The Marvelous Land of Oz Audition Information Packet The Beverly Arts Center spring musical, The Marvelous Land of Oz, is an original musical premiering on the Beverly Arts Center stage. The show offers lead and supporting roles for students of both genders between the ages of 10 and 18. There are both singing and non-singing leads, as well as a number of small chorus groups and roles for dancers (see character descriptions on page 3 for more information.)

About the Casting Process An audition is required to participate in the program. Please call 773.445.3838 x216 to reserve an audition slot.

Auditions will be held: Tuesday, March 24, 5:30 to 7pm • •

Audition slots will be 5 minutes in length. Audition Monologues are included at the end of this information packet. We ask that students memorize one of the four monologues included for their audition. • Students will be asked to sing 16 bars (one chorus or one verse) a capella (without musical accompaniment) of a song of their choice. • Students who are invited to callbacks may be asked to learn and short vocal selection and/or dance number from the production, as well as participate in cold readings. • Please take a look at the rehearsal, tech, and performance schedule on Page 2 and come to the auditions prepared to note any conflicts on your audition sheet.

Callbacks will be held: Thursday, March 26, 5:30 to 7:30 pm Please Note: We call back about half of the actors who will be cast. If you are not invited to callbacks, you may still have a role in the production!

The Cast List will be sent out via email and posted on the BAC School of Theater Callboard by Noon on Saturday, March 28.

Casting Policy: • •

Students are cast in age-appropriate roles without regard for race, ethnicity, or physical appearance. Many roles are non-gender specific. Please see role descriptions for more information. We try to cast everyone who auditions. However, we also need to maintain a cast size that fosters a positive learning environment and is appropriate for the needs of the show. For that reason, if over 30 students audition we may choose to make cuts when casting.

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The Marvelous Land of Oz After the Cast List is Posted Contract Meeting All actors cast are required to attend our contract night on March 31 from 5:30 to 7:30pm. A parent our guardian must attend the meeting from 6:30 to 7:30pm only. Students accepted into the cast of The Marvelous Land of Oz will be working as if they are professional actors. As such, all students who are accepted into the program will be required, along with a parent or guardian, to sign a commitment to the schedule and behavior requirements of the program. On contract night we will also review the schedule, discuss rules and regulations in detail, and answer any remaining questions about the program.

Rehearsals March 31 through May 14: Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30 to 7:30pm Actors will be called as needed during this time. Most actors will NOT come to every rehearsal. There will be some exceptions—lead actors will be called to most rehearsals, and students will be called more often as the production date approaches. All actors will receive a rehearsal schedule at the first rehearsal that indicates exactly when they are called for the full rehearsal period. Tech Rehearsals: (attendance mandatory for all cast members) May 18: 4:30-9pm May 20: 4-9pm May 21: 4-6:30pm May 22: 4-9pm? Performances: Saturday, May 23 at 2pm Sunday May 24 at 2pm

Participation Fees The participation fee for The Marvelous Land of Oz is $150. Register for an audition before Mar 6 for a 10% early bird discount ($135) if accepted. Members who register by the early bird deadline pay only $122 if accepted! In order to participate in The Marvelous Land of Oz, students who are accepted must be paid in full by Friday, April 3. This includes: • Professional-level training in acting, vocal music, and dance from experienced performer/educators at the top of their fields. • Use of the spectacular Beverly Arts Center facilities, including our professional dance studio, spacious rehearsal rooms, and, of course, performances in our beautiful 400-seat mainstage theater. • Performance on a professional-quality set, with use of our recently improved sound and lighting systems. • Any specialty costume items. 2

