disney’s

The Lion King JR. Audition Packet 2016

Performances on April 28th and 29th Thank you for your consideration in auditioning for “Disney’s the Lion King J R.”

This pack has everything you need to prepare for auditions. Please read it through carefully.

What to know before you audition:

• You must be a 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grader at St. Joseph Catholic School in order to audition.

• All 4th through 8th grade students who do not audition will automatically be placed into an ensemble role with their class.

• All students who are cast into special character roles after auditions will attend after-school rehearsals with Mrs. Ferree. The frequency of these rehearsals depends on the demands of the role.

• Do not be discouraged from auditioning if you are already involved in other school activities. The rehearsal schedule will be created in a way that is accommodating to those involved in sports and other school activities. That being said, rehearsals are important and every effort should be made to be present if possible.

Beginning 2 weeks prior to opening night, all rehearsals are mandatory. We are looking for responsible and committed students that like to have fun, while working hard!

• All students are welcome and encouraged to audition no matter what your comfort level may be with performing. Some roles involve solo singing, while others involve speaking and no singing. Backstage roles are also available

• Auditions will be closed. This means that no one may watch you audition except for the casting panel. Your audition will be held in front of Mrs. Ferree and two or three guest staff members so that sound decisions may be made during casting.

• All 4th through 8th grade students will be fully prepared for the audition experience during music class. We will walk through the audition process together to eliminate nerves. Auditioning is not meant to be an intimidating experience. It is an opportunity to share your talents in a safe environment.

• One extra tip: If you are practicing your songs at home with the original Broadway recording of “The Lion King,” please note that the range that the cast sings in will be different for our show. “The Lion King JR.” has been arranged in a key that is more suitable for the vocal ranges of children in middle school.

Please remember to prepare your heart in the event that you do not receive your role of choice.

ALWAYS remember: We love you! We are rooting for you! We want you to shine!!!

Updated information on the musical can be found at: http://stjosephmusicprogram.weebly.com

Audition Information

Audition Days: Monday, January 11th, Tuesday, January 12th, and Wednesday, January 13th.

Please make every effort to attend one of these three audition days. There will be no further audition times available.

Location: Miss Oberle’s 2nd Grade Room

*Please know when planning your time slot that there will only be staff present inside of the classroom. Please arrive only five minutes before your time slot.

Times: The first audition slot will begin at 3:45pm. Each audition will last about five minutes.

Please bring your patience in the event that we are running behind.

How to Sign Up to Audition: A sign-up sheet will be posted in the cafeteria beginning Tuesday, January 5th. You may sign up any time from Tuesday, January 5th to Tuesday, January 12th.

Audition spots are first come, first serve. You may put your name in any open slot on the sign-up sheet.

Where to Find the Cast List: http://stjosephmusicprogram.weebly.com

*The cast list will be posted once all casting decisions are made. Along with the cast list, information on the first rehearsal will be posted here as well.

Callbacks: Callback auditions may be needed if the audition panel is having a difficult time making

decisions. Any students needed for a callback audition will be e-mailed with the time, location, and what to prepare for this second audition.

If callbacks are needed, they will be held on Wednesday, January 13th once auditions have ended. Only a small number of students may be needed to come to a second audition. If you do not receive a callback, it does NOT mean that you were not cast in the show; likewise, if

you do receive a callback for a specific character, it does NOT mean that you definitely will be cast into that role. A callback simply means that the audition panel would like to see you one

more time before making a decision.

Please note that a callback audition will most likely be a group audition, unlike the first round of auditions. It is at this time that the audition panel is looking to see how certain actors

interact with each other onstage. For example, we may decide to call back people who are being considered for hyena roles to see how this trio works together in their scenes.

***You can find extra audition packets online at the website above or hard copies in the school office***

disney’s The Lion King JR. Character Breakdown

Rafiki • 5th through 8th grade male or female • Role includes: Singing, acting, and speaking • Featured solos in: “The Circle of Life” and “He Lives in You”

Role Description: Rafiki is a wise mandrill who acts as healer of the Pridelands and guides Simba on his journey home. He or she is an omniscient character (a character who knows everything), giving an air of mystery. We are looking for a confident performer who can embody a powerful presence, and a strong singer that can lead the African chants throughout the show.

Mufasa • 6th through 8th grade male • Role includes: Speaking, acting, and singing • Featured solo in: “They Live in You”

Role Description: Mufasa is the strong, honorable, and wise lion who leads the Pridelands. Mufasa should command respect onstage and also show tenderness with his son, Simba. We are looking for a strong, mature actor who can convincingly portray the king.

