Fox Valley Auditions

To submit a listing, fax to (847) 608-0849 or e-mail foxvalley@dailyherald.com

To take the first leap onto the road to stardom, the Fox Valley can be a great place to step off. The following auditions have been set.

Elgin Choral Union: Following their sold-out fall concerts, the Elgin Choral Union will continue holding auditions for the remainder of the 2007-08 season on Jan. 3 at Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Music director Andrew Lewis will conduct the auditions and piano accompaniment will be provided.

The second half of Choral Union's 2007-2008, 61st season will highlight the majestic beauty of Schubert's Mass in G Major and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at 7 p.m. May 10.

The Choral Union will also be joining the Elgin Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 29 and March 1-2 for the ESO's "Romeo and Juliet" concert that will feature Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and selections from Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.

For the audition, singers will be asked to sing a selection of their choice and be asked to do some brief sight singing. Auditions will be held in the Elgin Community College Visual and Performing Arts Center in room 191D from 5 to 9 p.m. Singers should bring three copies of their music, one for the director, accompanist and their own use.

Regular rehearsals are held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays at ECC.

The Elgin Choral Union is an In-Residence Ensemble at the Elgin Community College Institute for the Performing Arts. As the oldest performing arts organization in the Fox River Valley, the ECU is composed of singers ranging in age from 17 to 79 and coming from more than 30 surrounding communities.

For information or to schedule an audition, call Lisa Wright, executive director, at (847) 214-7513 or (847) 214-7225.

TownSquare Players Inc.: TownSquare Players, the oldest community theater company in McHenry County and the oldest resident company of the historic Woodstock Opera House, has announced that auditions for its spring offering, "Sabrina Fair."

Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 and 9 at the Woodstock Opera House. Callbacks will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 10.

No appointment is necessary. Auditions, which will consist of cold readings from the script as well as some improvisation, will be in the Opera House Community Room and Library.

"Sabrina Fair" is the stage version of the 1954 movie, "Sabrina," which starred Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart. The film was remade in 1995 with Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear. It is the story of a young woman, Sabrina Fairchild, the daughter of a chauffeur at the Long Island estate of the upper-crust Larrabee family.

Sabrina has grown up enchanted from afar with the Larrabees' sparkling world of privilege and wealth, but she's especially enamored of younger Larrabee brother David, a charming womanizer.

After the once plain Sabrina returns from a sojourn in Paris transformed into a remarkably poised and attractive young woman, she at long last catches David's eye. In a calculated effort to manipulate David away from her and into a more financially advantageous marriage, older brother Linus pretends to woo Sabrina himself, but finds himself unintentionally falling in love.

Performance dates for "Sabrina Fair" are Feb. 29, March 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, for a total of nine performances. Show times are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.

Proposed rehearsal days are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Artistic director Timothy R. Curtis will be looking for seven men and seven women for the following roles:

• Maude Larrabee: beautiful, poised, elegant and graceful, a master of social etiquette, mother of David and Linus, wife to Linus Larrabee Sr. (stage age: 40s to 50s)

• Julia Ward McClintock: intelligent, good-humored, disheveled, quick-witted, sincere, down-to-earth and direct, professionally successful writer, long-time friend to Maude. (stage age: 40s to 50s)

• Linus Larrabee Jr.: rugged, bold, calm and quite intelligent, powerful and withdrawn, ruthless and aggressive businessman, older brother to David. (stage age: 30s)

• David Larrabee: graceful, good-humored, physically handsome, charming and carefree; younger brother to Linus, favored son of Maude. (stage age: 20s)

• Linus Larrabee Sr.: charming, well-bred, lacks tact, retired, father to Linus and David. (stage age: 60s)

• Sabrina Fairchild: passionate, intelligent, educated, energetic, sincere and honest, has a great love for the world. Daughter of Larrabee's chauffeur. (stage age: 20s)

• Gretchen Larrabee: David's ex-wife, strikingly beautiful, carefully and immaculately dressed, calm and confident, and calculating. (stage age: 30s)

• Fairchild: quiet, reserved, good-natured, educated and well-read. Chauffeur to Larrabee family, father of Sabrina. (stage age: 50s)

• Paul D'Argenson: good-natured, confident, well-mannered, kind, diplomatic, dignified and sincere Frenchman and suitor to Sabrina. (stage age: 30s)

• Margaret: maid to the Larrabee family. (stage age: 40s to 60s)

• Two young males and two young females attending Larrabee dinner party. (stage age 20s; these are small walk-on roles, perfect for those wanting to get their first experience onstage.

For details, call Chris Bassi, producer, at (815) 344-4715 or the director at (815) 236-7668 after 6 p.m.

TownSquare Players Inc. was established in 1968 and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in 1973. The purpose of TSP is to promote, sponsor, support, produce, instruct and engage in all the performing arts and other related activities.