NORWAY — Cow Pasture Community Theater, a sponsored project of Creative Norway, has announced open call auditions for an upcoming musical comedy, “An Evening at Dave’s Sauna.” The play takes place over the course of one night at the legendary Dave’s Sauna in South Paris, Maine. Set in early April of 1980, the audience watches the legendary/infamous Dave interacting with a cross section of guests, sharing his own philosophies on life, chatting up ladies and taking care of “commerce.”

Auditions will take place at House Lorax in two-hour blocks from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, Jan. 21 and 28. Choose one of the two dates to audition musical and dance. If interested, visit davessauna.com for a list of characters and their descriptions and send an email to cowpastureproductions@gmail.com with the character you might be interested in playing. They will send an audio clip of the song with, lyrics and audition/information form to bring day-of auditions.

This is an unpaid community theater production. It is an original production by writer/director Jonathan Leavitt. Previous work by him includes “Jesus Christ Terrorist,” a dramatic comedic spoof of the original Jesus Christ Superstar, set post 9-11; “Mother Culture,” based on the writing of Daniel Quinn; and “Somewhere, Maine: The Marijuana Musical,” about one year on a cannabis farm in the hills of western Maine.

He has also written or co-written nine studio albums with his bands, including Growing Up the American Way, Resistance Is All We Got, Live from J. Edgar Hoover’s Closet, Politics for Pre-Schoolers, Live at the Finish Line, God, Guns, and Ganja, The Trial of Johnny Crashed and Scenes from Somewhere Maine.

Dawson Hill will be the music director for the production. In the process of becoming a professional musician and getting his BFA in theater at Emerson College, Hill was, and has since been, involved in several shows. In the Oxford Hills community he played “Frankie” in the successful run of “Forever Plaid,” as well as other shows such as “Tick, Tick, Boom!” and “Swing!,” where he performed with Debbi Irons.

Hill has also worked as the musical director in the OMPAA originals, “Roles of a Lifetime, , “Cinderella” and the musical, “Aladdin.” During his time performing in Boston, he starred as “Max” in “Where the Wild Things Are” and “the Gift of the Magi,” and created a score for an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” He continues to play piano and entertain in many projects around New England and is excited to be able to create music and be a musical director for Leavitt’s “An Evening at Dave’s Sauna.”

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Choreography will be done by Nettie Gentempo, artistic director for the Nevaeh Dance Circus and Cold, Cold Night Burlesque. Her original choreography has been featured in the Poland Players productions of “Jesus Christ Super Star,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and Cow Pasture Production “Somewhere Maine, The Marijuana Musical.” Gentempo has been studying dance her entire life and has been performing professionally as a hula hoop dancer for the past five years.

Set design will be done by Jessica Cooper, who was introduced to the world of music and theater at a young age. Throughout high school she performed in numerous musicals and plays such as “Into the Woods,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Wizard of Oz,” “West Side Story” and “Arsenic and Old Lace” and played characters in various cabaret dinner performances.

Through a heavy interest visual art, she was involved in the building of sets for most of the theater productions she performed in. As an adult Cooper continues her enthusiasm for making art through the nonprofit Creative Norway, as the administrator of House Lorax Art Collective, where she dances, plays music, teaches pop-up art classes and organizes community art projects.

 

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