AUDITIONS: “Crowns”

Crowns by Regina Taylor
Auditions will be February 4 at 11 am and February 5 at 2 pm

Location: Mark E. Taylor Theatre at the Lakeland Cultural Arts Center.

Mother Shaw, Yolanda, 4 other supporting female cast members, and one supporting male cast member that sing, act and move well. Also seeking participants for a multi-cultural gospel choir—any gender, any age.

Come with prepared song (12 bars or less) and sheet music for accompaniment or bring pre-recorded accompaniment to show range and style from traditional gospel. show or popular musical genres. Come in comfortable clothes and shoes prepared to move. Sides from the script will be provided at the audition. All races and ethnicities are encouraged to audition!

Rehearsals to begin in August with October performance dates to be announced.

Seeking possible Music Directors and Choreographers—please email paulclcac@gmail.com if interested!

THE STORY: A moving and celebratory musical play in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of black history and identity as seen through the eyes of a young black woman who has come down South to stay with her aunt after her brother is killed in Brooklyn. Hats are everywhere, in exquisite variety, and the characters use the hats to tell tales concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning.

There is a hat for every occasion, from flirting to churchgoing to funerals to baptisms, and the tradition of hats is traced back to African rituals and slavery and forward to the New Testament and current fashion. Some rap but predominantly gospel music and dance underscore and support the narratives. The conclusion finds the standoffish young woman, whose cultural identity as a young black Brooklyn woman has been so at odds with the more traditional and older Southern blacks, embracing hats and their cultural significance as a part of her own fiercely independent identity.

Please contact us at 252-586-3124 or boxofficelcac@gmail.com if you have any questions.