Sarabi • 5th through 8th grade female • Role includes: Speaking, acting, and ensemble singing

Role Description: Sarabi is Mufasa’s mate, Simba’s mother, and a featured lioness. We are looking for an actress who can deliver Sarabi’s few key speaking lines with the command of a queen. Sarabi will also be a part of the lioness group, and will therefore be cast as either a lioness ensemble singer or a lioness dancer.

Zazu • 4th through 8th grade male or female • Role includes: Speaking and acting

Role Description: Zazu is the anxious, yet loyal assistant to Mufasa who is always busy trying to do his duty. Zazu’s lyrics in the songs are spoken rather than sung. We are looking for an actor or actress that can convincingly portray this fretful hornbill from the start of the show to the finish.

disney’s The Lion King JR. Character Breakdown

Scar • 5th through 8th grade male • Role includes: Speaking, acting, and singing • Featured solo in: “Be Prepared,” but lyrics may be spoken if the actor is not a confident singer

Role Description: Scar is the antagonist of the show, overcome with jealousy of his brother, Mufasa, and nephew, Simba. Coldhearted and wickedly intelligent, he will stop at nothing to become king of the Pridelands. We are looking for a mature performer who can bring out this villain’s dark side while handling his sarcastic sense of humor.

Young Simba • 4th through 6th grade male • Role includes: Singing, speaking, and acting • Featured solos in: “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata (Part 1)”

Role Description: Young Simba is the protagonist of the story. He is an adventurous and endearing cub who can’t wait to be king of the Pridelands. Simba is playful, energetic, and naive, but after his father Mufasa’s death, Simba struggles with shame and his destiny. We are looking for a strong singer and a dynamic performer for this role.

Simba • 5th through 8th grade male • Role includes: Singing, speaking, and acting • Featured solos in: “Hakuna Matata (Part 2)” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”

Role Description: Simba grows from a cub to a lion in “Hakuna Matata.” Older Simba has more complex moments as he reunites with Nala, mourns his father, and returns to confront Scar. We are looking for a mature actor that can portray these more complex moments.

Young Nala • 4th through 6th grade female • Role includes: Speaking, acting, and ensemble singing • Some solo lines in: “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”

Role Description: Young Nala is a courageous lion and Young Simba’s best friend. She is not afraid to speak her mind. We are looking for a strong young performer to portray this confident cub.

disney’s The Lion King JR. Character Breakdown

Nala • 5th through 8th grade female • Role includes: Singing, speaking, and acting • Featured solos in: “Shadowland” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”

Role Description: Nala grows from a cub to a lioness before she confronts Scar. We are looking for a more mature actress who can portray this complex role with grace, and a confident singer who can sing with great emotion.

Sarafina • 5th through 8th grade female • Role includes: Speaking, acting, and ensemble singing

Role Description: Sarafina is Nala’s mother and a featured lioness. She has one short spoken line. Sarafina will also be a part of the lioness group, and will therefore be cast either as a lioness ensemble singer or a lioness dancer.

Banzai • 4th through 8th grade male • Role includes: Speaking and acting

Role Description: Banzai is a slick yet childish hyena who works for Scar. He would be the leader of the group if hyenas weren’t so lazy. We are looking for an outgoing and confident actor who can portray Banzai’s nastiness and gruffness. As he is one of three featured hyenas, he must work well acting in a trio.

Shenzi • 4th through 8th grade female • Role includes: Speaking and acting

Role Description: Shenzi is one of Scar’s hyenas who plot to take over the Pridelands. She is the sassy one of the trio and is always looking out for herself. With Banzai and Ed, she should be able to laugh loudly and long, as well as be menacing to Young Simba and Young Nala.

disney’s The Lion King JR. Character Breakdown

Ed • 4th through 8th grade male or female • Role includes: Acting

Role Description: Ed is the third member of Scar’s trio of lackeys. He has a loud, cackling laugh that is his only form of communication. We are looking for an actor or actress who can laugh unabashedly and communicate through physicality and facial expressions rather than words.

Timon • 4th through 8th grade male or female • Role includes: Singing, speaking, and acting • Featured solos in: “Hakuna Matata,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” and “Luau Hawaiian Treat” (duet)

Role Description: Timon is an outcast meerkat who lives in the jungle with Pumbaa. He is afraid of his own shadow, but pretends to be the confident, relaxed leader of the duo. Timon is one of the funniest characters in the show. We are looking for a charismatic actor or actress who understands comedic timing.

Pumbaa • 4th through 8th grade male or female • Role includes: Singing, speaking, and acting • Featured solos in: “Hakuna Matata,” and “Luau Hawaiian Treat” (duet)

Role Description: Pumbaa is a kindhearted, sensitive warthog who enjoys his simple life of grubs and relaxation. We are looking for an actor or actress who can portray this lovable and loyal friend to Timon and Simba with deadpan humor.

