Audition for 'On Golden Pond' with Elgin Theatre Co.

The Elgin Theatre Company will hold auditions for its winter production of "On Golden Pond" from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12. Callbacks, if needed, will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 12.

Auditions will be held at First United Methodist Church of Elgin, 216 E. Highland Ave.

Participants will be doing a cold reading from the script that will show their ability.

Actors who are cast in the show will be given one complimentary ticket for one performance of the show (any date).

The cast features three men, two women, and one boy, a total cast of six as follows:

• Ethel Thayer, mature woman;

• Norman Thayer, elderly male;

• Chelsea Thayer Wayne, middle aged woman;

• Billy Ray, 40 or so;

• Billy Ray Jr., 13 or so;

• Charlie Martin, 40 or so.

Performances will be 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 17-26. All performances will be held at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., 8th floor.

"On Golden Pond" is a 1979 play by Ernest Thompson. This is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the 48th year. He is a retired professor, nearing 80, with heart palpitations and a failing memory, but still as tart-tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. Ethel, 10 years younger, and the perfect foil for Norman, delights in all the small things that have enriched and continue to enrich their long life together. They are visited by their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiancé, who then go off to Europe, leaving his teenage son behind for the summer. The boy quickly becomes the "grandchild" the elderly couple have longed for, and as Norman revels in taking his ward fishing and thrusting good books at him, he also learns some lessons about modern teenage awareness - and slang - in return. In the end, as the summer wanes, so does their brief idyll, and in the final, deeply moving moments of the play, Norman and Ethel are brought even closer together by the incidence of a mild heart attack. Time, they know, is now against them, but the years have been good and, perhaps, another summer on Golden Pond still awaits.

They also need crew members: stage manager, set builders, technical support (lights and sound), costumes, and ushers. If interested, contact Linda Collins at linssweetmusic@yahoo.com.

For details, visit www.elgin-theatre.org.

It will be directed for Elgin Theatre Company by Linda Collins. Kaitlin Moser is the assistant director/stage manager.

"On Golden Pond" is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service Inc.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.