast in the show, you will need to become a member of SCP. Membership is $40 for the current season, and includes 5 transferable tickets to any show this season. Only one membership is needed per family.
There is also a $60 participation fee per cast member that covers your T-shirt, your script, your cast party, and admission to our end of season event next summer. If either this and/or the membership fee is a hardship, please contact the production team at [email protected]. This will not affect your casting.
All cast members are also required to contribute five (5) hours of non-rehearsal work to the show. There are lots of opportunities to obtain these, including building and painting the set, helping secure costumes and props, decorating the theatre, and even volunteering at other SCP shows and events. The production team will keep you posted of these opportunities via email and social media.
Please contact our production team at [email protected] with any additional questions of concerns. We look forward to seeing you at auditions! Break a leg, and be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. of Woodstock, NY.
Play by Phillip Grecian, based upon A Christmas Story, copyright 1983 Turner Entertainment Co., distributed by Warner Bros, written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, and In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by JEAN SHEPHERD.