Lionesses • 4th through 8th grade females, flexible group of about 5 to 10 • Role includes: Singing and dancing • Featured songs: “The Lioness Hunt,” “The Mourning,” and “Shadowland”

Role Description: The lionesses are fierce hunters of the Pridelands and are featured in the songs listed above. We are looking for strong singers to master this challenging music, or strong dancers to deliver complex choreography. We will most likely cast these roles in two groups: singing lionesses and dancing lionesses. Singing lionesses may have to do light dancing and dancing lionesses may have to do light singing, but we are looking for young ladies who are fairly strong in either singing or dancing.

disney’s The Lion King JR. Character Breakdown

Hyenas • 4th through 8th grade males and females, flexible group of about 5 to 10 • Role includes: Singing and acting • Featured song: “Be Prepared”

Role Description: The hyenas are Scar’s army, helping to carry out his evil plot to take over the Pridelands. Hyenas are mangy, mindless creatures who sing in “Be Prepared.” We are looking for actors and actresses who are able to sing the background parts of the song while playing loud and raucous characters. The hyenas will double as animals of the Prideland when they are not playing their hyena character.

Featured Ensemble • 4th through 8th grade males and females, flexible group of about 5 to 10 • Role includes: Singing and acting

Role Description: All 4th through 8th graders will be a part of the ensemble, however there are opportunities for several featured roles throughout the show. These roles include moments such as a mouse running across the stage, animals to distract Zazu in “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” while Young Simba and Young Nala sneak away, and actors to play buzzards.

There are also many beautiful, but challenging harmonies in the African chants throughout the show; we are looking for strong singers who can sing in harmony to supplement these vocal parts.

Dancers • 4th through 8th grade males and females, flexible group of about 5 to 10 • Role includes: Dancing, mostly ballet, jazz, and tumbling

Role Description: We are looking for trained dancers and tumblers to be featured throughout the show. These featured moments include: dancing lionesses, a dancing gazelle that the lionesses capture, grasslands, featured animal dancers in “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” and jungle plants.

disney’s The Lion King JR. Backstage PositionsIf you are interested in one of the following positions, please sign up for an audition slot.

During your audition time, we will conduct an interview where we can talk more about what each position will be like. You can prepare your answers ahead of time by viewing the list of questions on your audition form.

Assistant Directors Available for: 6th through 8th grade males and females, at least two, but no more than four

Position Description: The Assistant Directors hold an extremely important role in ensuring that the production runs smoothly. We are looking for several students who are responsible, hardworking, self-motivated, organized, and committed. Writing is involved in this position as well; a student is preferred who is willing to jot down many notes in a quick and easy-to-read fashion. This student must attend a minimum of two rehearsals a week to act as Mrs. Ferree’s right-hand man (or woman). The Assistant Directors keeps track of time and keeps the rehearsal moving, filling in any tasks necessary for a smooth rehearsal. The days the Assistant Directors choose to work are flexible, but as a group they must have every day of rehearsal covered by at least one Assistant Director.

Promotion Team Available for: 4th through 8th grade males and females, a group of about 5

Position Description: The role of a Promoter is very important in getting people excited to come see our production. We are looking for individuals who are hard-working, committed, reliable, self-motivated, neat, and creative. Promoters must also be comfortable using basic computer programs. Your creative tasks as a group include: poster creating, writing the playbill of the production, and decorating the front entrance and gymnasium areas for the show. This group will work under the facilitation of Miss Bogner and will meet in her classroom once or twice a week, however, this group should be mostly student-driven.

Backstage Crew Available for: 4th through 8th grade males and females, a group of about 5

Position Description: The Backstage Crew will have the very important task of helping the production to run smoothly during showtime. These selected students will manage the curtain, the lights, and the props of the show. If you are considering this role, please note that this crew will not attend rehearsals until March, but once they are asked to come to rehearsals, they will have a significantly more demanding rehearsal schedule, especially in the final weeks leading up to the show. Also note that the members of this crew will take turns doing the available tasks so that the workload does not fall heavily on one person, and also so that each student will still have the opportunity to perform as an ensemble character with his or her class for part of the show.

If you are interested in Set Construction, watch for the sign-up sheet in the cafeteria at the end of February. There will not be interviews held for set construction crew this year. Any interested students in 4th through 8th grades may sign up for a specific day and time of set construction service. There

will be a limited number of slots for each day and those slots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. There will also be a sign-up for set deconstruction, in order to help tear down the show on Friday, April 29th. More information regarding both of these groups will be given at a later time.