The Marvelous Land of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Role Descriptions Tip/Ozma: At the risk of ruining the ending of the book, Tip is a feisty, sometimes sarcastic but good-hearted boy who is later discovered to be the real Princess Ozma of Oz, disguised by Mombi's magic spell. This role was originally written for a female actress to play both roles, but double-casting the role is possible as well. Tip could be between 10-14 (roughly). Must sing, dance and act. Mombi: A cantankerous woman who lives in Gillikin country with her young ward Tip. Though it is forbidden, Mombi practices magic secretly. A role written for an adult actress, could be played by a teen as well. Must sing and be a great witch. Ethel Merman and Agnes Moorehead (Endora from Bewitched) have both played this role in other incarnations of the story. Jack Pumpkinhead: Tips creation intended to scare an unsuspecting Mombi, who decides to use him as an experiment in magic. He becomes Tip's very first best friend. They run away from Mombi together as the story really takes off. Jack will be one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. Jack sings, dances and acts. A fun role. General Jinjur: A feiry young woman who leads a revolt to take over the Emerald City with her All-Girl Army and take control away from all the men. The men are helpless in their battle, as no man in Oz would dare hit a lady. A funny and boisterous role who will sing big and loud. Sacrecrow: The same one. Now he rules over the Emerald City but is ill-prepared and wishes he were no longer burdened with this huge responsibility. The scarecrow will be one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. He sings, dances and acts. Another fun role. Saw-Horse: A wooden saw-horse that is brought to life with the Powder of Life to transport the Pumpkinhead and Tip on their journey. Ornery and funny, the Saw Horse is one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. He sings, dances and acts. The Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated Wogglebug: Or just the Wogglebug. A very intellengent Professor who becomes human-sized after a class-room accident. The Wogglebug is one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. He sings, dances and acts. Jellia Jamb: A young chambermaid in the Emerald City who becomes an interpreter for the Scarecrow and the Pumpkinhead, who do not realize that they speak the same language. She later impersonates Mombi in a failed attempt to fool Glinda. She sings, dances and acts. Tin Woodsman: The same character from the original novel. He now rules over the Winkie Country after the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. He is one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. He sings, dances and acts. The Gump: A collection of furniture and other assorted items, including the mounted head of a Gump. He is thrown together and quickly brought to life with the Powder of Life, as a means of escaping the approach of the All-Girl Army. He is one of the characters played by an actor dressed in black controlling a life-sized puppet. He sings, dances and acts. Glinda: The Good Witch of the South. She sings, and acts, She does not dance much. Chorus Roles (All chorus actors will play several parts): Gillikins, JinJur’s All-Girl Army, Emerald City Citizens, Glinda's attendants, and Puppeteers

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The Marvelous Land of Oz Plot Synopsis Set two years after the events in the first book, The protagonist is a boy named Tip who for as long as he can remember has been under the guardianship of a witch named Mombi in Gilllikin Country. As Mombi is returning home, Tip plans to frighten her with a scarecrow he has made. Since he has no straw available, Tip instead makes a man out of wood and gives him a pumpkin for a head, naming him Jack Pumpkinhead. Mombi is not fooled, and she takes this opportunity to demonstrate the Powder of Life that she bought from another sorcerer. She sprinkles the powder on Jack, bringing him to life and startling Tip, whom Mombi catches and threatens with revenge. Tip leaves with Jack that night and steals the Powder of Life because Mombi plans to turn him into a marble statue in the morning. As they head for the Emerald City, Tip uses the Powder to animate the Saw-Horse so Jack can ride him – for even though his wooden body does not tire, it can get worn away from all of the walking. Tip loses them as the tireless Saw-Horse gallops faster and he meets with General Jinjur's all-girl Army of Revolt which is planning to overthrow the Scarecrow, who has ruled the Emerald City since the end of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Marching with the Army, Tip meets again with Jack, the Saw-Horse, and now the Scarecrow as they flee the Emerald City in Jinjur's wake. The companions arrive at the castle of the Tin Woodman, who now rules the Winkie Kingdom, and plan to retake the Emerald City. On their way back they are diverted by the magic of Mombi (whom Jinjur recruited to help her apprehend them), joined by the Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated Wogglebug, and aided by the Field Mice and their queen. Jinjur and her soldiers are scared by the Field Mice out of the main palace, but they still occupy the Emerald City itself. The Scarecrow proposes manufacturing a flying beast called a Gump by which they can escape through the air. Tip animates this collection of palace furniture with the Powder of Life, and they fly off, with no control over their direction, out of Oz and land in a nest of Jackdaws with all of the birds' stolen goods. Using the Wishing Pills they discover with the Powder of Life, Tip and his friends escape and journey to the palace of Glinda the Good. They learn from Glinda that a girl named Ozma was hidden by the Wizard of Oz long ago and that she is the rightful ruler of the Emerald City, not the Scarecrow (who did not want the job anyway). Glinda discovered that the Wizard made three visits to Mombi, but not for what they were. She therefore accompanies Tip, Jack, the SawHorse, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Wogglebug, and the Gump back to the Emerald City to see Mombi. The witch tries to deceive them by disguising a chambermaid as herself (which fails), but manages to elude them as they search for her in the Emerald City. Just as their time runs out, the Tin Woodman plucks a rose to wear in his lapel, unaware that this is the transformed Mombi. Glinda discovers the deception right away and leads the pursuit of Mombi, who is finally caught as she tries to run across the Deadly Desert in the form of a fast- and long-running Griffin (though later books state that anyone who touches the Desert is transformed into dust). Under pressure from Glinda, Mombi admits that the Wizard brought her the infant Ozma and that she used her magic to transform her into the boy Tip. At first, Tip is shocked to learn this, but Glinda and his friends help him to accept his destiny, and Mombi performs her last spell. About the Book The Marvelous Land of Oz, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is the only book in the series in which Dorothy Gale does not appear. This and the next thirty-four Oz books of the famous forty were illustrated by John R. Neill. The book was made into an episode of The Shirley Temple Show in 1960, and into a Canadian animated feature film of the same name in 1987. The book was also combined with Baum's Road to Oz to create the Disney film Return to Oz.

