AUDITIONS: Inspecting Carol

Name: AUDITIONS: Inspecting Carol
Start: 2025-10-14T18:30:00-06:00
Location: 612 N Main St, Spearfish, SD, United States, South Dakota 57783

Schedule

Tue, 14 Oct, 2025 at 06:30 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

612 N Main St, Spearfish, SD, United States, South Dakota 57783 | Spearfish, SD

October 14th & 15th @ 6:30pm
The Matthews Opera House invites community members to audition for Inspecting Carol, a hilarious holiday comedy that blends backstage drama with festive cheer. When a struggling theater troupe’s production of A Christmas Carol goes wildly off the rails, expect miscast roles, onstage mishaps, and nonstop laughter.
No experience necessary! You will be asked to read with other participants from sections of the script previously selected by the directors. All auditions will be performed as a “cold read” (seeing the script for the first time). Auditions are also a great time to express your interest in backstage work, set building, lights and all of the other necessary skills that make a show great! Stop by if you have any interest in the action “behind the scenes” and visit with the directors.
Inspecting Carol – Directed by Max Merchen:
Inspecting Carol is a backstage holiday comedy by Daniel J. Sullivan that spoofs both A Christmas Carol and the frantic world of community theater. The play follows a struggling theater company preparing for their annual production of Dickens’ classic. Everything goes wrong: actors forget lines, the set collapses, egos clash, and rehearsal spirals out of control. When the troupe mistakes a clueless wannabe actor for a feared National Endowment for the Arts inspector, panic sets in, and desperate attempts to impress lead to even more ridiculous disasters. Full of slapstick, satire, and seasonal spirit, Inspecting Carol is a joyful romp that celebrates the magic (and madness) of live theater.
Performance Dates:
December 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21
Fridays & Saturdays • 7:00 pm
Sundays • 2:00 pm | Tuesday • 7:00 pm
Available Roles:
- Zorah Bloch: Founding director of The Soapbox Playhouse. In her 40’s. Extremely self-concerned.
Sidney Carlton: In his 60’s. A founding member of the Company. Kind but somewhat addled.
- Dorothy Tree Hapgood: His wife. In her 60’s. English and unable to lose her accent. A founding member.
- Larry Vauxhall: In his 40’s. Tough, intellectually vain Child of the ’60’s, still looking for a turn-on. A founding member.
- Phil Hewlitt: In his 40’s. Small, obsessive usually plays the ineffectual character in any Soapbox production. A founding member.
- Walter E. Parsons: In his 30’s. Recently taken up acting again after a stint in the armed forces. Good natured, excitable.
- Luther Beauty: A large eleven-year-old. He’s been playing Tiny Tim two years too long. Extremely friendly.
- Kevin Emery: A nervous man in the impossible position of managing director. In his 40’s. Afraid of Zorah.
- M.J. (Mary Jane) McMann: In her 40’s. A realist. She long ago realized that the Company hit bottom. She looks on now as a bemused observer. Founding member.