Theatre--Auditions (Musical Theatre)

Auditions for Disney’s Mulan Jr. will be Saturday, April 14^th and Sunday April 15^th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Essanee Theatre located at 126 Iberia Street in New Iberia. Young male and female actors, dancers, and singers ages 10 to 21 are welcome to audition. No prior experience is needed, but all auditioners will be asked to sing so we can determine your vocal range. You may also be asked to do a cold reading from the script. Since there may potentially be a large number of tryouts, we are asking singers to limit themselves to one minute of singing. Any song from any Disney musical is certainly appropriate. Any people who are unable to attend these two sessions may contact Vincent P. Barras at vpbarras@aisp.net or 337-519-0865.

The list of characters in Mulan Jr. include the following

• Laozi, Lin, Zhang, Hong, & Yun (5 ancestors who are acting like narrators; male or female, but most likely female)
• Fa Zhou (Mulan’s father; male)
• Fa Li (Mulan’s mother; female)
• Grandmother Fa (Mulan’s grandmother; female)
• A parade of Mothers (female)
• A parade of Young Girls (female)
• A parade of Fathers (male)
• Mulan (female)
• Mushu, dragon (male or female)
• Hairdressers and Groomers (male or female)
• Matchmaker (female)
• Chi Fu, city official (male or female)
• Young Xiao and Young Yi, Chinese men (male)
• General Shan-Yu, Hun leader (male)
• Magyar and Subar-Tu, Hun soldier sidekicks to General Shan-Yu (male)
• Chen and Liu, Chinese soldiers (male)
• Captain Shang, Chinese soldier (male)
• Yao, Qian-Po, Ling, Chinese soldier sidekicks to Captain Shang (male)
• Emperor of China (male)
• Cheongsams Salesperson (male or female)

People auditioning for Mulan Jr. need to know that this play has no solos. All the songs (“Written in Stone,” “Bride Practice,” “Honor to Us All,” “Reflection,” “Keep ‘em Guessin’,” “I’ll Make a Man,” and “A Girl Worth Fighting For,”) are a showcase for many people. Some songs involve the entire chorus, others like “Reflection” are an all-female song with Mulan, her mother, her grandmother, and the ancestors. People auditioning can sing any Disney song they wish but will need to restrict themselves to about 1 minute because there will be numerous people auditioning. People will be notified by email of their assigned roles not long after the audition process is over.

There may be a few scattered rehearsals in the month of May for the principal lead characters in the play, but they will most likely last 1 hour and will occur between 5 and 6:30, depending on the availability of the theater, which will be in rehearsals for Blithe Spirit. Full rehearsals will begin Monday May 28^th or Tuesday May 29^th at the Essanee Theatre located at 126 Iberia Street. Rehearsals are normally from 1:00 pm to4:00 pm Mondays through Fridays, with an occasional Saturday afternoon rehearsal, depending on how well the rehearsals are going. (There will be no rehearsal on July 4^th, a Wednesday this year. If you must schedule a 4^th of July vacation, I am politely requesting that you schedule it for the weekend before the 4^th instead of after the 4^th. The weekend after the 4^th is too close to opening and puts the overall rehearsal schedule in jeopardy.) There will be full costume and technical rehearsals on Sunday July 8^th (time to be announced) and Monday July 9^th and Tuesday July 10^th at 6:00 pm until we finish. A Family and Friends performance will occur on Wednesday, July 11^th at 7:30 pm. Opening night will be Thursday, July 12^th and the closing performance will be Sunday, July 22^nd. Evening performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will be 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees will be at 3:00 pm.