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The Marvelous Land of Oz Audition monologues Please choose one of the following monologues to memorize for your audition. Choose the monologue you think you will enjoy performing the most—the monologue you choose does not affect which roles you will be considered for. Tip: I must give him a name! I believe I will name the fellow 'Jack Pumpkinhead! Now, Jack, as my best friend you will be expected to know all my secrets but tell them to no one. You’ll be expected to play games with me and sometimes help me with my chores. But the best part of being my best friend will be scaring crazy old Mombi. And tomorrow Jack, you will be standing right here and when Mombi returns from the market she will see your big silly grin and she'll squeal louder than the brown pig does when I pull her tail. Mombi: [if you choose this monologue, perform it as though Jack is on stage with you but invisible to the audience. Do not read the stage directions in italics out loud, but be aware of the action they indicate! You do not need to have a prop for the tin—you can just pretend for your audition!] (Mombi hurriedly walks down the road and comes upon Jack) Good evening, sir. (Jack says nothing. Mombi moves in and looks closely at his face) Heh! That boy has been playing tricks again! Very good! ve—ry good! I'll beat him black-and-blue for trying to scare me in this fashion! (She raises her walking stick to smash Jack, when she stops) Why, here is a good chance to try my new powder of life! (She pulls out a tin marked "Powder of Life") And then I can tell whether that crooked wizard has fairly traded secrets, or whether he has fooled me as wickedly as I fooled him.( She opens the tin) And now let us see if it is potent. The stingy wizard didn't give me much of it, but I guess there's enough for two or three doses. (She sprinkles Jack with the powder and begins an incantation) "Weaugh!" "Teaugh!" "Peaugh!" (the previous three words are pronounced wuff, tuff, and puff) (Jack stumbles to life) He lives! He lives! He lives! Jack: I hope you are not reflecting on my personal appearance. Although I feel that I know a tremendous lot, I am not yet aware how much there is in the world to find out about. It will take me a little time to discover whether I am very wise or very foolish. I can walk as well as you can. Haven't I got legs and feet, and aren't they jointed? I don't seem to be made the same way you are. But it strikes me you made a very good job of it. Why, then you must be my creator my parent my father! Then I owe you obedience and you owe me—support. General Jinjur: I am General Jinjur. I command the Army of Revolt in this war. You were not supposed to know there was a war for we have kept it a secret; and considering that our army is composed entirely of girls, it is surely a remarkable thing that our Revolt is not yet discovered. The forces have assembled from all parts of the Land of Oz, at my express command. For this is the day we are to conquer His Majesty the Scarecrow. Audition Tips: • Take your time! Think about what your character is trying to get the other people on stage with them to do. • Speak clearly! The director needs to be able to understand what you are saying • Start your song at your strongest point. We only need to hear a short piece of music, not a whole song, so don’t feel like you have to start at the beginning—if you really want us to hear you hit that high note at the end, start singing at the last verse, not the first. • Dream up a character and go for it! The purpose of your initial audition is to show the director that you can make strong choices on stage—so be wacky, be sincere, or be evil—but whatever you choose, go all the way! Try to perform the character the way you see it in your head. And remember, we want to see that you can play a character as you sing as well as when you speak! • Have fun! If you’re enjoying performing, we’ll enjoy watching you!

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